An Iranian graduate student detained for six weeks as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has decided to voluntarily leave the United States, even after the government dropped the initial charge that led to his arrest, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
Alireza Doroudi, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Alabama, was detained in March and held at a facility in Louisiana after his visa was revoked. A US government attorney later said the revocation was “prudential,” meaning it would not take effect until he left the country.
Doroudi’s lawyer, David Rozas, told AP there was no evidence to support the government’s earlier claim that Doroudi posed a national security risk. He called the case a “travesty of justice.”
Doroudi’s fiancée, Sama Ebrahimi Bajgani, said the prolonged detention left him feeling pressured to abandon his legal challenge. “They just want to make him tired so he can deport himself,” she told AP.
In a letter written from detention, Doroudi called the case “pure injustice” and said he had followed all legal procedures. The immigration judge in the case denied his request for bond and set a deadline at the end of May for further motions. Rozas said Doroudi chose to stop fighting and self-deport.
Doroudi had specialized in metallurgical engineering, and his detention sparked concern on campus. The University of Alabama College Democrats described the arrest as a “cold, vicious dagger through the heart of UA’s international community.”
Doroudi’s case comes amid renewed scrutiny of the Trump administration’s policies on international students, including potential new visa restrictions for citizens of countries like Iran. In recent weeks, several other foreign students and recent graduates — including individuals from Turkey and Palestine — have been detained under national security-related reasons, prompting concern from rights groups and legal advocates.
