Government Completely Backs Down After ACLU of Louisiana and RFK Human Rights Challenge Detention of University Students
BATON ROUGE, LA - The ACLU of Louisiana today announces the release and complete dismissal of all removal proceedings against Iranian LSU students Pouria Pourhosseinhendabad and Parisa Firouzabadi, who are married, after they were unlawfully arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Their release follows two separate habeas corpus petitions filed by the ACLU of Louisiana and RFK Human Rights, which represented both students, along with the efforts of their immigration attorney Ken Mayeaux, of Mayeaux & Associates L.C. in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At the time of their release, the government knew that bail requests for both students and a motion for a temporary restraining order for Parisa were in progress. The arrests happened in Baton Rouge at the couple’s off-campus apartment following President Trump’s order to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025.
“This victory is a powerful affirmation of immigrants’ rights and the fundamental guarantee of due process and equal protection in our legal system,” said Nora Ahmed, legal director for the ACLU of Louisiana. “This is the same kind of discrimination that occurred with the internment of Japanese Americans in the 1940s, which we committed never to repeat. And yet, we were right here on June 22, the day after the United States bombed Iran–indiscriminately rounding up Iranians on U.S. soil. Pouria and Parisa should never have been detained and we’re relieved they’re finally free. However, this case also underscores that when the government’s power is allowed to go unchecked, entire communities are left vulnerable to sweeping abuses of power. The fight for justice and accountability continues, and we remain committed to ensuring that no one, regardless of their immigration status, is denied their basic rights.”
Pouria’s petition for habeas corpus was filed July 10, 2025.
As his petition explained, Pouria’s enrollment and life in Louisiana had been uneventful since he arrived. But “mere hours after the bombing of Iran, the United States government started hunting for Iranians on its own soil.”
A federal magistrate judge recommended release for Pouria on July 14, 2025, stating that Pouria “has established that there is a grave risk he will suffer irreparable harm - specifically to include his possible continued detention . . . meanwhile, separation from his personal life, his work, and his studies at LSU, among other things.”
Parisa’s petition was filed separately on July 15, 2025. The following day – 24 days after Pouria and Parisa’s unlawful arrest and detention – the government agreed to release the couple after mounting outrage and public outcry.
As explained in court filings, the couple’s arrest and detention violated both the law and immigration procedures. Pouria is enrolled at LSU and, moreover, currently holds an active F-1 student visa. F-1 visa holders are legally admitted to the United States and, like all people present in the U.S., they are entitled to constitutional protections. Pouria remains enrolled at LSU and in full compliance with his visa requirements. Arresting and detaining him without any justification under the law violates due process, equal protection, the Fourth Amendment, and established immigration procedures.
Parisa was also unlawfully arrested and detained by ICE in Baton Rouge. Although Parisa’s student visa was revoked in 2023 and not renewed (a common practice which does not impact a student’s permission to continue their studies in the United States), Parisa nevertheless remained actively enrolled at LSU. In order to arrest her and her husband, despite their active enrollment at LSU, ICE used state police to effectuate a ruse in which agents pretended they were responding to a hit-and-run the couple reported previously. Police used these false pretenses to lure Parisa and Pouria out of their home so that ICE could arrest them.
“Due process isn’t just a legal term - it’s all that protects us from the whims of a capricious government,” said Sarah Gillman, Director of Strategic U.S. Litigation, RFK Human Rights. “Pouria and Parisa came to the U.S. legally, have no criminal records, and have spent years taking classes and pursuing their studies. Faced with undeniable evidence that the Trump administration arbitrarily and unlawfully targeted them on the basis of their nationality, after filing of federal lawsuits for both Pouria and Parisa they were released. We celebrate their release, and we stand ready to defend countless others like them who are being arrested without due process and denied their basic rights.”
"We are incredibly thankful for the support of the ACLU of Louisiana and RFKHR in vindicating Parisa's and Pouria's rights in their cases,” said Ken Mayeaux, of Mayeaux & Associates, L.C. “When the Government faced the prospect of having to show their cards both in Federal Court and Immigration Court, they folded. We are grateful that as a result of these efforts, our clients can return home and continue their lives with their family and friends in the LSU community."
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