TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) 鈥 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.
In a moment, the young couple’s life was upended.
鈥淚 was living a normal life until that night. After that nothing is just normal,鈥 Bajgani said.
Details about 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 鈥渓ay low鈥 and 鈥渂e invisible鈥 鈥 instilling fear among a once vibrant cohort.
Doroudi is among students across the U.S. who have been detained in recent weeks as part of President Donald Trump鈥檚 crackdown. Bajgani said the couple does not know why Doroudi faces deportation and that to the school made her feel like the university was 鈥渋gnorant of our crisis.鈥
One Iranian civil engineering student and close friend to Doroudi said he has lost over 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) due to stress and depression in the six weeks since Doroudi was detained.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like all of us are waiting for our turn. It could be every knock, every email could be deportation,鈥 said the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of concerns about losing his legal status.
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鈥檛 at fault, because he didn鈥檛 want to draw attention to himself.
鈥業 stayed with their permission鈥
Bajgani said Doroudi, 32, is an ambitious mechanical engineering student from Shiraz, Iran.
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.
鈥淚f someone like him doesn鈥檛 get to the place he deserves, there is nothing called the American dream,鈥 she said.
Doroudi’s visa was revoked in June 2023, but the embassy didn’t provide a reason and ignored his inquiries, Bajgani said.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 would not be allowed to reenter the U.S. if he left, she said.
He was operating under that guidance when immigration officers came to the couple’s door in March.
The University of Alabama didn’t comment on Doroudi’s case, but said it offers resources to help immigrants on campus comply with federal law. It also offers guidance to students whose visas are revoked.
鈥淥ur international students are valued members of our campus community,鈥 university spokesperson Monica Watt said in a statement.
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 over 300 miles (480 kilometers) from Tuscaloosa while he awaits a deportation hearing scheduled for next week. high-profile international student is there.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 deserve this. If they had just sent me a letter asking me to appear in court, I would鈥檝e come, because I didn鈥檛 do anything illegal. I stayed with their permission,鈥 Doroudi said in a letter he dictated to Bajgani over the phone to provide his perspective to others. 鈥淲hat was the reason for throwing me in jail?鈥
Trump’s immigration crackdown
More than 1,000 international students across the U.S. have had their since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements and correspondence with school officials. They included Israel鈥檚 war in Gaza. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has since , including those of four University of Alabama students.
鈥淯niversity staff closely monitors changes that could affect them and has communicated updates related to new protocols and procedures,鈥 Watt said.
A Louisiana judge who denied Doroudi bond in mid-April said he didn’t sufficiently prove that he wasn’t a national security threat, Doroudi’s lawyer, David Rozas said. Rozas said he was 鈥渇labbergasted鈥 because the government hasn’t presented evidence that Doroudi is a threat, though that is what the Department of Homeland Security has alleged.
A familiar sense of fear
International students make up over 13% of the statewide University of Alabama graduate program, according to . Over 100 Iranian students attend the university, according to an estimate from the Iranian Student Association.
Every year, many gather for a picnic to celebrate Sizdah Bedar, the thirteenth day of the Persian new year, which begins with spring.
This year, the typically festive holiday “felt like a funeral service,鈥 one Iranian doctoral student said. At one point, silence fell over the group as a police car passed.
“It鈥檚 becoming too hard to be living here, to be yourself and thrive,” said the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she fears retaliation.
She has criticized since arriving in the United States over five years ago, so she suspects in her home country. Now, she has those same doubts in Alabama.
鈥淎ll of a sudden it feels like we鈥檙e returning back to Iran again,鈥 she said.
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Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
