In a recent development in Los Angeles, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained the niece and grand-niece of a well-known Iranian general who has since passed away. Their green cards have been revoked, effectively ending their permanent residency in the United States.
The individuals in question, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, aged 47, and her 25-year-old daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, were taken into custody by ICE on Friday while residing in Los Angeles.
According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Afshar had expressed approval over the fatalities of U.S. soldiers during the ongoing conflict between the Trump administration and Iran.
Rubio further stated that their permanent resident status, which permitted them to live indefinitely in the U.S., has been canceled. The authorities plan to deport them as soon as circumstances allow.
He commented, “Until recently, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter enjoyed a comfortable life in the U.S. as green card holders.”
Rubio continued, “Afshar, being the niece of the late Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, is an avid supporter of the Iranian regime. She has previously celebrated attacks on Americans and labeled the U.S. as the ‘Great Satan.'”
‘This week, I terminated both Afshar and her daughter’s legal status and they are now in ICE custody, pending removal from the United States.
‘The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.’
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, pictured, and her daughter have both been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in LA and had their green cards revoked
Afshar is pictured in riding in a blue Hummer. She and her daughter lived in Los Angeles before their arrest
Afshar’s daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, was originally let into the country under a student visa in 2015
Both women are related to Iranian general Qasem Soleimani (pictured), who was killed by a US drone strike at Baghdad Airport in January 2020
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the two women’s arrest and impending removal from the United States on his X account on Saturday
Afshar is the niece of Qasem Soleimani.
He was one of Iran’s most powerful military figures and was the commander of the Quds force when he was killed by a US Reaper drone strike ordered by President Trump at Baghdad Airport in January 2020.
A press release issued by the State Department further accused Afshar of ‘promoting Iranian regime propaganda’.
It said she had ‘praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, denounced America as the “Great Satan” and voiced her unflinching support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terrorist organization.’
The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that Afshar entered the US in June 2015 on a tourist visa. Hosseiny came with her mother but on a student visa. In 2019, a judge then granted both women asylum and in 2021, they became green card holders.
DHS further stated that in a July 2025 naturalization application, Afshar disclosed that she had traveled to Iran at least four times since being issued her green card, which made her asylum claims ‘fraudulent’, DHS said.
‘It is a privilege to be granted green card to live in the United States of America. If we have reason to believe a green card holder poses a threat to the U.S., the green card will be revoked,’ DHS said in a statement.
Notably, DHS has not accused Hosseiny of asylum fraud or making statements against the United States. The Daily Mail approached the agency for further comment.
Rubio said the State Department had been alerted to Afshar’s antics by her posts about Iran and the United States on her since-deleted Instagram account.
Afhsar’s home in Tujunga, Los Angeles, is pictured. She bought the property for $505,000 in 2021 and it is now worth $740,000
Afshar also faced a far less severe penalty for her ranting and raving than Iranians who attack their government, with tens of thousands of protesters murdered at the orders of the Ayatollah in recent years.
Public records list Afshar as living at a $740,000 home in the Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles.
She bought the house for $505,000 in September 2021 with a $365,000 mortgage.
The modest property has two bedrooms and two baths but it smartly decorated inside.
It sits on a hill that affords it a stunning view across the Crescenta Valley and Verdugo Mountains.
In one video posted online, Afshar was filmed speaking in Farsi with the distinctive wall-mounted plate decorations in her living room visible in the background.
Afshar’s anti-American rhetoric stepped up in recent weeks, after President Trump began bombing Iran on February 28.
The country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in the US-Israel bombardment which has triggered international chaos.
Trump has said he will resume bombing within 48 hours if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply passes through.
