Mandonna “Donna” Kashanian, a 64-year-old Iranian woman, was recently released from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center. Together with her family, her community, and a growing movement nationwide, they fought to secure her release. Kashanian came to the United States on a student visa in 1978. She has lived here for 47 years, illegal in an immigration system that tends to wall off rather than welcome. Her fight caught national attention after she was arrested outside of her New Orleans residence on June 22.
Kashanian emigrated from Iran as a teenager, at the age of 17. He escaped the chaos of the Islamic revolution with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini at its head in 1979. As a result, she sought asylum almost immediately upon arrival, but was denied in 1984. Her final appeal was denied in 1993. Despite her earnest attempt to gain permanent residency via marriage, a federal appeals court decided in 2001 that her past fake marriage barred her from ever receiving legal status that way.
After being charged $40,000, for decades immigration officials ordered her deportation six times since 1983. However, time and time again, they permitted her exit to be voluntary—based on her “good moral character.” Yet through all this, Kashanian stayed in the U.S., eventually returning her community’s love by providing health care to those she took care of—her neighbors.
When Kashanian was outside tending her garden on June 22, she was arrested by ICE agents. She was transported to an ICE detention facility in Basile, Louisiana. The situation became so urgent once news of her detention spread that immediate plans for her release were made by her family and the community. Her husband, Russ Milne, and their 32-year-old daughter Kaitlynn quickly sprang to the rescue to get her out.
Connie Uddo, a very close family friend, organized a letter-writing campaign that showcased Kashanian’s broad, deep commitment to serving her community over decades. Realizing the strong support for the campaign, nearly more than 200 letters came in just the first week.
“We got a little over 200 letters in just a week,” – Connie Uddo
Those efforts caught the eye of surprise supporter Steve Scalise, the Republican U.S. House Majority Leader. Scalise worked with Russ and Kaitlynn Milne to help shine a light on Kashanian’s plight, helping them to reach the office of federal immigration officials.
Due largely to this advocacy, ICE was forced to release Kashanian back to her family. Uddo explained that the community’s enthusiasm for Kashanian’s case snowballed into a frenzied response, saying,
“People were calling constantly.” – Connie Uddo
Following her release, Scalise’s office indicated plans to collaborate with Kashanian’s attorney to explore potential options for asylum or permanent residency under current immigration laws.
Kashanian’s journey is emblematic of the uncertain, convoluted, and often unsafe paths countless individuals must navigate through the U.S. immigration system. The basis of her first asylum claim was based in a political desire to flee political persecution. And even with many hardships through the years, she has been nothing short of a pillar of her community.