By Mary O’KEEFE

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested two women originally from Iran in a Tujunga neighborhood. 

In a statement from ICE/Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), “On April 3, ICE officers in Los Angeles arrested Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and Sarinasadat Hosseiny, the niece and grandniece of Qasem Soleimani, the late head of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who was killed by a drone strike ordered by President Trump in 2020. 

“Soleimani Afshar entered the United States in June 2015 on a tourist visa. In 2019, a judge granted her asylum. In 2021, she became a green card holder under the Biden Administration. In July 2025, she filed a naturalization application where she disclosed she traveled to Iran at least four times since being issued a green card. Her trips to Iran illustrate her asylum claims were fraudulent.

“Her daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, entered the United States in July 2015 on a student visa. In 2019, a judge granted her asylum. In 2023, she became a green card holder under the Biden Administration.” 

The DHS statement continued: “It is a privilege to be granted a 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.”

Soleimani’s daughter has stated the arrested individuals “have no connection whatsoever” to her father, according to a report from BBC. 

Asfhar and her daughter had an active social media presence. 

According to a statement released by Secretary of State Marco Rubio,“by both press reporting and her own social media commentary, Soleimani Afshar is an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran.”

According to public records, Afshar purchased the Tujunga home in 2019.