81-year-old Iranian man freed after seven months in ICE detention
Sep 3, 2026·Location: Nashville, TN
Country of origin: Iran

Hasan Besharat, an 81-year-old Iranian immigrant who came to the U.S. legally on a student visa in 1974 and earned an engineering degree in Nashville, was detained by ICE during a routine check-in in late February despite decades of compliance with an order of supervision. He was held at the CoreCivic-run West Tennessee Detention Center in Mason, where his attorney said his health declined; he is 81, weighs barely 100 pounds, and has high blood pressure. His legal team filed multiple petitions, including two writs of habeas corpus, and Tennessee State Sen. Raumesh Akbari and community members advocated for his release. Besharat, who has a U.S. citizen brother and two U.S. citizen sons, is scheduled to be released and reunited with his family.
Sources
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