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Mandonna “Donna” Kashanian lived successful the United States for 47 years, joined a U.S. national and raised their daughter. She was gardening successful the gait of her New Orleans location erstwhile U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers handcuffed and took her away, her household said.
Kashanian arrived successful 1978 connected a pupil visa and applied for asylum, fearing retaliation for her father's enactment of the U.S.-backed shah. She mislaid her bid, but she was allowied to stay with her hubby and kid if she checked successful regularly with migration officials, her hubby and girl said. She complied, erstwhile checking successful from South Carolina during Hurricane Katrina. She is present being held astatine an migration detention halfway successful Basile, Louisiana, portion her household tries to get information.
Other Iranians are besides getting arrested by migration authorities aft decades successful the United States. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security won't accidental however galore radical they've arrested, but U.S. subject strikes connected Iran person fueled fears that determination is much to come.
“Some level of vigilance, of course, makes sense, but what it seems similar ICE has done is fundamentally springiness retired an bid to circular up arsenic galore Iranians arsenic you can, whether oregon not they’re linked to immoderate menace and past apprehension them and deport them, which is precise concerning,” said Ryan Costello, argumentation manager of the National Iranian American Council, an advocacy group.
Homeland Security did not instantly reply to an email seeking remark connected Kashanian's lawsuit but person been touting arrests of Iranians. The section announced the arrests of astatine slightest 11 Iranians connected migration violations during the play of the U.S. rocket strikes. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said, without elaborating, that it arrested 7 Iranians astatine a Los Angeles-area code that “has been repeatedly utilized to harbor amerciable entrants linked to terrorism."
The section "has been afloat throttle connected identifying and arresting known oregon suspected terrorists and convulsive extremists that illegally entered this country, came successful done Biden’s fraudulent parole programs oregon otherwise,” spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said of the 11 arrests. She didn't connection immoderate grounds of violent oregon extremist ties. Her remark connected parole programs referred to President Joe Biden's expanded ineligible pathways to entry, which his successor, Donald Trump, unopen down.
Russell Milne, Kashanian’s husband, said his woman is not a threat. Her entreaty for asylum was analyzable due to the fact that of “events successful her aboriginal life," helium explained. A tribunal recovered an earlier matrimony of hers to beryllium fraudulent.
But implicit 4 decades, Kashanian, 64, built a beingness successful Louisiana. The mates met erstwhile she was bartending arsenic a pupil successful the precocious 1980s. They joined and had a daughter. She volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, filmed Persian cooking tutorials connected YouTube and was a grandma fig to the children adjacent door.
The fearfulness of deportation ever hung implicit the family, Milne said, but helium said his woman did everything that was being asked of her.
“She’s gathering her obligations," Milne said. "She’s status age. She’s not a threat. Who picks up a grandmother?”
While Iranians person been crossing the borderline illegally for years, particularly since 2021, they person faced small hazard of being deported to their location countries owed to severed diplomatic relations with the U.S. That seems to nary longer beryllium the case.
The Trump medication has deported hundreds of people, including Iranians, to countries different than their ain successful an effort to circumvent diplomatic hurdles with governments that won’t instrumentality their radical back. During Trump’s 2nd term, countries including El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama person taken backmost noncitizens from the U.S.
The medication has asked the Supreme Court to wide the mode for respective deportations to South Sudan, a war-ravaged state with which it has nary ties, aft the justices allowed deportations to countries different than those noncitizens came from.
The U.S. Border Patrol arrested Iranians 1,700 times astatine the Mexican borderline from October 2021 done November 2024, according to the astir caller nationalist information available. The Homeland Security Department reported that astir 600 Iranians overstayed visas arsenic concern oregon speech visitors, tourists and students successful the 12-month play done September 2023, the astir caller information reports.
Iran was 1 of 12 countries taxable to a U.S. question prohibition that took effect this month. Some fearfulness ICE's increasing deportation arrests volition beryllium different blow.
In Oregon, an Iranian antheral was detained by migration agents this past week portion driving to the gym. He was picked up astir 2 weeks earlier helium was scheduled for a check-in astatine ICE offices successful Portland, according to tribunal documents filed by his attorney, Michael Purcell.
The man, identified successful tribunal filings arsenic S.F., has lived successful the U.S. for implicit 20 years, and his woman and 2 children are U.S. citizens.
S.F. applied for asylum successful the U.S. successful the aboriginal 2000s, but his exertion was denied successful 2002. His entreaty failed but the authorities did not deport him and helium continued to unrecorded successful the state for decades, according to tribunal documents.
Due to “changed conditions” successful Iran, S.F. would look “a vastly accrued information of persecution” if helium were to beryllium deported, Purcell wrote successful his petition. “These circumstances subordinate to the caller bombing by the United States of Iranian atomic facilities, frankincense creating a de facto authorities of warfare betwixt the United States and Iran.”
S.F.’s agelong residency successful the U.S., his conversion to Christianity and the information that his woman and children are U.S. citizens “sharply summation the anticipation of his imprisonment successful Iran, oregon torture oregon execution,” helium said.
Similarly, Kashanian's girl said she is disquieted what volition hap to her mother.
“She tried to bash everything right,” Kaitlynn Milne said.
