Federal law enforcement officers arrested the niece of former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qasem Soleimani on Friday night in Los Angeles after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked her green card. Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, awaiting deportation.
Rubio removed the lawful permanent resident status of both women this week. He also barred Afshar's husband from entering the United States.
The action comes over six years after President Donald Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Soleimani, the architect of Iran's terror proxy network across the Middle East. His niece, it turns out, had been living comfortably on American soil the entire time.
According to the Washington Examiner, Rubio did not mince words when he announced the move on X:
"Until recently, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were green card holders living lavishly in the United States."
The Secretary of State laid out exactly who the United States had been hosting:
"Afshar is the niece of deceased Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani. She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the 'Great Satan.'"
The State Department added that Afshar celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East and supported Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
So here is the picture: a relative of one of the most dangerous terrorists of the 21st century, a woman who openly cheered violence against American troops, enjoyed the protections, comforts, and freedoms of the country she called the "Great Satan." For years. With a green card.
Afshar was not the only relative of the Iranian regime's inner circle discovered living in the United States. Rubio also revoked the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of former Iranian national security council secretary Ali Larjani, who was killed in an Israeli strike during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
The State Department revoked her husband's visa, Seyed Kalantar Motamedi. Immigration officers removed both Ardeshir-Larijani and Motamedi from the U.S. and barred them from re-entering.
A pattern emerges that should trouble every American: family members of the Iranian regime's senior leadership, people with direct ties to a government that has waged war on American interests for decades, quietly embedded in American life. Not hiding. Not underground. Holding green cards.
The more interesting question is not why Rubio acted. The more interesting question is why it took this long.
Soleimani was eliminated over six years ago. The Iranian regime's hostility toward the United States is not new intelligence. It is the most well-documented foreign policy reality of the last four decades. And yet relatives of regime figures, including one who openly celebrated the killing of American soldiers, maintained lawful permanent resident status in the United States for years.
This is what a broken immigration vetting system produces. Not just the familiar problems at the southern border, but a quieter, more corrosive failure: the inability or unwillingness to revoke the privileges of people who actively root for America's enemies while enjoying America's generosity.
Green card holders are guests of this country. Permanent residency is not citizenship. It is a privilege extended on the assumption that the holder respects, at a bare minimum, the nation that granted it. Celebrating attacks on American soldiers obliterates that assumption.
The deportations send a clear message at a moment when tensions with Iran are already elevated. The United States will not harbor the families of those who seek to destroy it, and it will not tolerate the absurdity of regime-connected individuals exploiting American freedom while vocally supporting American enemies.
There is no contradiction between being a welcoming nation and refusing to welcome people who celebrate the deaths of your soldiers. That distinction should not require a debate. It should require a plane ticket.
Rubio delivered one.