Iranian Woman Who Has Lived in US for Four Decades Detained by ICE
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Mandana Kashanian, a 64-year-old Iranian woman who came to the United States at 17 years old just ahead of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, was arrested by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Sunday and is being in detention in Louisiana.
Newsweek has confirmed her detention in the ICE detainee database. Newsweek has reached out to ICE for comment via email on Saturday.
Why It Matters
Kashanian's detention comes amid an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration and inflamed U.S. relations with Iran. The U.S. struck three of Iran's nuclear sites, Isfahan, Fordow, and Natanz, lastSaturday. Iran later struck a U.S. base in Qatar.
Also last weekend, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrested 11 Iranian citizens who were in the U.S. illegally. Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Iran and the U.S. have severed main diplomatic ties and maintained a tense relationship, with occasional high-profile nuclear talks.
Ahead of and during the Iranian Revolution, hundreds of thousands of Iranians fled to the United States. Many had supported Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi or belonged to ethnic and religious minorities and faced persecution under the new government. At the time, U.S. President Jimmy Carter maintained close ties with the Shah who was backed by Washington.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history. In addition to people residing in the country illegally, immigrants with valid documentation, including green cards and visas, have been detained and face legal jeopardy.
What To Know
Kashanian came to the U.S. on a student visa on July 24, 1978 and "gained authorization to remain in the U.S. until May 31, 1983 by changing her status to that of a spouse of a nonimmigrant student" according to documents from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed by Newsweek.
She eventually applied for asylum, but her claim was denied, according to the 2001 court documents. Her family told MSNBC that she applied for asylum and was denied multiple times. Kashanian has appealed several court decisions relating to her status as well as filing a motion to reopen appeals.
She married early on and then divorced. She then married Russ Milne, a U.S. citizen, in 1990 and the couple share a 32-year-old daughter together, who is also a U.S. citizen. Part of the complication of Kashanian's status is due to her first marriage, which the court reported as "improper" and fraudulent, and subsequently interfered with her green card application once married to Milne.
Her father had worked as an engineer for the Shah in Tehran, according to Nola.com, and she claimed she would "experience extreme hardship if deported," per court documents.
The local outlet said she was granted a stay of removal on the basis that she comply with immigration requirements, which her family says she has always met. Her husband told MSNBC on Friday that she has no criminal history.
She has lived in the states for almost 50 years, setting down roots in New Orleans. She shares Persian recipes on a YouTube channel, was involved in her daughter's parent-teacher association, volunteered after Hurricane Katrina, and helps out family and neighbors, her husband told MSNBC.
On June 22, she was arrested by officers in unmarked vehicles, her neighbor Sarah Gerig, told Nola.com, noting that the arrest was less than a minute.
Kashanian is currently held in South Louisiana ICE processing center, according to the ICE database. The GEO Group runs the 1,000-person capacity facility located in Basile, Louisiana.
The South Louisiana ICE Processing Center is seen in this aerial photo in Basile, Louisiana, on April 8.
The South Louisiana ICE Processing Center is seen in this aerial photo in Basile, Louisiana, on April 8.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
What People Are Saying
Russ Milne, Kashanian's husband, told Nola.com: "She's always worked, she's had a driver's license, she has a social security card, she's paid taxes/ She's about to qualify for Medicare. She's been a contribution to the community for her whole life."
Joe Giarrusso, a member of the New Orleans City Council, said in an X, formerly Twitter, post sharing the article about Kashanian on June 25: "I usually don't comment on federal issues but this is a local issue, too. Someone living here with the federal government's full knowledge and approval for nearly 50 years is hardly Public Enemy Number 1. This should not happen."
Kaitlynn Milne, Kashanian's daughter, told MSNBC on Friday: "She's tried going through the correct system and ... it's been hard for her...She's always caring. She's our support system, so it's obviously been really rough this week. She's the person that was always at my school. Always taking care of things around my school. She was, you know, always a huge volunteer, always helping everybody around."
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security said in a June 24 press release about the arrest of 11 Iranian nationals: "Under Secretary [Kristi] Noem, DHS has been full throttle on identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and violent extremists that illegally entered this country, came in through Biden's fraudulent parole programs or otherwise.
