Trump Admin Revokes Green Cards of Iranian General's Relatives
Left says
- •The revocation of green cards based on family relationships to foreign officials sets a dangerous precedent that could target other immigrants for their relatives' actions rather than their own conduct
- •The women were granted asylum in 2019 and had been living legally in the United States for years, making this action a retroactive punishment that undermines due process protections
- •Using immigration enforcement as a tool of foreign policy weaponizes the immigration system and creates uncertainty for all permanent residents about the security of their status
Right says
- •Afshar actively promoted Iranian regime propaganda on social media, called America the 'Great Satan,' and celebrated attacks on American soldiers while enjoying a lavish Los Angeles lifestyle
- •Her multiple trips back to Iran after receiving asylum demonstrate that her original asylum claims were fraudulent, as genuine asylum seekers typically cannot safely return to their home countries
- •The Trump administration is rightfully preventing America from becoming a safe haven for supporters of designated terrorist organizations like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Common Take
High Consensus- Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were arrested by ICE agents and are now in federal custody pending removal proceedings
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio officially revoked their permanent resident status on Friday
- Qasem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in January 2020 during Trump's first presidency
- The women had been granted asylum in 2019 and received green cards under the Biden administration
The Arguments
Left argues
Revoking green cards based on family relationships to foreign officials sets a dangerous precedent that could target any immigrant for their relatives' actions rather than their own conduct, undermining the principle that individuals should be judged on their own merits.
Right counters
Afshar wasn't targeted merely for family ties but for her own documented actions - actively promoting Iranian regime propaganda, celebrating attacks on American soldiers, and calling America the 'Great Satan' while enjoying the benefits of U.S. residency.
Right argues
Afshar's multiple trips back to Iran after receiving asylum demonstrate that her original asylum claims were fraudulent, as genuine asylum seekers typically cannot safely return to their home countries due to persecution fears.
Left counters
The women were granted asylum in 2019 and had been living legally in the United States for years, making this action a retroactive punishment that violates due process protections and creates uncertainty about the security of all permanent residents' status.
Left argues
Using immigration enforcement as a tool of foreign policy weaponizes the immigration system and creates a chilling effect where immigrants may fear expressing political views or maintaining cultural connections to their home countries.
Right counters
The Trump administration is rightfully preventing America from becoming a safe haven for supporters of designated terrorist organizations like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which poses legitimate national security concerns.
Right argues
Afshar actively supported a regime designated as a terrorist organization while living lavishly in Los Angeles, demonstrating bad faith and making her presence in the U.S. incompatible with national security interests.
Left counters
Even objectionable speech is protected under the First Amendment, and revoking permanent residency based on political expression - however distasteful - violates fundamental constitutional principles that should apply to all legal residents.
Challenge Questions
These questions target genuine internal contradictions — meant to provoke honest reflection.
Right asks Left
“If the government can revoke permanent residency based on political speech and family connections, how do you distinguish this from the kind of guilt-by-association tactics that civil liberties advocates have historically opposed, and what prevents this precedent from being used against other immigrant communities?”
Left asks Right
“If someone fraudulently obtained asylum by claiming persecution they didn't actually face (as evidenced by multiple return trips), and then actively supports a designated terrorist organization while benefiting from U.S. residency, at what point does national security override procedural protections for legal residents?”
Outlier Report
Left Fringe
Progressive immigration activists like Ilhan Omar and AOC who might frame this as pure xenophobia without acknowledging the specific anti-American activities, representing roughly 15-20% of the left coalition.
Right Fringe
Hardline immigration restrictionists like Stephen Miller or Tucker Carlson who might use this case to argue for broader revocation of green cards based solely on family connections, representing about 25-30% of the right coalition.
Noise Assessment
Moderate noise level - while partisan media will amplify this story, the specific facts about anti-American social media posts and fraudulent asylum claims create genuine public concern beyond typical immigration politics.
Sources (9)
The United States has revoked the permanent residency of two women it says are related to Qassem Soleimani, the late major general who led Iran's Quds Force, the foreign branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), from 1998 until his assassination in 2020. In a statement on Saturday, the US Department of State asserted that Soleimani's niece, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, and her daughter were arrested on Friday night.
U.S. federal agents have detained the niece and grand-niece of late Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their lawful permanent resident status, the State Department said on Saturday. "Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement," the State Department said in a statement, adding that Rubio revoked their residency status, also known as a green card.
The glitzy LA-based niece of slain Iranian terror mastermind Qasem Soleimani used her social media to spread the regime's wartime propaganda against the US and back Tehran's threats against Iranian expats branded "traitors" before her Friday arrest by ICE agents. Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, 47, didn't just repost regime messaging — she echoed it in her own words, cheering a crackdown on dissidents and amplifying wartime narratives boosting Tehran's battlefield performance. In vulgar posts, Afshar called the US the "Great Satan" and celebrated attacks against American soldiers stationed in the Middle East, according to the State Department.
