TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (Diya TV) — Federal immigration officials have arrested a University of Alabama doctoral student from Iran on national security grounds, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and university officials said. Alireza Doroudi, 32, a student of mechanical engineering, has been in custody at Pickens County Jail in Carrollton since Tuesday night, a jail official confirmed.
His lawyer, David Rozas, said that Doroudi is waiting to be transferred to an immigration detention center. The Department of Homeland Security said that Doroudi’s student visa was revoked based on “serious national security issues.” Rozas said he hasn’t been notified of any charge involving national security.
“He is in the U.S. legally, chasing his American dream by working on his doctorate in mechanical engineering,” Rozas said in a statement to ABC News. “He has not been arrested for any offense nor attended anti-government protests.”
Doroudi has been in the University of Alabama since February 2023, based on his LinkedIn page. He obtained a master’s degree in welding engineering technology from Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran. The university confirmed a doctoral student was arrested off-campus by federal officials but did not release Doroudi’s name.
“International students are important members of the campus community,” the school stated in a release. Doroudi’s sole known legal transgressions in the U.S. are a speeding ticket in November 2023, when he was stopped going 97 mph in a 55-mph zone. The charge was dropped after he paid a fine.
Attempts to reach ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for further comment were unsuccessful. Doroudi’s detainment follows similar cases involving foreign-born students at other U.S. universities.
