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Iranian-born teen's family held over grandmother's role in 1979 hostage crisis

Apr 2026·Location: Dilley, TX

Country of origin: Iran

Iranian-born teen's family held over grandmother's role in 1979 hostage crisis
Photo via Texas Tribune

S.M.H., a 16-year-old Los Angeles high school student and aspiring tennis player, was detained by ICE in April 2026 along with his parents, Maryam and Eissa Tahmasebi—both educators, with Maryam a professor at Los Angeles Pierce College—after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked the family's green cards. Lawyers say the family, all permanent residents, is being punished because Eissa's mother, at age 19, served as a spokesperson for the student group that held Americans hostage in Iran in 1979, calling it unprecedented "bloodline punishment" for actions preceding their births. S.M.H. and his mother have been held for more than 120 days at the Dilley family detention center—far exceeding the 20-day Flores settlement limit—while his father is detained separately, with the family limited to 10-minute biweekly phone calls. In a letter published in The Nation, Maryam described the ordeal as an "unendurable, unending nightmare," while immigration lawyer Hassan Ahmad said he has not seen foreign policy grounds used to detain people based solely on family relationship rather than individual conduct.

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