Marco Rubio revoked two Iranian women’s green cards based on a Laura Loomer tweet. A Drop Site report shows the connection was never real.

Two Iranian women, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter Sarina Hosseiny, are still being held in immigration detention after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their green cards. The decision was based on a tweet from right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who claimed the women were related to late Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani. 

But Drop Site News found that the women’s own documents, including birth certificates, identification papers, and family photographs, show no connection to Soleimani or his family whatsoever. Hamideh, 47, suffers from autoimmune hemolytic anemia, a condition that requires regular treatment and blood transfusions. 

She is not receiving the treatment she needs in detention. Her daughter Sarina, 25, says her mother is regularly losing consciousness due to dangerously low hemoglobin levels, and the facility where they are being held does not have the equipment needed to perform a blood transfusion.

Rubio acted on a social media post, but the women’s documents tell a completely different story

Their friends say the women’s asylum claim was legitimate and that they were not living comfortably in the US, as the State Department suggested. In fact, they had been behind on mortgage payments and were relying on friends to help pay for legal support while in ICE detention. A GoFundMe set up by their friends to cover legal costs has been verified as legitimate.

The situation started when Loomer posted on social media, calling for the deportation of a woman she claimed was Soleimani’s niece, and tagged Rubio in the post. Rubio then released a statement identifying the women as “the niece and grandniece of deceased Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qasem Soleimani.” 

The State Department also alleged the women were living a lavish lifestyle in the US while calling America “the Great Satan.” However, a review of the women’s personal documents reveals no such family connection. Sarina and her mother had applied for asylum in the US, saying they were political dissidents in Iran. 

The trouble began when Sarina, at age 12, took part in a dance performance while on vacation in Turkey. The performance was filmed and later broadcast on the satellite channel “TV Persia,” which is banned in Iran but widely watched. Because of this, Sarina was expelled first from her public school and then from her private school in Iran, forcing the family to eventually leave the country.

While the State Department has argued that the women’s asylum claim was weakened by the fact that they later returned to Iran, their friends and supporters say those trips were safe and did not affect their asylum case. Immigration attorney Patrick Taurel has also raised serious concerns about the evidence used to detain them, saying, “Based on what I have seen firsthand as an immigration lawyer… I would not be surprised if the recent targeting of Iranians is based on shoddy and unreliable evidence.”

One of the women’s friends, Demi Uredi, described the situation plainly: “They’re about to lose everything that they’ve built here, because no one’s willing to help.” The case has drawn attention as an example of how a single social media post, without verified facts, can trigger serious government action against individuals in the US immigration system.

Loomer has publicly stated that she wants all Islamic immigrants deported, regardless of their asylum claims. Rubio’s decision to revoke the women’s green cards based on her tweet, without verified evidence of any connection to Soleimani, has drawn significant criticism. 

Broader concerns about national security have also grown, with the FBI warning about rising domestic terror threats and what is happening inside the Justice Department raising further questions about how immigration enforcement decisions are being made under the current administration.