The “Screaming Mary” Legacy: U.S. Revokes Residency for Family of Former Iranian Vice President
LOS ANGELES – In a move that signals a hardening stance against the families of Iranian regime officials, the U.S. Department of State has officially revoked the permanent residency (Green Cards) of Seyed Eissa Hashemi, his wife, and their young son.
Hashemi is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, a high-ranking Iranian politician who served as Vice President from 2017 to 2021. However, she is most notoriously known in the West as “Screaming Mary,” the English-speaking spokes woman for the radical students who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, holding 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
From Permanent Residency to ICE Custody
The announcement, made on Saturday, April 11, 2026, confirmed that federal agents had taken the trio into custody. According to reports, the family is currently being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) pending deportation proceedings.
The timeline of their residency has become a point of political friction
- 2014: The family entered the United States on visas issued during the Obama administration.
- 2016: They obtained Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (commonly known as the “Green Card Lottery”).
- 2026: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the termination of their legal status, citing their direct ties to the Iranian establishment.
A Diplomatic Message in “All Caps”
The revocation comes at a time of extreme tension between Washington and Tehran. U.S. officials framed the move as a matter of national security and moral consistency, arguing that those tied to “anti-American regimes” should not benefit from American hospitality.
”America can never become home for anti-American terrorists or their families,”
Secretary Rubio stated following the arrests. “Her family should never have been allowed to benefit from the extraordinary privilege of living in our country.”
This action is part of a broader crackdown. Just last week, the State Department took similar action against the niece and grand-niece of the late IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani, signaling that the “bloodline policy” for sanctions is now being actively enforced.
While the Iranian government has characterized the move as “hostage-taking of civilians,” the U.S. administration maintains that the revocation of a Green Card is a discretionary power used to protect foreign policy interests.
The deportation of a psychology teacher (Hashemi) and his family from the Los Angeles area serves as a stark reminder; in the current geopolitical climate, the “sins of the mother” have become a heavy burden for the next generation to carry on American soil.
