Two married Iranian students at Louisiana State University were released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody this week after they were arrested in June in what their attorneys describe as a “ruse” orchestrated by government agents.
Attorneys for Pouria Pourhosseinhendabad and Parisa Firouzabadi had challenged their detentions and accused the government of violating the law and immigration procedures. The American Civil Liberties Union’s Louisiana chapter announced their release Wednesday.
The two graduate students, who were detained for nearly a month, were “lured” out of their home by ICE agents who told them they were investigating a hit-and-run the couple had previously reported, court documents said. They were then arrested.
ICE did not provide or present a warrant for their arrests, their attorneys said in court documents. Several days later, ICE alleged that Firouzabadi was deportable because of a 2023 visa revocation, the documents said. Pourhosseinhendabad is on an active F-1 student visa and is still enrolled at the school, according to the ACLU.
Nora Ahmed, the legal director for the ACLU of Louisiana, which is helping represent the couple, said in a statement that their release was a “powerful affirmation of immigrants’ rights.”
“Pouria and Parisa should never have been detained and we’re relieved they’re finally free,” Ahmed said.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A federal magistrate judge recommended the release of Pourhosseinhendabad on Monday, writing that he “has established that there is a grave risk he will suffer irreparable harm.” After attorneys filed a petition for the release of Firouzabadi on Tuesday, the government agreed to release the couple.
“Pouria and Parisa should never have been detained and we’re relieved they’re finally free,” Ahmed said in the statement. “However, this case also underscores that when the government’s power is allowed to go unchecked, entire communities are left vulnerable to sweeping abuses of power.”
On June 22, police officers knocked on the couple’s apartment door, claiming to investigate a hit-and-run accident the couple had reported weeks earlier, according to Firouzabadi’s habeas corpus petition. The officers asked to see their vehicle to assess damage, prompting the couple to lead them to the parking lot, the petition said. Federal agents believed to be employed by ICE then handcuffed and arrested them, according to court documents.
“The way that state police presented themselves to Parisa — as though they were investigating the hit-and-run of which Parisa had been a victim weeks prior — constitutes a ruse because it was an official deception that was used to arrest and detain her,” the petition said.
Days after Firouzabadi was arrested, a charging document was uploaded to the immigration court electronic record, the petition said. In it, ICE alleged that she had failed to maintain her legal status because of a visa revocation in 2023 owing to violations of laws related to sabotage or espionage, court documents said. Ten days after that filing, ICE rescinded the accusation tied to sabotage and espionage but continued to allege that she was deportable, the petition said. It is unclear what prompted the accusation and why it was rescinded. Attorneys did not immediately respond to questions about Firouzabadi’s visa revocation; court documents say she was given no reasons.
Firouzabadi’s attorneys argued that she still has legal status because she is actively enrolled, attending classes and working at Louisiana State University and that the revocation prevents her only from leaving and trying to return to the country.
Pourhosseinhendabad, who was held at a separate facility, is in full compliance with his visa requirements, his attorneys said.
“Arresting and detaining him without any justification under the law violates due process, equal protection, the Fourth Amendment, and established immigration procedures,” the ACLU said in a news release.
The couple’s attorneys point out in court documents that their arrests coincide with the U.S. entrance into the conflict between Israel and Iran. The two were arrested just hours after the military attacked three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites. The conflict ended in a ceasefire days later. Given the timing, their counsel argued, the unlawful arrests were the result of discrimination.
“This is the same kind of discrimination that occurred with the internment of Japanese Americans in the 1940s, which we committed never to repeat,” Ahmed said in the release. “And yet, we were right here on June 22, the day after the United States bombed Iran — indiscriminately rounding up Iranians on U.S. soil.”