"We have been saying we are getting the worst of the worst out—and we are. We don't wait until a military operation to execute; we proactively deliver on President Trump's mandate to secure the homeland."
What Happens Next
It is not clear when Kashanian will have an immigration hearing.
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It divides history into distinct 'dispensations,' or periods through which God interacts with humanity differently. Many adherents to this tradition believe in a fiery apocalypse and the 'Rapture' — a moment when Christians are suddenly lifted to heaven before a period of tribulation on Earth. Darby's views were amplified a century later by the popular 'Left Behind' novels and films of the 1990s and 2000s, which reached millions of evangelicals with apocalyptic visions of the end times. The book series, inspired by Rapture theology and gory scenes in the Book of Revelation, has sold more than 65 million copies. The 'Left Behind' books were marketed as fiction, but they were treated as biblical truth by many evangelicals. Views of dispensationalism were taught in many evangelical churches, youth camps and Sunday schools, bringing them into the mainstream. Central to dispensationalism is the role of Israel in the last days. Its adherents believe that the establishment of the modern state of Israel marks the beginning of the end times — heralding the Second Coming of Christ. Israel's geopolitical success and security are seen as necessary preconditions for Christ's return, Tisby says. Dispensationalism has permeated White evangelical culture so much that many evangelicals today have adopted its tenets without being familiar with the term, Tisby says. 'Just because you don't have the name doesn't mean you're not actually adhering to the beliefs,' he says. 'It's so common now that it doesn't need to be named anymore.' Prophecies about angelic armies battling demonic armies in an apocalyptic Middle East sound implausible to many, but such beliefs gripped many of the White evangelical pastors and families she grew up with, says Bass, author of 'Freeing Jesus.' She recalls evangelical pastors preaching that whenever Israel gained more territory, it was God's will. Some pastors condemned Iran as evil. Jews, they said, would finally accept Jesus as their savior. But Jesus' return would be preceded by a series of cataclysmic events like the sudden disappearance of God's faithful and those 'left behind' — the non-believers who didn't accept Jesus. The belief that Christians could be teleported to heaven in the twinkle of an eye traumatized many young people at the time, she says. 'I had friends who would literally wake up in the middle of the night. And if their house was really quiet they would get very frightened and they'd sneak into their parents' bedroom to make sure their parents were still in their house,' she says. Most mainstream biblical scholars say the word 'rapture' does not appear in most translations of the Bible or the Book of Revelation. Many mainstream Biblical scholars say the Book of Revelation does not depict the literal end of the world: It's an anti-Roman tract that used coded language to tell Christians that God would destroy Rome's evil empire. Bass calls belief in the Rapture a 'completely invented theology' and 'one of the most wildly successful heresies in the history of Christianity.' A belief system that says God will end the world through violence offers no incentive for a political or religious leader to avoid war — or backtrack when events spiral out of control, she says. 'In the framework of this 'end times' theology, destruction is always a sign that God is working and is about to return,' Bass says. 'In this theology, the worse things become, the closer it is to the end. There is no motivation to do good, care for the poor, make sure that wars don't happen, and care for the planet.' Apocalyptic visions about the end of the world are common in many religions. And it's not unusual for a political leader to invoke God before going to war. But when citizens in a democracy believe political leaders are divinely appointed and driven by prophecies, it leaves no room for debate, Tisby says. 'There's a sort of fundamentalism to it all,' he says. 'It's unbending, unchanging and it can't be critiqued because its divine. Who are we to question? 'Any uncritical, unyielding support of a political actor, no matter what the conflict, is dangerous,' he says. If this is part of the dynamic that guides the US' future actions in the Middle East, it could lead to another final question. Many critics of Iran say it is a theocracy led by someone who reduces the world to a clash between good and evil and whose foreign policy is driven by apocalyptic religious myths. What if America's clash with Iran is driven in part by some of the same religious forces? John Blake is a CNN senior writer and author of the award-winning memoir, 'More Than I Imagined: What a Black Man Discovered About the White Mother He Never Knew.'
