ICE arrests Soleimani’s niece after State Dept terminates her legal status
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Two relatives of slain Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qasem Soleimani living in Los Angeles were detained by federal agents after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their green cards, officials said.
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, identified as Soleimani’s niece, and her daughter were arrested and are currently being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the State Department said Saturday.
The Trump administration says Afshar is a supporter of Iran’s “totalitarian, terrorist” regime.
“Afshar is the nephew of the late Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani,” Rubio wrote to X. “He is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime, celebrating attacks on Americans and referring to our country as the ‘Great Satan.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting at the Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay in Cernay-la-Ville, France, on March 27, 2026. (Thomas Trutschel/Fotothek)
“This week I terminated the legal status of both Afshar and her daughter, and they are currently in ICE custody awaiting removal from the United States,” Rubio wrote on Saturday. he wrote.
In January 2020, during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad.
The State Department said Afshar, while living in the United States, “supported Iranian regime propaganda, celebrated attacks on American soldiers and military installations in the Middle East, praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, condemned America as the ‘Great Satan,’ and expressed his unwavering support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has been designated a terrorist organization.”
“[Afshar] “He carried out this propaganda against Iran’s terrorist regime while enjoying a luxurious lifestyle in Los Angeles, as evidenced by his frequent posts on his recently deleted Instagram account,” the department said.
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Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani (C) attends Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s (not seen) meeting with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Tehran, Iran, on September 18, 2016. (Iranian Supreme Leader Press Office/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
ICE officers arrested Afshar and her daughter in Los Angeles on Friday, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS said Afshar entered the United States on a tourist visa in June 2015, was granted asylum in 2019, and became a green card holder in 2021 under the Biden administration.
“He applied for naturalization in July 2025 and disclosed that he had traveled to Iran at least four times since his green card was issued. His trips to Iran indicate that his asylum claims were fraudulent,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News.
Her daughter entered the U.S. on a student visa in July 2015, was granted asylum in 2019 and received a green card in 2023, according to DHS.
“It is a privilege to receive a green card to live in the United States,” the spokesperson added. “If we have reason to believe that the green card holder poses a threat to the United States, the green card will be revoked.”
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters is seen before a protest against the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student targeted by the Trump administration for his involvement with anti-Israel campus protests, in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2025. (Pete Kiehart of The Washington Post via Getty Images)
In addition to revoking Afshar and her daughter’s legal permanent resident status, Afshar’s husband was also barred from entering the United States, officials said.
Earlier this month, the State Department also terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of a former senior Iranian official, and her husband.
Both are no longer in the United States and have been barred from re-entry.
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“The Trump Administration will not allow our country to host foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes,” the statement said.
The State Department and ICE did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
