Mandonna “Donna” Kashanian, 64, lived in the United States for nearly five decades, married a U.S. citizen, and raised their daughter. But while gardening outside her New Orleans home, she was handcuffed and taken away by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to her family.
Kashanian arrived in 1978 on a student visa and applied for asylum due to fears of retaliation tied to her father’s support of Iran’s former U.S.-backed shah. Although she lost the case, she was allowed to remain in the country by regularly checking in with immigration officials. Her family said she complied every time — including during Hurricane Katrina, when she called in from South Carolina. She is now being held in an immigration detention center in Basile, Louisiana.
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Kashanian is not alone. Other Iranians who have lived in the U.S. for years are also being arrested by immigration authorities amid fears of growing hostility with Iran. The Department of Homeland Security has not released the number of arrests but has promoted enforcement actions tied to U.S. military strikes on Iran
“Some level of vigilance, of course, makes sense,” said Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council.
“But what it seems like ICE has done is basically give out an order to round up as many Iranians as you can — whether or not they’re linked to any threat — and then arrest and deport them, which is very concerning.”
Homeland Security declined to comment on Kashanian’s case but confirmed at least 11 Iranians were arrested for immigration violations during the same weekend the U.S. launched missile strikes on Iran. One report mentioned seven Iranians arrested at a Los Angeles-area location allegedly used to harbor illegal entrants with suspected ties to terrorism — though no evidence has been provided to support those claims.
“The department has been full throttle on identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and violent extremists,” said DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, referencing individuals who entered illegally or through President Biden’s parole programs — which President Trump has since shut down.
Kashanian’s husband, Russell Milne, insists she’s no threat. Her asylum bid was complicated by a past marriage, which a court deemed fraudulent, but over 40 years in the U.S., she built a quiet life. The couple met in the 1980s when she worked as a bartender. They married, had a daughter, and Kashanian later became active in her community — volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, filming Persian cooking tutorials, and acting as a grandmother figure to neighborhood children.
“She’s meeting her obligations,” Milne said.
“She’s retirement age. She’s not a threat. Who picks up a grandmother?”
Historically, Iranians living illegally in the U.S. faced little threat of deportation due to broken diplomatic ties between the two nations. That appears to have changed. The Trump administration has resumed deportations, often sending people to third-party countries such as El Salvador, Costa Rica, or Panama, which have agreed to accept noncitizens from the U.S.
In one legal case, the administration asked the Supreme Court to allow deportations to countries like South Sudan, even though it has no diplomatic ties with the U.S.
From October 2021 to November 2024, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested 1,700 Iranians at the Mexican border. Additionally, about 600 Iranians overstayed visas through September 2023 as tourists, students, or business/exchange visitors, according to DHS data.
Iran was among the 12 countries included in the new travel ban that took effect this month. Advocates fear ICE’s arrests could be another wave of harsh enforcement.
In Oregon, ICE detained an Iranian man, identified only as S.F., while he was driving to the gym. He had lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, and his wife and two children are American citizens. S.F. applied for asylum in the early 2000s, but it was denied. Though he remained in the country, the risk of deportation now appears imminent.
His lawyer, Michael Purcell, argued in court filings that S.F. would face “a vastly increased danger of persecution” if returned to Iran, particularly after recent U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites. S.F.’s long U.S. residency, conversion to Christianity, and American family, Purcell wrote, sharply raise the likelihood of imprisonment, torture, or execution if he’s deported.
Similarly, Kaitlynn Milne, Kashanian’s daughter, fears for her mother’s future.
“She tried to do everything right,” Kaitlynn said.
