Homeland Security and State Department can't agree which Iranian students are allowed in US

After three months of vetting and extensive background checks, 27-year-old Alireza Yazdani received a student visa and flew to the U.S. to begin a four-year doctoral program at Michigan State University.

But instead of being greeted with open arms, the Iranian Ph.D. student was detained at Detroit Metro Airport, interrogated for six hours and placed on a return flight home Monday with no explanation, according to his attorney.

The situation points to a "interesting disconnect" between the State Department, which is in charge of granting visas, and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Customs and Border Protection, said Bradley Maze, an immigration attorney representing Yazdani.

"The Department of Homeland Security clearly thinks differently, or thought differently, about this gentleman and other Iranian students who have been denied entry despite having valid visas," Maze told ABC News. "I think there's a general sense of xenophobia. And the way that Trump administration is framing immigration is definitely the context under which this is kind of going on."

Yazdani is one of more than a dozen Iranian students who have been denied entry into the county since August 2019 amid increasing political discord between the Trump administration and Iran, according to immigration attorneys.

"He said it was a very trying time," Maze added. "They were accusing him of all these different things, and he had no idea of what they were talking about. They had no evidence about anything they were accusing him of."

After at least six hours of "questioning and pressure with CBP authorities saying he was going to be in jail if he didn't withdraw his admission," Yazdani decided to withdraw his application for admission," Maze said.

He was basically saying "OK, I give up just send me back to Iran,'" Maze said. "He told us, 'Listen, I already gave up my rights,' and he was kind of defeated as it was. He didn't seem to have the fortitude to to want to fight anymore."

Maze said he reached out the U.S. authorities, asking them to explain why Yazdani had been turned away, but he did not receive an explanation.

"They kind of shattered his dreams without any real explanation," Maze said.

When reached for comment, the CBP told ABC News that Yazdani had been "deemed inadmissible" but declined to explain why.

"The issuance of a visa or participation in the visa waiver program does not guarantee entry to the United States," a CBP spokesperson said. "Applicants must demonstrate they are admissible into the U.S. by overcoming all grounds of inadmissibility including health-related grounds, criminality, security reasons, public charge, labor certification, illegal entrants and immigration violations, documentation requirements, and miscellaneous grounds."

The agency said it processes more than 1 million travelers at U.S. ports of entry per day and about 790 are refused.

Yazdani returned home just days after Shahab Dehghani, a student at Northeastern University, attempted to return to the U.S. from Iran last week and was at detained at Boston's Logan Airport, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. A Massachusetts district court judge gave him an emergency stay when he was detained, but he was deported anyway, the ACLU said.

"Given the Trump administration's xenophobic policies and CBP's troubling practice at Logan Airport of sending students with valid visas back to Iran, it is shameful that the government defied a federal court order and deported Shahab without due process," Carol Rose, executive director at the ACLU of Massachusetts, said in a statement. "We are looking at all options to hold CBP accountable for wrongfully deporting Iranians and other students who hold valid visas."

Maze said he lost contact with Yazdani when he was sent back to Iran, but he said he's working to connect with him to explore legal options. Yazdani can apply for entry again, but his request will likely be denied because he was already deemed "inadmissible," according to Maze.

Senator Gary Peters, D-Mich., a ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has vowed to look into the case, according to his office. An aide for the committee said Peters has been in contact with the Department of Homeland Security about Yazdani's departure and is working to get more information about the situation.

A spokeswoman for Michigan State confirmed to ABC News that Yazdani had been scheduled to began classes this month. Maze said he was slated to join a doctoral program in the university's agricultural science division, where he would serve as a research assistant and lecturer.

Michigan State said it was working with the state's congressional delegation and federal support agencies "to help through this difficult situation."

"We want international students to know we value and welcome them to our campus, and we are committed to global engagement, educating international students and collaborating with partners across the world in higher education efforts," the university said in a statement. "Global leadership can only be maintained if talented people from across the globe are encouraged to come here to study and work."