Gov’t documents question her background and credentials

An Iranian-born doctor from Atlanta, who illegally tried to re-enter the United States without proper authorization last month, has been sentenced by a federal judge in Vermont to 25 days in prison.

Dr. Shohreh Ghasemi, who says she is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, educator, author and international speaker, tried to illegally slip over the international border at Derby Line on the night of Friday June 26 after she had been denied entry multiple times at proper border crossings, officials said.

The government maintains in court records Ghasemi, 42, is clearly not all that she claims.

Court papers note that while she has strong support from a U.S. Congressman in Georgia, Ghasemi has provided false information, including a bogus date of birth, to both the U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Probation Office. All her identification and visas were issued under the false date and that is part of the reason for her ordered removal from the U.S., officials said.

Investigation also now shows the person who purportedly verified Ghasemi’s statement to the U.S. Probation Office in Burlington appears to have had a role in guiding her illegally over the border in the Northeast Kingdom at night on June 26, Assistant U.S. Attorney Corinne Smith said in court papers.

Ghasemi’s associate texted her twice: once to “Stay with the trees,” and later, “If you stay in the tree line it’s the safest,” court records show.

Ghasemi was caught in the tree line in Orleans County, according to a veteran U.S. Border Patrol Agent with over 20 years of experience.

She is now facing a detainer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for her removal from the country.

Lawyers on behalf of Ghasemi have filed a petition in federal court in an effort to block her removal, according to Burlington attorney Jared Carter. A hearing was held Wednesday afternoon for a temporary restraining order to keep her in Vermont.

Senior Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford said he needed more information from both sides. He said Ghasemi will remain in custody in Vermont until another hearing, probably in early August.

He said keeping Ghasemi within Vermont will help facilitate communications with her counsel and the court; ensuring her appearance at court hearings; and preserving the court’s jurisdiction in the case. She had split her prison time between prisons in South Burlington and New Hampshire.

“The court does not order her release on bond at this time,” Crawford wrote. He agreed to allow the temporary restraining order to remain in effect until Aug. 19.

The judge gave Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Greer in the civil case no later than this Friday to file a motion to dismiss the petition from Ghasemi. Her lawyers will be given up to seven days to respond. The court will set the next hearing after the filings, the judge said.

While Ghasemi is not a farmer, Migrant Justice of Vermont, which was founded and led by immigrant farmworkers to organize for human rights, had about 40 protestors in support of her outside the entrance and back side of the federal courthouse on Elmwood Avenue on Wednesday. A few attended the brief court hearing.

Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle had ruled during a July 2 detention hearing after her arrest that Ghasemi lacked a legal status in the United States. He said she also was subject to removal or deportation following any prison sentence she might receive in her criminal case. The “time-served” sentence has now been imposed after she pleaded guilty.

Doyle also ruled the weight of evidence against Ghasemi was great and she lacked any family or other ties to the community. Crawford said this week he did not see any reason to change her detention status.

Meanwhile, during her sentencing in criminal court on Tuesday afternoon, defense lawyer Brooks McArthur argued for a time served sentence of 25 days for her improper entry into the country. He said it was more than the usual sentences in similar cases.

Smith, the federal prosecutor in the criminal case, said she was initially going to ask for a 45-day prison sentence because of her false statements, but agreed to whittle her request to 30 days.

The veteran prosecutor said she was deeply concerned about some dishonesty by Ghasemi when she provided answers to both the U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Probation Office.

Smith also noted in court papers Ghasemi had provided false information in her professional career, including about a claimed master’s degree in oral surgery that turned out to be bogus. Program officials reported Ghasemi completed only one of three years in the master’s program, Smith said in a court filing.

The Managing Director of the Georgia School of Orthodontics (GSO) in an email to Ghasemi also demanded she remove the false claims about her association with the institution from her website and online profiles.

The Program Director at GSO also informed a special agent with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in July 2023 that Ghasemi was never a member of the faculty and that her only connection at the school was delivering a two-hour lecture, records show. It also noted that the Program Director reported that a purported lecturer agreement “was not signed by me.”

The government, in court records, also noted that Ghasemi agreed to a cease and desist order from the State of Georgia to get her to stop her illegal practice of dentistry in July 2023.

