Administration Rejects Voluntary Departure Request, Offers Stipulated Removal Order for Iranian Family

The Trump administration has rejected a request by detained Iranian nationals Seyed Eissa Hashemi, Maryam Tahmasebi, and their 16-year-old son to depart voluntarily to Türkiye at their own expense, Newsweek reported. The family has spent more than three months in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since arrests in April.

Embassy in Tehran in 1979. The administration revoked the family's green cards in April on foreign-policy grounds tied to that relationship and has not alleged any criminal or hostile activity by the three. Attorneys filed motions for voluntary departure in separate immigration cases, but the government opposed them.

After a July 1 hearing, the Department of Homeland Security rejected a proposed agreement and instead offered a stipulated order of removal with continued detention, court filings show. The family had sought up to 120 days to leave for Türkiye. Hashemi entered the United States on an F-1 student visa in 2014, and the family became green card holders in 2016.

Tahmasebi teaches psychology and statistics at Los Angeles Pierce College. Hashemi holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership and has worked as an adjunct professor. The family has been held at the Dilley ICE facility in Texas, where Hashemi has been separated from his wife and son.

A federal habeas case alleges depression, anxiety, and weight loss among all three. " Attorneys argue that Tahmasebi and her son have no criminal records and remain eligible for pre-conclusion voluntary departure. Newsweek contacted the Department of Justice on July 9 for comment on the opposition to the request.