University of Alabama student from Iran detained by ICE for ‘significant national security concerns’

By Riley Conlon, Taylor Lang

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    TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WVTM) — A graduate student at the University of Alabama is being detained by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Alireza Doroudi, a mechanical engineering doctoral student, is being held at the Pickens County Jail, which is cleared to hold ICE detainees, the jail confirmed to WVTM 13 on Thursday. It is believed he will be moved to an immigration facility in Jena, Louisiana.

That information matches that of a person currently detained on ICE’s website. It states that Doroudi was born in Iran.

“ICE HSI made this arrest in accordance with the State Department’s revocation of Doroudi’s student visa. This individual posed significant national security concerns,” a Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to WVTM Thursday evening.

He now must seek a bond while fights his case or seek asylum from a federal judge.

In a statement given to WVTM 13 Wednesday evening, university officials stated that they were aware that a doctoral student, whose name they did not release, had been detained off campus.

“International students studying at the University are valued members of the campus community, and International Student and Scholar Services is available to assist international students who have questions,” the statement read. “UA has and will continue to follow all immigration laws and cooperate with federal authorities.”

WVTM 13 Investigative Reporter Jon Paepcke went to the neighborhood off-campus, where Doroudi’s neighbors said he had been detained before sunrise on Tuesday. While none of them wanted to go on camera, they told him that Doroudi was a “good person” and were working to find ways to help him.

WVTM 13 checked his record in Alabama, which only showed two traffic violations in 2023.

ICE arrests under the Trump Administration When President Donald Trump took office, he began issuing a record number of executive orders, with many centering on the nation’s immigration and border enforcement policies.

These orders range from the ending of birthright citizenship to expanded use of expedited removals. They also address people seeking refuge or asylum — with an order to end the U.S. refugee program and the halting of an app used by migrants to make appointments before arriving at the border. Another order focuses on the deployment of resources, specifically the military, to border enforcement.

While several of these orders have been either fully or partially blocked by federal judges, fear has taken hold in immigrant communities across the United States. Immigrants across the U.S. are avoiding places like work or school due to fears of ICE raids after an executive order removed rules against federal immigration organizations from entering locations like schools, churches and more. Arrests, however, don’t necessarily equate to deportation.

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