The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on April 16 that it was attempting to deport Iranian media commentator Yousof Azizi, who allegedly lied on his visa application.
A DHS spokesman said Azizi was arrested on April 13.
“Azizi lied on his visa application and denied ever being a member of the Student Basij Organization in Iran, which supports the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], from approximately 2006–2010,” the DHS spokesman said.
The Basij is a pro-regime volunteer militia in Iran, and the Student Basij Organization has been sanctioned by the European Union since May 2023.
Azizi is in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody and not available for comment, and The Epoch Times is unable to verify DHS’s assertion that he was a member of the Student Basij Organization.
The commander of the Basij, Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, was killed by an Israeli air strike last month.
As part of U.S. visa applications, applicants must confirm whether they have been a member of a “paramilitary unit, vigilante unit, rebel group, guerrilla group, or insurgent organization.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been designated as a terrorist organization since April 15, 2019.
Azizi has appeared as a media commentator on Iran and U.S. foreign policy toward Iran on BBC Persian, Sky News, and at the Middle East Institute think tank.
DHS Promises Due Process
DHS said Azizi would remain in ICE custody and receive due process.Azizi’s LinkedIn profile states that he is an “advanced PhD student” in the Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs.
It states, “He is currently focused on his dissertation research on U.S. foreign policy decision-making, presidential studies, and Iran’s nuclear program.”
‘Egregious Violation’ of Rights
The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group, called on ICE to release Azizi immediately.“The Trump administration is once again using ICE as a secret police to target those who speak out against injustice and war crimes,” CAIR said in a statement on April 15.
“Detaining Mr. Azizi allegedly because of his criticism of the illegal U.S. war on Iran is an egregious violation of civil and human rights and our Constitution.”
An online petition calling for Azizi’s release has garnered nearly 3,000 signatures, including those of Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) have also signed it.
CAIR said Azizi was detained by ICE in Baltimore, then transferred to either California or Louisiana, on April 14, despite a habeas petition and motion for a bond hearing being filed in Maryland. The Epoch Times could not independently verify these claims.
The Epoch Times reached out to Azizi’s representatives for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Amnesty International USA and the International Bar Association have claimed that the Trump administration has deliberately targeted for deportation foreign nationals who have criticized U.S. foreign policy or Israel.
