Sama Ebrahimi Bajgani and her fiance, Alireza Doroudi, had just spent an evening celebrating the Persian new year at the University of Alabama when seven armed immigration officers came to their apartment before dawn and arrested Doroudi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a moment, the young couple\u2019s life was upended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was living a normal life until that night. After that nothing is just normal,\u201d Bajgani said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Details about Doroudi\u2019s detention spread through the small Iranian community in Tuscaloosa, where Bajgani and Doroudi are doctoral students. Other Iranian students say they have been informally advised by faculty to \u201clay low\u201d and \u201cbe invisible\u201d \u2014 instilling fear among a once vibrant cohort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doroudi is among students across the U.S. who have been detained in recent weeks as part of President Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown. Bajgani said the couple does not know why Doroudi \u2014 who has no criminal record or public political views \u2014 faces deportation, adding that Trump\u2019s recent visit to the school made her feel like the university was \u201cignorant of our crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One Iranian civil engineering student and close friend to Doroudi said he has lost more than 10 pounds due to stress and depression in the six weeks since Doroudi was detained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like all of us are waiting for our turn. It could be every knock, every email could be deportation,\u201d said the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of concerns about losing his legal status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He now avoids unnecessary trips outside. When he was in a car crash last month, he begged the other driver not to call the police, even though he wasn\u2019t at fault, because he didn\u2019t want to draw attention to himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bajgani said Doroudi, 32, is an ambitious mechanical engineering student from Shiraz, Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He entered the United States legally in January 2023 on a student visa. Bajgani said he often worked 60-hour weeks while still making time to run errands for loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf someone like him doesn\u2019t get to the place he deserves, there is nothing called the American dream,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doroudi\u2019s visa was revoked in June 2023, but the embassy didn\u2019t provide a reason and ignored his inquiries, Bajgani said. The university told him he could stay as long as he remained a student but that he would not be allowed to reenter the U.S. if he left, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was operating under that guidance when immigration officers came to the couple\u2019s door in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doroudi told Bajgani he spent three days in a county jail, sleeping on a tile floor and feeling panicked.
He is now in a Louisiana immigration detention facility more than 300 miles from Tuscaloosa while he awaits a deportation hearing scheduled for next week. At least one other high-profile international student is there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t deserve this. If they had just sent me a letter asking me to appear in court, I would\u2019ve come, because I didn\u2019t do anything illegal. I stayed with their permission,\u201d Doroudi said in a letter he dictated to Bajgani over the phone to provide his perspective to others. \u201cWhat was the reason for throwing me in jail?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 1,000 international students across the U.S. have had their visas or legal status revoked since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements and correspondence with school officials. They included some who protested Israel\u2019s war in Gaza. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has since reversed those revocations, including those of four University of Alabama students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUniversity staff closely monitors changes that could affect them and has communicated updates related to new protocols and procedures,\u201d Watts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Louisiana judge who denied Doroudi bond in mid-April said he didn\u2019t sufficiently prove that he wasn\u2019t a national security threat, Doroudi\u2019s lawyer, David Rozas said. Rozas said he was \u201cflabbergasted\u201d because the government hasn\u2019t presented evidence that Doroudi is a threat, though that is what the Department of Homeland Security has alleged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
International students make up more than 13% of the statewide University of Alabama graduate program, according to the school\u2019s website. More than 100 Iranian students attend the university, according to an estimate from the Iranian Student Assn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every year, many gather for a picnic to celebrate Sizdah Bedar, the 13th day of the Persian new year, which begins with spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, the typically festive holiday \u201cfelt like a funeral service,\u201d one Iranian doctoral student said. At one point, silence fell over the group as a police car passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n