Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a University of Oklahoma professor at an airport as he traveled to a national conference, prompting alarm across higher education about the treatment of foreign scholars. Vahid Abedini, an assistant professor on an H‑1B visa, was taken into custody while boarding a flight and released after several days following university and disciplinary advocacy. Colleagues and academic associations warned the episode could chill travel to U.S. conferences and damage recruitment of international faculty. University officials, the Middle East Studies Association and legal experts have called for clarity from the Department of Homeland Security about the basis for the detention; the department described it as “standard questioning.” The arrests have intensified faculty calls for stronger campus protocols and legal support for sponsored scholars.