Hooshang Aghdassi, a Studio City business owner from Los Angeles, says his wife, Sharareh Moghadam, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shortly after completing her U.S. citizenship exam and attending a scheduled immigration appointment.
Moghadam, an Iranian national and legal U.S. resident, was awaiting her naturalization ceremony when she was taken into custody and transferred to a detention facility in Phoenix.
“She had green card and passed exam for citizenship and was waiting for the ceremony,” Aghdassi told NBC Los Angeles. “She is not a bank robber or thief or criminal.”
Newsweek contacted the Department for Homeland Security for comment on Monday morning.
Why It Matters
Moghadam’s case follows a pattern of increased immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term. According to ICE and Customs and Border Protection, almost 61,000 migrants have been detained nationwide since January.
Of those, 29 percent had criminal convictions, 25.6 percent had pending charges, and 45 percent were classified as “other immigration violator.”
Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
What To Know
Moghadam’s detention has drawn community support in Los Angeles. She and Aghdassi run a small balloon shop on Laurel Canyon Boulevard.
ICE disputed Aghdassi’s account, saying Moghadam had a criminal record and was subject to removal. The agency said she entered the U.S. at an unknown time and place in 2014 and obtained lawful status in 2016.
Between 2015 and 2019, Moghadam was convicted of two theft offenses, according to ICE. The agency called her a thief and said her record showed “a clear disregard for U.S. laws.”
Similar cases have raised concerns about enforcement tactics. In Alabama, ICE recently detained 24-year-old Giovanna Hernandez-Martinez, a Mexican national who entered the U.S. at age 7. She was arrested during a traffic stop and taken into custody despite having no criminal record.
In Georgia, 59-year-old Alma Bowman has been held for months despite having lived in the U.S. since age 10. She was born in the Philippines to an American father and believed she was a citizen. Her attorney, Samantha Hamilton, told Georgia Public Broadcasting that ICE is requiring DNA from her deceased father to prove her claim.
What People Are Saying
Hooshang Aghdassi told NBC4: “Years ago, for our dream was—the U.S. is a land of opportunity and freedom, and it was, but right now you can see everything changed. You don’t feel secure anymore.”
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson wrote in a statement, per NBC4: “Reports that Sharareh Moghaddam has no criminal history are completely FALSE and are only being used to try garner support for a thief. Sharareh Moghaddam is neither a citizen nor a national of the United States. She is an Iranian native and citizen with a documented criminal history dating back to 2015. Moghaddam entered the United States at an unknown time and location in 2014 and obtained lawful status in 2016. Despite being granted the opportunity to remain in the country, between August 2015 and May 9, 2019, Moghaddam was convicted of two separate theft offenses, demonstrating a clear disregard for U.S. laws and rendering her subject to removal under U.S. immigration law.”
What Happens Next
Customers have started a petition urging lawmakers to intervene before Moghadam’s next hearing.
