Some members of Alabama’s congressional delegation said they have little information about the University of Alabama doctoral student who was reportedly detained by federal immigration agents this week.
The student, Alireza Doroudi, is from Iran and is one of the latest people detained in a string of arrests by immigration authorities targeting international college students. According to the school’s student newspaper, which first identified Doroudi, he is being held at a jail in the state, and a person with that name is listed as “in custody” on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.
The reason for his detention is unclear, but it appears to be the first such arrest in a state that is a Republican stronghold.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville told NOTUS that he was unaware of the arrest but expressed support for the Trump administration’s actions.
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“If they’re doing something wrong, everybody should be arrested,” Tuberville told NOTUS when informed of Doroudi’s detainment.
“It can happen anywhere, it’s a free country,” Tuberville added when asked what he thinks this arrest and others like it mean for other university students. “You can [either] break the law or go with the law. If they break the law, let’s put them in jail.”
The University of Alabama confirmed to multiple outlets that one of its students had been detained, but cited privacy concerns and gave little detail.
The University of Alabama is in Rep. Terri Sewell’s congressional district. Sewell is a Democrat, and her office described the reports about Doroudi’s arrest as “troubling” in a statement, and added that it has contacted Trump officials for answers.
“At this time, we do not know the location of the student or cause of the detention, however Congresswoman Sewell is very concerned about the alarming trend of college and university students being targeted by ICE,” Sewell’s office said in a statement to NOTUS.
The Department of Homeland Security told NOTUS in a statement that Doroudi posed “significant national security concerns” and that the arrest was made “in accordance with the State Department’s revocation of Doroudi’s student visa.”
“While I do not have all the details of this case, the administration needs to be fully transparent and provide the relevant information about why Mr. Doroudi has been detained,” Alabama Rep. Shomari Figures, a Democrat, said in a statement to NOTUS.
The rest of the Alabama congressional delegation did not comment.
David Rozas, the lawyer who will represent Doroudi in upcoming immigration proceedings, told NOTUS that he has not been notified that his client has been charged with a crime.
“As far as I know, he was in school pursuing his doctorate, and I have no information suggesting any allegations of criminal activity,” Rozas said in a statement.
Other high-profile incidents of international students being targeted by ICE have involved students at schools including Georgetown University, Tufts University, and Columbia University.
President Donald Trump promised there would be more arrests after the first similar arrest occurred in New York, which involved Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who represented protesters in the media last year.
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Torrence Banks is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.
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