Newly released government data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request has exposed a widespread surge in detentions of Iranian nationals carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that coincided with American and Israeli military strikes on Iran in 2025, according to the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).
The advocacy group announced Wednesday that ICE ramped up arrests of people of Iranian citizenship and descent immediately following the escalation of conflict in the Middle East that began in late February 2025. Between the opening of U.S. military strikes in June 2025 and the following month, ICE recorded 300 total arrests: 220 detentions in June alone, and an additional 80 in July. This crackdown aligned with a major U.S. bombing campaign targeting three key Iranian nuclear sites—Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan—carried out after Israel launched its initial attack on Iran.
As of December 21, 2025, the total number of Iranian nationals held in ICE detention facilities across the country has reached 577. The demographic scope of these detentions is remarkably broad: records show the oldest detainee is 77 years old, while the youngest is a five-year-old child. The child was taken into custody in November, alongside individuals believed to be members of their immediate family, and is currently being held at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.
NIAC’s analysis of the released records notes that seven of the 577 detained Iranians are legal permanent residents (LPRs), commonly known as green card holders. ICE has cited past criminal offenses as the official justification for holding these seven individuals. The full legal status of all detained Iranian nationals has not been disclosed by NIAC, and it remains unclear whether U.S. authorities provided complete information on statuses in their response to the FOIA request.
This wave of detentions is part of a broader, escalating administration push to revoke legal residency for Iranian nationals already residing within U.S. borders. Earlier in 2025, the Trump administration revoked the green cards of three Iranian nationals, including the son of a figure connected to the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. Seyed Eissa Hashemi, his wife, and his son all lost their lawful permanent residence status; Hashemi is the son of former Iranian politician Masoumeh Ebtekar.
The ongoing U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran, which launched on February 28, 2025, has drawn increased scrutiny to the targeting of Iranian community members within the U.S. by federal immigration authorities. In early April 2025, ICE arrested two women who had publicly claimed to be relatives of assassinated Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. Subsequent reporting by Drop Site News, which verified the pair’s identities through Iranian birth records, government identification, family estate documents and other personal records, disproved these claims, confirming the women had no familial connection to Soleimani at all. In fact, outlet reporting found one of the women, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, had participated in anti-Islamic Republic protests in Iran during the 1990s and 2000s, and served a week in prison for her activism before resettling in the U.S.
The targeting of Iranian nationals comes as ICE broadens its crackdown on legal permanent residents across the U.S. In a separate high-profile case, Mohsen Mahdawi’s legal team confirmed Thursday that the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals has reinstated deportation proceedings against the Palestinian green card holder. Mahdawi gained national attention for helping lead high-profile anti-war protests on Columbia University’s campus last year, and was originally detained by ICE during a scheduled citizenship interview in Vermont in mid-April 2024.