Meanwhile some other college officials filed complaints that Ghasemi had falsified her academic credentials, court records note.

Crawford said he would not bicker over 25 or 30 days. He noted that even with a time served sentence, Ghasemi would remain in jail until ICE could complete the deportation

For her criminal case sentencing, Ghasemi had 11 letters of support from various friends, including a member of Congress from Georgia and a university president.

U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Georgia, who also is an American physician, wrote a two-page letter extolling the virtues of Ghasemi. He noted, “She recognizes the severe implications of this error in judgment.”

Rep. McCormick asked that the court understand Ghasemi “has been a stellar resident of the United States, a compassionate surgeon, and a valuable member of the medical community.” He went on to ask that “you take into consideration her law-abiding history and her profound dedication to serving others.”

The two-term Congressman said he was afraid that Ghasemi’s criminal record “will undoubtedly preclude her ability to teach and practice both in the United States and abroad, which would be a severe loss to our healthcare system.”

Rep. McCormick, who served over 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy before joining Congress, asked for “compassionate consideration as this seems to be a first time offense.”

Neil MacKinnon, president of Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich., said he knows Ghasemi is “a sought-after speaker nationally and internationally in the area of cosmetic dentistry.”

He wrote, “I believe she is a person of good character, and she has a long track record of mentoring students and residents and contributing to the education of health professionals in this country.”

Carter and attorney Nathan Virag from the Burlington office of the Association of Africans living in Vermont, said in their civil filing that Ghasemi had returned home to Iran in 2023 to visit her family, which she had not seen for an extended period.

While home in Iran, Ghasemi was arrested by Iranian authorities and detained for one month at what the lawyers called “the notorious Evin Prison” starting on Nov. 1, 2023.

They maintained Ghasemi was jailed due to the political climate in Iran “and the government’s treatment of individuals perceived to be politically disfavored.”

Ghasemi went to Toronto, Canada on May 25, 2026 for a professional speaking event. She intended to return to the U.S. by using her passport and a valid Employment Authorization Document and Advanced Parole combo card, they said.

Carter and Virag said she attempted to cross legally with her authorized documents over the next several days, but was denied, leaving her baffled. At that point she did not seek to avoid immigration officials, they said.

Her attempt to slip over the international border under the cloak of darkness only came when Canadian officials said she had 3 days to leave the country, records show.

The U.S Border Patrol said Ghasemi, who was carrying a bag, and a second Iranian, Mohammad Makvandi, were found hiding in the woods near Grand View Farm on Valley Road in Derby Line about a quarter-mile east of the Port of Entry on Interstate 91. Their clothing was wet, muddy and had plant debris.

A suspicious driver, identified as Sunil Chand, was stopped on nearby I-91 about a half mile south of the nearest port of entry, the Border Patrol said. Chand, who said he was a naturalized U.S. citizen from India, volunteered he was in the area to pick up two people that had just crossed the international border, officials said.

Ghasemi is believed to have first entered the United States as a foreign exchange student on Aug. 22, 2014, the Border Patrol said. She later had visits to the country in 2015, 2016 and 2017. She was granted advanced parole status that allowed her to leave and re-enter the country at will and maintained that status through Nov. 25, 2025, the Border Patrol said.

She attempted to return to the United States at an airport in Ontario, Canada on May 27, 2026, but was allowed to withdraw her request as she was deemed to be “an intending immigrant without an immigrant visa,” the Border Patrol in court papers.

Ghasemi tried again that same day at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, N.Y., but was denied. She tried again at the Port Huron Port of Entry, but was denied again and issued an Expedited Removal Notice, the Border Patrol said.

When arrested, Makvandi’s record appeared to have 10 misdemeanor convictions since 2022, including twice for stalking, a criminal trespass, interfering with an arresting officer and impaired driving, Smith said in a detention motion.

Makvandi had a 2018 arrest by ICE for being a nonimmigrant overstay, Smith said. He also had at least four failed attempts to enter the U.S. over the previous six months before his June 2026 arrest, she said.

His criminal charge was dismissed without explanation on July 1, court records show.