Maine doctor of Iranian descent sues after being denied reentry into the US
An Iranian doctor who works in Maine has been stuck in Canada—where she has citizenship—for months, unable to reenter the U.S. as a result of an ongoing denial by Customs and Border Protection.
Behnoosh Dashti, MD, filed a lawsuit last week naming the Secretary of Homeland Security and two other border protection officials as defendants, wherein her attorneys are asking a U.S. District Court to compel authorities to let her back into the country, where she has worked as a family medicine physician at Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital since 2022.
According to the complaint, the 52-year-old is the only such provider in the hospital group’s women’s health practice. Dashti also resides in Presque Isle, Maine, meaning she’s been unable to return home since April 8.
The situation is unusual. According to the lawsuit, Dashti crossed over the border into Canada only briefly, in an effort to get an updated visa stamp she needed to renew her state driver’s license.
When attempting to step back into the U.S. at the Fort Fairfield border station, she was blocked by border patrol.
After a 10-hour detention, and after all requests to speak to an attorney were denied, she was told to go back to Canada. Dashti’s attorneys say Customs and Border Protection kept asking questions about her mother’s role in the Iranian government—where she worked as a clerk at a non-military agency more than 45 years ago.
Her husband and 12-year-old daughter remain in Maine, on the other side of the border unable to see their family reunited.
The lawsuit argues that, by denying Dashti reentry under these circumstances, the doctor has been denied her constitutional rights to due process. She is a green card holder and legal resident of the U.S., her attorneys added in the court filing.
In a statement of their own, Northern Light A.R. Gould Hospital condemned the actions of Customs and Border Protection, urging the agency to allow Dashti to come back home.
“We strongly disagree with the treatment of our colleague and continue to work diligently through diplomatic and legal channels to ensure her safe and expedient return,” Suzanne Spruce, senior vice president at Northern Light Health, said in a statement.
“This physician is a valued member of the community and Northern Light Health will continue to work for her safe return,” she added.
In opposition to the Supreme Leader
When speaking to border patrol, Dashti expressed her hatred for the Iranian regime, noting that her mother worked for the pre-revolution government. Her family fled to Canada as refugees in 2008, where they began new lives.
She has never returned to Iran, the lawsuit noted.
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