(CNN) An Iranian PhD student who'd planned to continue his studies at Michigan State University was detained by Customs and Border Protection at Detroit Metro Airport and is being sent back to Iran, his attorney told CNN on Monday.

Alireza Yazdani, 27, was on a flight leaving Detroit on Monday, a day after he was detained and questioned by authorities, his attorney Bradley Maze said.

Immigrant rights advocates have said they're concerned students are being targeted as tensions mount between the United States and Iran. The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said last week that at least 10 students had been sent back to Iran upon arriving to US airports since August, with seven of them having flown into the Boston airport.

Yazdani flew into Detroit Sunday, eager to continue his studies in an agricultural sciences doctoral program at Michigan State, Maze said. He was admitted to the program in September, Maze said, and the US government issued him a student visa earlier this month.

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