US Judge Blocks Deportation, Orders Release of Iranian PhD Candidate from ICE Custody

According to Saed News, on July 14, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph H.L. Perez‑Montes of the Western District of Louisiana granted a writ mandating the freedom of 29‑year‑old Pouria Pourhossein‑Hendabad—an Iranian mechanical engineering doctoral candidate at Louisiana State University—declaring his arrest and proposed removal unlawful. Despite holding a valid F‑1 visa through 2030, Pourhossein‑Hendabad and his wife, Parisa Firouzabadi, were detained on June 22 at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center following an ICE operation conducted under a “false pretext,” the court filings state.

Court documents allege that, after reporting a hit‑and‑run collision, local police arrived at the couple’s Baton Rouge apartment without a warrant, ostensibly to investigate the accident. Instead, they escorted the couple to the building’s lobby, where masked ICE agents in tactical gear awaited with arrest orders. “No evidence was presented to justify this abrupt detention,” the judge observed in his opinion.

The ruling underscores mounting judicial scrutiny of ICE’s “targeted enforcement” policies, spearheaded by Director Todd Lyons, which have disproportionately affected nationals from “high‑risk” countries such as Iran. In June alone, ICE detained 670 Iranian citizens nationwide amid a broader travel ban that singles out Iranian nationals. Human rights advocates have decried these actions as “humiliating” and “racially discriminatory,” prompting Tehran to vow diplomatic interventions on behalf of its citizens.

While the decision offers relief for Pourhossein‑Hendabad, immigration rights groups caution that many remain in prolonged detention without bond hearings. As U.S. courts increasingly challenge executive overreach, this case may signal a pivotal shift in the balance between national security priorities and due‑process protections for foreign students.