A University of Oklahoma professor was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Saturday while traveling to an academic conference in Washington, D.C., despite holding a valid H-1B work visa, according to colleagues and federal records.
Vahid Abedini, an instructor of Iranian studies at OU’s Boren College of International Studies, was apprehended on November 22 as he prepared to board a flight to attend the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association.
His colleague, Professor Joshua Landis, first revealed the incident in a post on X, calling the detention “wrongful” and stating that Abedini’s visa status was fully legitimate. Landis noted that Abedini holds a valid H-1B visa, which is granted to individuals in “specialty occupations,” including higher education faculty.
The University of Oklahoma has not issued a statement regarding the arrest.
ICE later updated its online detainee locator to confirm that Abedini is currently in federal immigration custody. The listing identifies his country of birth as Iran, though his exact location remains undisclosed.
A friend of Abedini, who spoke anonymously to HuffPost, said she managed to speak with him by phone on Monday. While he appears to be in good spirits, she said, he remains uncertain about where he is being held. She added that he does have access to basic necessities such as towels and blankets.
Abedini’s detention comes amid intensified immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump, whose administration has been pushing forward with plans to carry out what it describes as the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
Although Trump has repeatedly emphasised the removal of undocumented immigrants with violent criminal records, ICE and Border Patrol have faced mounting scrutiny over allegations of misconduct, aggressive tactics, and detaining individuals who have the legal right to remain in the country.
The Department of Homeland Security has indicated that ICE is preparing for a major escalation as newly trained enforcement personnel begin deployment across the country.
This surge in enforcement has been bolstered by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping funding package passed in July that dramatically expands immigration enforcement operations and detention capacity. The legislation includes billions in funding to hire thousands of new deportation officers, scale up transportation and removal efforts, and increase detention capacity to nearly 100,000 beds.
Critics warn that such rapid expansion risks errors and wrongful detentions, concerns now echoed by Abedini’s colleagues as the circumstances surrounding his arrest remain unclear. It is not yet known when he may be released.