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Iranian Cancer Researcher Detained in Boston, Sent Back

Boston Children's Hospital says he had a valid visa
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 12, 2017 12:41 AM CDT
Iranian Cancer Researcher Detained at Airport, Sent Back
A Delta plane taxis past a gate at Logan Airport in Boston   (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

An Iranian cancer researcher arriving in the US to start work at a prominent Boston hospital was detained at Logan International Airport before being sent back to Iran. Boston Children's Hospital said in a statement Tuesday that Dr. Mohsen Dehnavi was prevented from entering the country with his wife and three young children despite holding a J-1 visa for visiting scholars. They arrived at the airport Monday, the AP reports. The hospital said the reasons for the detention were unclear. "Boston Children's hopes that this situation will be quickly resolved and Dr. Dehnavi and his family will be released and allowed to enter the US," hospital spokesman Rob Graham said before Dehnavi was put on a return flight.

US Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Stephanie Malin said the Dehnavi family's detention was for "reasons unrelated" to President Trump's executive order on travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries. She said the stop was based on information discovered during the agency's review, but didn't elaborate. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a Democrat, told reporters he was waiting to hear more about the Dehnavis' circumstances, but also suggested the case was an example of concerns with the travel ban. "Many people, doctors and nurses and people who are students working in the world-class institutions that we have are going to be boxed out or left out of the country," he said. (More Iran stories.)

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