Iranian MAGA supporter detained by immigration authorities still backs Trump

Indian Express

3 days ago

From her suburban home in Los Angeles County, Arpineh Masihi proudly flew the Trump flag and stocked her shelves with MAGA hats. A lifelong immigrant and devout supporter of the president's hardline immigration policies, she believed in his promise to deport 'criminals' and 'make America great again.'
Then ICE knocked on her door. But her support for Donald Trump remained intact. 'He's doing the right thing because lots of these people don't deserve to be here,' Arpineh, the mother of four US-born children, told the BBC over the phone from the Adelanto immigration detention centre in the Mojave Desert.
'I will support him until the day I die. He's making America great again.'
Arpineh, 39, moved to the US as a toddler and has spent nearly her entire life in California. In 2008, she was convicted of burglary and grand theft and served a two-year prison sentence. A judge revoked her Green Card, a common consequence, but allowed her to remain in the country due to the dangers she might face as a Christian Armenian Iranian if deported.
'We are Christians. She can't go back, there's no way,' said her husband Arthur Sahakyan, watching their 4-year-old daughter run through the house.
Since then, Arpineh rebuilt her life, starting a business, raising four children, and volunteering in the community. She is part of Southern California's vast Iranian diaspora, with areas like West Los Angeles, nicknamed 'Tehrangeles,' hosting the largest population of Iranians outside Iran.
Yet even among that community, Arpineh's arrest has sparked unease. Immigration raids have ramped up, detaining people from around the world. While most detainees in LA are Mexican nationals, Department of Homeland Security updates show arrests of individuals from dozens of countries.
Trump's pledge to launch 'the largest deportation programme of criminals in the history' helped win him the White House. Arpineh and her family still support that promise — but they're hoping she's not among those ultimately removed.
'I don't blame Trump, I blame Biden,' Arthur said. 'It's his doing for open borders, but I believe in the system and all the good people will be released and the ones that are bad will be sent back.'
Though many detainees have no criminal history, Arpineh's 2008 conviction makes her a prime target. ICE declined to comment on her case.
Arthur points he never asked for details about the burglary; he saw it as a youthful mistake. Instead, he focuses on her contributions over the past 17 years.
'We all make mistakes,' he said. 'But she's been volunteering, feeding police and firefighters. She's a good person.'
On 30 June, while the family was having breakfast, Arpineh got a call from ICE. At first, they thought it was a prank. But within 30 minutes, immigration officers arrived.
Despite public service campaigns urging immigrants not to open the door without a warrant, the couple stepped outside to talk.
Arpineh showed them documentation from a judge's decision allowing her to remain in the US, provided she committed no further crimes and regularly checked in — her last check-in had been in April.
The officers told her her circumstances had changed. They had a warrant.
Arthur said the agents allowed her to say goodbye to their children, aged 14, 11, 10, and 4, and warned: 'No matter what, we're going to catch you – maybe if you're driving on the street with your kids.'
'They told us no matter what we're going to catch you – maybe if you're driving on the street with your kids – so we thought, what we'd been seeing on the news: flash bombs, cornering cars,' Arthur said.
'She came and kissed the kids goodbye,' he recalls. 'She came outside like a champion and said, 'Here I am'.'
Arthur asked them not to cuff her in front of the children. They agreed to do it on the far side of the vehicle.
'I knew my kids were watching from upstairs,' he said. 'I didn't want them to see their mom handcuffed.'
Arpineh was taken to a federal ICE facility in downtown LA, where protests against detention conditions have raged for weeks. She told the BBC she was held with 28 other women in a freezing, brightly lit room for three days, surviving on snacks and one bottle of water a day. She pointed they 'were treated like animals,' huddling together for warmth and sleeping on the floor.
After three days, she was transferred to Adelanto, a privately-run ICE facility known for its harsh, prison-like conditions. Still, she said, it's an improvement. She now gets three meals a day, a shower, and a bed.
'But it's still very challenging,' she said. Despite her detention, Arpineh remains loyal to Trump and optimistic about her fate. 'I'm not deportable to any country,' she told the BBC.
But recent precedents are worrying. In February, ICE deported a group of Iranian Christians — not to Iran, but to Panama. She calls her husband every hour to share updates, though there's little progress to report. Their older children understand what's happening. The youngest just keeps asking when her mother will return.
'I have four citizen children. I own a business. I own a property. I own cars,' Arpineh says. 'I haven't done anything wrong in so many years.'
Inside, the house Arthur struggle to remain composed. 'Our home is broken,' Arthur says.