Dec. 7, 2025, 6:35 a.m. ETVahid Abedini was boarding a flight at OKC Will Rogers International Airport in November when he was surrounded by federal immigration agents. Abedini, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, had planned to convene with scholars of Middle East studies from across the globe. Instead, he spent three days in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.Federal authorities said they detained Abedini, who has an employer-sponsored visa, for standard questioning. Yet he was asked very few questions, according to a colleague who advocated for his release. His three-day detention made international headlines and vaulted him to a growing list of people detained by ICE despite having permission to live and work in the country. U.S. citizens also have been detained. ProPublica reported that ICE detained more than 170 American citizens in the first nine months of President Donald Trump's term.Two weeks after Abedini was released, he remains fearful that he could face retaliation if he speaks publicly about his experience, said Joshua Landis, a fellow professor of Middle East studies at OU.Abedini has issued only a single statement on LinkedIn, saying he fears for detainees who do not have the kind of support he had, including representation by university lawyers and the backing of elected officials. Originally from Iran, Abedini is a leading expert on the politics of his home country. He has taught Iranian studies courses at OU in Norman since August. Before that, he was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Arkansas. He has an H-1B visa that allows him to work and live in the United States. He had planned to travel in Washington, DC, for a yearly academic conference held by the Middle East Studies Association. The organization had warned scholars and students to fly with official documents that spelled out their rights to visit or live in the U.S.Questions surrounding Trump immigration policiesThe guidelines were responding to a wave of questions from the group's members about the Trump administration’s sweeping restrictions on immigration and travel to the U.S. The policies often have targeted travelers from countries where Muslims make up a majority of the population. Trump issued an executive order in June banning people from Iran and 11 other countries from obtaining visas, citing national security concerns. The restrictions don’t apply to current visa holders, and Abedini’s detention sounded alarms across the academic community. The Middle East studies group issued a statement saying it was deeply concerned about Abedini’s detention.Landis said he believed Abedini’s treatment signaled a slippery slope that could lead to the detention of American citizens without due process.What happened to Vahid Abedini?Landis said Abedini told him he was about to board his flight to DC on Nov. 22 when he was stopped by ICE agents. They told Abedini his visa was pending. Upon release, they said it was issued.He was driven 40 miles to the Logan County jail in Guthrie, where he was kept for about two days, Landis said. Abedini told Landis that very few of his fellow detainees at the jail could speak English. OU lawyers represented Abedini during his detention, which Landis said he believed made a difference. University officials did not respond to a request for comment about his case.On Nov. 24, agents moved Abedini to an ICE detention facility in Oklahoma City.Throughout the process, there were times when none of Abedini's loved ones or the OU lawyers who represented him knew where he was, Landis said.State Reps. Jared Deck and Jacob Rosecrants, both Democrats from Norman, became involved in rallying to free Abedini. Rosecrants said Deck contacted members of Oklahoma’s all-Republican congressional delegation, including Rep. Tom Cole and Sen. James Lankford. He does not know if they helped to free Abedini. A spokesman for Lankford's office said he could not comment on Abedini's jailing, citing privacy concerns. Cole's office did not respond to a request for comment by publication.ICE told Abedini that his situation had stirred up a lot of media attention before they released him. Landis said that is what led to his release.Landis said Abedini worried mostly about others whose detentions aren't in the public light.“The world cares about a university professor, where it probably doesn’t care about a painter or a yard worker or somebody who they see as lower class," Landis said.