Overview
- The pair, arrested by ICE in Los Angeles on Friday, remain in custody pending removal after Secretary of State Marco Rubio terminated their lawful permanent resident status.
- The State Department said Hamideh Soleimani Afshar promoted Iranian government propaganda, praised attacks on U.S. targets, called America the “Great Satan,” and voiced support for the IRGC, which the U.S. lists as a terrorist group.
- DHS said Afshar entered on a tourist visa in 2015 and her daughter on a student visa the same year, both gained asylum in 2019, later received green cards, and a 2025 naturalization filing disclosed multiple trips to Iran that officials say undercut her asylum claim.
- Officials barred Afshar’s husband from entering the United States, leaving the family split as the mother and daughter face deportation proceedings in federal custody.
- The arrests follow Rubio’s earlier revocation of the status of Ali Larijani’s daughter Fatemeh Ardeshir‑Larijani and her husband, signaling a continuing campaign to strip visas and residency from people linked to Iran’s leadership.