Democratic Vetting Failure: Terror Families Got Green Cards Under Obama and Biden

The son of "Screaming Mary," the Iranian propagandist who lied about torture while 52 Americans endured 444 days of captivity, received a green card under the Obama administration. The niece of a designated terrorist general obtained asylum and permanent residency under President Biden. Now Secretary of State Marco Rubio is stripping them of status and deporting them, exposing a decade of Democratic vetting failures that enabled Iranian regime operatives to embed in American cities while their families operated terror networks abroad.

Federal agents arrested Seyed Eissa Hashemi, his wife Maryam Tahmasebi, and their son in Los Angeles on April 11–12, ending their eight-year U.S. residency. Hashemi is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, the notorious 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis spokesperson known as "Screaming Mary." Ebtekar served as Vice President for Women and Family Affairs after orchestrating propaganda that concealed beatings, starvation, and mock executions of American hostages.

"Masoumeh Ebtekar was the spokeswoman for the Islamic terrorists who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979," Rubio stated in an April 11 social media post. "In 2014, the Obama Administration granted visas to her son and his family to enter the United States. In June 2016, the Obama Administration gave them lawful permanent resident status via the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program."

At least four Iranian nationals with direct family ties to senior regime officials have had green cards revoked since April 3. The pattern reveals systemic vetting failures across Democratic administrations that approved immigration benefits despite publicly documented terrorist connections.

Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, niece of slain IRGC General Qasem Soleimani, and her daughter lost status on April 3. ICE arrested them in Los Angeles the following day. Afshar obtained asylum in 2019 and a green card in 2021 under Biden administration policies.

"Until recently, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were green card holders living lavishly in the United States," Rubio declared April 4. "She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the 'Great Satan.'"

The Biden-approved permanent residency rested on fraudulent foundations. Afshar made four trips to Iran after receiving her green card, contradicting asylum claims that she faced persecution there. The Department of Homeland Security determined her asylum application was fraudulent based on this travel pattern.

Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of former Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani, and her husband also lost status earlier this month. Larijani died in a March 17 U.S.-Israel airstrike. The couple has left the United States and faces permanent entry bans.

These individuals maintained professional American lives while their families directed Iran's security apparatus from Tehran. Hashemi and Tahmasebi worked as psychology professors at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles. Afshar lived in Los Angeles while her uncle commanded the Quds Force operations targeting American troops across the Middle East.

Rubio's actions reverse Obama and Biden administration decisions through executive authority. The legal mechanism allows termination of status for national security threats, bypassing lengthy immigration court proceedings.

"It is a privilege to be granted a green card to live in the United States of America," DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis told media outlets. "If we have reason to believe a green card holder poses a threat to the U.S., the green card will be revoked."

Iranian-American activists warn the deportations represent minimal progress against a larger threat. "These people can be sleeper cells, and at the right time, they may get activated," said journalist Shayan Khosravanifarahani. "They are really rooted in America, and that is why what Department of Homeland Security is doing is so valid."

Morgan Mahdizadeh, another activist, described the Democratic approach as willful blindness. "The Democratic administration just closed their eyes to this," Mahdizadeh told reporters. "This is just the tip of the iceberg."

Former Assistant FBI Director Chris Swecker amplified security concerns in recent Fox News interviews. "If ever there's going to be a Hezbollah cell or a Hamas cell act in the United States in a violent way, it's now," Swecker said. "Both organizations are Iranian-backed all the way."

The Hashemi family entered the United States on September 1, 2014, using F-1 student visas issued by the Obama administration. They received permanent residency through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program two years later. Ebtekar's role in the hostage crisis and subsequent government positions were matters of public record throughout both application processes.

Afshar and her daughter entered the United States in July 2015 on tourist and student visas. Their asylum approval in 2019 and subsequent green card grants in 2021 and 2023 occurred during the period when Soleimani remained a designated terrorist for orchestrating attacks against American forces.

The policy reversal highlights divergent approaches to national security between administrations. Rubio framed the deportations as fundamental corrections to prior negligence. "Her family should never have been allowed to benefit from the extraordinary privilege of living in our country," he stated regarding the Hashemi case. "America can never become home for anti-American terrorists or their families—and under the Trump Administration, it never will."