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The US Customs and Border Protection had previously stated that Ismail Ajjawi was "deemed ineligible in the United States on the basis of information discovered during the CBP inspection."
CNN contacted the agency for an updated comment and to explain how the case had apparently been resolved.
In a statement, Ajjawi's lawyer, Albert Mokhiber, called it a "sad classic tale with an exceptional happy ending." He thanked Harvard, the nonprofit organization AMIDEAST, the US Embassy in Beirut and "the best-selling international media and popular support".
When Ajjawi was initially denied entry to the United States, Harvard's newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, announced that he was a "17 year old Palestinian resident residing in Tire, Lebanon." ".
Crimson's report cites a written statement attributed to Ajjawi, in which the new student describes his meeting with immigration officers at Boston's Logan Airport.
According to the Crimson, Ajjawi reportedly was detained for eight hours before being turned away. During this period, an immigration official asked him to unlock his phone and laptop and searched these people for five hours. The Crimson then answered questions about the activities of his friends on social networks.
According to the Crimson, Ajjawi asserted that he would have been informed of "opposing political views of the United States" expressed by people he follows on social media.
After being questioned, the Crimson reported that his visa had been revoked and that he had been returned to Lebanon.
This move comes more than a month after Lawrence Bacow, president of Harvard, sent an open letter to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan to express his concern. the administration's immigration policies and their effects on Harvard's university programs.
"Students report difficulties in obtaining initial visas – delays in refusals," wrote Bacow in July. International students and scholars, he wrote at the time, "are not just participants in the life of the university, they are essential."
He criticized the visa and immigration process as "unpredictable and uncertain".
CNN's Madeleine Thompson contributed to this report.
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