Trump Administration Revokes Green Cards, Visas of Iranian Nationals Tied to Tehran

(UNITED STATES) — The Trump administration revoked green cards and visas in early April 2026 for Iranian nationals it said had ties to the Tehran government, taking the rare step of stripping some U.S. residents of lawful permanent status and opening the way for detention and deportation.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the move in a formal statement on April 4, 2026, while the Department of Homeland Security said the administration would revoke legal status when it believed a green card holder threatened the United States.

“The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes,” Rubio said in a State Department press release.

Rubio followed with a statement on X on April 4, 2026, naming Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and tying her case directly to the administration’s broader action against people linked to Iran’s leadership. “Hamideh Soleimani Afshar. is an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime that has celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the ‘Great Satan.’ . The Trump administration will not allow our country to become a haven for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.”

DHS issued its own statement the same day, framing lawful permanent residence as conditional. “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.”

At least four high-profile Iranian nationals had their status rescinded in the first week of April 2026. The actions hit both people living in the United States and others whose visas had allowed them to enter or remain in the country.

Among the most prominent cases were Afshar and her daughter, identified as the niece and grand-niece of the late IRGC General Qassem Soleimani. ICE agents arrested them in Los Angeles on April 3, 2026, after revoking their green cards.

Another case involved Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of former Iranian security official Ali Larijani. Authorities revoked her visa and that of her husband, Seyed Kalantar Motamedi, and both have reportedly left the United States.

The legal basis for the revocations came from discretionary powers and national security provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act, according to statements from the State Department and DHS. In Afshar’s case, DHS cited “fraudulent” asylum claims and said she had traveled back to Iran at least four times after receiving U.S. residency.

That enforcement action unfolded within a broader policy framework that the administration had already put in place at the start of the year. Presidential Proclamation 10998, effective Jan. 1, 2026, suspended the issuance of most visas for Iranian nationals.

USCIS also issued Policy Memoranda PM-602-0192 and PM-602-0194, which placed an indefinite hold on pending immigration benefits for citizens of “fully banned” countries. Those directives reached beyond new visa issuance and affected people already inside the United States.

One of the most consequential effects involved Adjustment of Status, the I-485 process that many applicants use to seek green cards from within the country. Under the 2026 policy, adjudicators put that path on hold for Iranians, closing off a route that had remained available in past crackdowns.

That marks a sharper approach than earlier restrictions aimed mainly at travel or visa issuance abroad. By moving against residents who had already secured green cards, the administration pushed immigration enforcement deeper into domestic life.

The step is described in the administration’s own policy context as an “exceedingly rare” one. Revoking green cards of people already living in the United States has long been unusual, and the move signaled that the Trump administration was using immigration tools as part of a wider campaign against figures linked to the Tehran government.

For those targeted, the consequences are immediate. Once authorities revoke lawful status, affected people lose work authorization and can face detention by ICE as deportation proceedings begin.

That threat became concrete in Los Angeles, where Afshar and her daughter were taken into custody on April 3, 2026. Their case quickly became the clearest example of how the administration intended to enforce its policy on the ground.

Rubio’s statement made clear that the administration saw family ties to senior Iranian figures, public support for the Iranian regime and national security concerns as grounds for action. His April 4 message did not present the move as an isolated enforcement case, but as part of a broader line against those it says support a government hostile to the United States.

DHS cast the same policy in security terms. Its April 4 statement linked the loss of green cards directly to perceived risk, without drawing a distinction between people seeking entry and those who had already been admitted as lawful permanent residents.

That approach also narrows the options for Iranians who are not yet permanent residents but had expected to adjust status while remaining in the country. With the I-485 adjudication hold in place, a process once used to move from temporary presence to green cards no longer offers the same route for nationals of countries covered by the ban.

The administration’s policy rests on two tracks. One blocks most new visas through Presidential Proclamation 10998, and the other freezes pending immigration benefits through USCIS guidance reflected in USCIS Newsroom updates dated March 30 – April 5, 2026.

Together, those steps close what officials viewed as gaps left by earlier restrictions. They also widen the practical reach of immigration enforcement from consular processing overseas to people already living and working inside the United States.

The cases named publicly so far involve relatives of senior Iranian figures, but the language used by Rubio and DHS reaches more broadly. It focuses on support for what Rubio called “anti-American terrorist regimes” and on national security authority under the INA.

In Afshar’s case, the administration also cited conduct it said undercut her asylum claim. DHS said she returned to Iran at least four times after gaining residency in the United States, a fact it used to characterize her asylum case as “fraudulent.”

That detail matters because asylum depends on claims of fear or persecution, and return travel can draw scrutiny. In this case, DHS presented it as part of the basis for revoking status, not as a separate administrative issue.

The Larijani case showed a different outcome. Instead of arrest and detention, the revocation of visas for Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani and Seyed Kalantar Motamedi ended with their departure from the United States.

Those two cases illustrated how the administration can apply the same policy through different mechanisms depending on the person’s status. Green card holders can face arrest and removal proceedings inside the country, while visa holders can lose their permission to remain and leave.

Official statements did not frame the move as temporary. USCIS memoranda placed an indefinite hold on pending immigration benefits for citizens of “fully banned” countries, and the proclamation suspending most visas for Iranian nationals took effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

That combination leaves little room for ordinary immigration processing to continue for affected Iranians. New entries have been restricted, pending benefits have been frozen and, in some cases, existing green cards have been revoked.

Rubio’s language also showed how closely the administration linked immigration policy to its Iran posture. He did not speak in technical terms about visa eligibility or residency review, but in political terms about preventing the United States from becoming a refuge for people tied to the Iranian regime.

The DHS statement reinforced that message in plainer language about lawful status. By calling a green card “a privilege,” the department signaled that it would treat permanent residence as revocable whenever officials concluded that security concerns outweighed continued status.

The administration has not publicly described the action as routine. The facts released so far point instead to a targeted effort against high-profile Iranian nationals with family or political ties to the Tehran government and, in Afshar’s case, to alleged fraud in the immigration process.

Government agencies have continued to post related material through their regular channels, including the DHS official news site. The updates from March 30 through April 5, 2026, place the revocations within a larger tightening of immigration policy toward Iranian nationals.

For Iranian residents and applicants in the United States, the policy changes carry immediate legal and personal stakes. A revoked green card means the loss of legal status, the loss of permission to work and the risk that ICE can detain the person and place them into deportation proceedings.

For the Trump administration, the move represents a forceful use of immigration law against people it says support the Iranian regime. For those caught in the first wave, the message came in arrests, revoked documents and a warning from Rubio that the United States would not become “a haven for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.”