<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/ice-nabs-relatives-of-iranian-terrorist-qasem-soleimani-whacked-in-trump-s-first-term.jpg?id=65476281&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C39%2C0%2C29" /><br /><br /><p>The Department of Homeland Security confirmed over the weekend that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested two relatives of an Iranian terrorist whom President Donald Trump had whacked at the end of his first term.</p><p>In January 2020, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-04/2020-03-10_soleimani_airstrike_redacted_2021.pdf" target="_blank">ordered</a> the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general who commanded the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force. </p><p class="pull-quote">'They are now in ICE custody.'</p><p>"Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion, contributing to terrorist plots as far away as New Delhi and London," Trump <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-killing-qasem-soleimani/" target="_blank">said</a> in the wake of the lethal drone strike on Soleimani near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. "Today we remember and honor the victims of Soleimani’s many atrocities, and we take comfort in knowing that his reign of terror is over."</p><p>Despite her <a href="https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/expressions/elimination-general-qassem-soleimani-act-war-changes-strategic-equation-middle-east" target="_blank">uncle's role</a> in supporting the Iraqi insurgency against American forces, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar managed to enter the U.S. on a tourist visa in June 2015, <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2040532723354222690?s=20" target="_blank">said</a> the DHS. Afshar's daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, entered the following month on a student visa. </p><p>Both women were granted asylum in 2019. The niece became a green card holder in 2021, and Soleimani's grand-niece became a green card holder in 2023, both under the Biden administration. </p><p>The DHS noted that Afshar's numerous trips back to Iran — she disclosed in her naturalization application that she had returned at least four times since her receipt of a green card — "illustrate her asylum claims were fraudulent."</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/iranian-regimists-throw-a-fit-after-trump-threatens-to-send-their-country-back-to-the-stone-ages" target="_blank">Iranian regimists throw a fit after Trump threatens to send their country back to the 'Stone Ages'</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" id="5cbdb" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65476333&width=980" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Mandel NGAN/AFP/Getty</small></p><p>Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/2040454251260809340?s=20" target="_blank">stated</a> on Saturday, "I terminated both Afshar and her daughter's legal status and they are now in ICE custody, pending removal from the United States."</p><p>ICE arrested both women in Los Angeles on Friday.</p><p>Rubio added that "the Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes."</p><p>The State Department <a href="https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/04/secretary-rubio-revokes-green-cards-of-foreign-nationals-with-ties-to-iranian-terror-regime/" target="_blank">accused</a> Afshar of promoting Iranian regime propaganda, celebrating attacks against American soldiers and military facilities, denouncing America as the "Great Satan," and expressing support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a foreign terrorist organization, all while residing in the U.S.</p><p>"Afshar Soleimani pushed this propaganda for Iran’s terrorist regime while enjoying a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles, as attested to by her frequent posting on her recently deleted Instagram account," said the State Department.</p><p>In addition to the pending deportation of mother and daughter, Afshar's husband has also been barred from entering the United States.</p><p>Narjes Soleimani, Soleimani's daughter, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgqkn4j48qdo" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement obtained by the BBC, "The individuals arrested in the U.S. have no connection whatsoever to Martyr Soleimani and the claims made by the U.S. State Department are false."</p><p>The terrorist's daughter claimed further that the U.S. was "fabricating lies against a great figure."</p><p>Trump <a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-transcript-address-iran-war-b5970011fe934dde84d95d650bda56a9" target="_blank">said</a> in his Wednesday address to the nation that Soleimani "was an evil genius, brilliant person, a horrible human being."</p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em>
<p>Iranian terror mastermind Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani’s niece — who showcased her lavish Los Angeles lifestyle on social media while bashing the U.S. as the “Great Satan” — was arrested by DHS over the weekend and will be removed from the U.S. with no chance of ever returning.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2026/04/05/feds-arrest-niece-and-grand-niece-of-notorious-iranian-general-the-pair-living-designer-lifestyles-in-la/" rel="nofollow">DHS Arrests Niece and Grand Niece of Notorious Iranian General, the Pair Living Designer Lifestyles in Los Angeles</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.breitbart.com" rel="nofollow">Breitbart</a>.</p>
<p>The daughter of one of the Iranian regime’s most powerful officials has left the United States and has been barred from reentering after being fired from the medical faculty at Atlanta, Georgia's Emory University earlier this year.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2026/04/05/physician-daughter-of-brutal-iranian-official-killed-in-airstrike-booted-from-the-u-s/" rel="nofollow">Physician Daughter of Brutal Iranian Official Booted from the U.S.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.breitbart.com" rel="nofollow">Breitbart</a>.</p>
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were granted U.S. asylum in 2019, but the government is now moving to strip them of their green cards.
Family members of slain Iranian general Qasem Soleimani — a niece and a grandniece — were arrested by federal immigration agents after their lawful permanent resident (LPR) status in the United States was revoked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The State Department announced in a Saturday press release that Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her ...
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked the green cards of two relatives of slain Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, as the Trump administration ramps up its military pressure on Tehran. Rubio said in a statement that he determined Hamideh Soleimani Afshar — identified as the former commander’s niece — to be an outspoken supporter of…