After Nasrallah Mourner's Expulsion From US, CAIR Tells Non-Citizens: Travel With Burner Phones To Avoid Deportation
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is advising non-citizens to take "proactive steps"—like using a burner phone—to avoid deportation after traveling abroad as the Trump administration cracks down on foreigners who support terrorism.
During the anti-Israel group’s annual Ramadan fundraiser webinar on Sunday, which the Washington Free Beacon attended, CAIR attorneys and policy experts told the 1,300 attendees that visa and green card holders should delete apps and pictures from their phones before returning to the United States. For foreign citizens who remain in America, the speakers recommended taking a back seat at protests for the time being. The CAIR crew also said President Donald Trump’s order to remove foreigners who pose terror threats targeted the Islamic community, with one calling it a "pre-Muslim ban."
"Delete some of the apps, some pictures you have on your phone. Things that you think are maybe innocent, but in this day and age, with the Mahmoud Khalil’s case [sic], what are they charging with all this—it’s not my job as an immigration attorney to make the community fearful, but be smart about what we’re doing," said Spojmie Nasiri, an immigration attorney on CAIR’s National Board of Directors.
"Maybe buy a burner phone, or maybe have a backup phone," she added. Nasiri also warned that non-citizens’ phones are subject to searches after traveling abroad and recommended setting up two-factor authentication and turning off facial recognition.
Since taking office, Trump has pursued his campaign promise to deport pro-Hamas foreigners, with the State Department revoking a number of visas this month. Among them was Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and vocal pro-Hamas activist, whom federal authorities arrested after his visa and green card were canceled. Momodou Taal, a Cornell University graduate student who has celebrated Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, similarly had his visa revoked last week.
And although Nasiri didn’t point to a specific example, her guidance echoes the case of Rasha Alawieh, a Brown University assistant professor of medicine. Earlier this month, Alawieh, an H-1B visa holder, was deported after Customs and Border Protection agents discovered "sympathetic photos and videos" of prominent Hezbollah figures in the deleted items folder of her cell phone. She was traveling back to the United States after attending the funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in February.
During Sunday’s event, CAIR attorney Gadeir Abbas advised noncitizens to scale back their involvement in activism, encouraging them to instead "let your citizen colleagues step to the forefront."
"I think one thing to keep in mind is … it’s better for Palestine if you stay in the country," Abbas told attendees. "If you’re a citizen, there’s risk, and if you’re not a citizen of any kind—green card holder, visa holder of any kind—you have all the risks that the citizen has, plus all the risks associated with your ongoing status inside the United States."
Abbas continued, "Just for the time being, at least, let’s see what shakes out. And that doesn’t mean you don’t say anything ever at all to anybody, but … if you’re on an F-1 visa, don’t wave the banner in front of the protest. That’s who they’re looking for, and don’t make it easy for them to come after you."
CAIR has a long history of pushing anti-Semitic positions, which have been underscored since Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Two days after the assault, CAIR accused Israel of provoking the attack through "apartheid policies." Weeks later, CAIR executive director Nihad Awad said he was "happy to see" Hamas kill Jews. In 1993, meanwhile, Awad participated in a secret meeting that was wiretapped by the FBI. During that gathering, participants reportedly discussed ways to support Hamas.
More recently, CAIR urged the Trump administration on March 16 to immediately readmit Alawieh into the U.S. and argued that her deportation "reinforces suspicion that our immigration system is turning into an anti-Muslim, white supremacist institution." The group is also suing Columbia University on behalf of Khalil to prevent the Ivy League institution from complying with a request by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce for Columbia to turn over student data about disciplinary actions.
Awad also spoke to attendees on Sunday, echoing Abbas’s advice that noncitizens should not risk their visa status because "Palestine and justice" need them in the United States.
"If you are a legal resident, if you are on a student visa, don’t risk your status," Awad said. "Allow U.S. citizens who have less risks to continue, and if you are subject to any of these abuses or threats to be detained, immediately contact an immigration attorney."
"Step back. Palestine and justice need you to be here to be stronger and let the citizens of this country continue the fight," he added. "Take a lesson and a page from the resiliency of the Palestinian people who inspire people all over the world with their patience, with their perseverance, with their courage, with their faith in Allah, God Almighty."
CAIR called its speakers' recommendations "routine" guidance.
"Because travelers value their privacy and reject government intrusion into their family photos, political activism, chats with friends and loved ones, and other private information stored on their phones, it has been routine, for many years, for civil rights organizations to advise travelers to take precautions regarding their electronics when traveling abroad in order to ensure that immigration officers do not wrongly view their private and sensitive personal information," CAIR told the Free Beacon in a statement.
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