Legal advocates sue US over Iranian-born scholar’s treatment

By MARK PRATT
Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Legal advocates in a lawsuit against the federal government say a Canadian diabetes researcher scheduled to start a two-year fellowship at Harvard Medical School was wrongfully denied entry to the U.S. and discriminated against based on her Iranian heritage. Harvard Law School’s Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program said Tuesday that it has also filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security’s civil rights office on behalf of the researcher and her family. The suit asks the government to issue the scholar a visa as soon as possible so she can begin the fellowship by June 6, more than a year late. Federal officials declined comment.