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An Iranian Donald Trump supporter who has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) still stands by her decision to vote for him.

Arpineh Masihi, 39, was detained by ICE agents in front of her family at their home in Diamond Bar, Los Angeles, on June 30.

Her husband, Arthur Sahakyan, said they received an anonymous call that morning saying she would be detained, but they put this down to a prank related to the Trump flags outside.

Highlights
  • Arpineh Masihi, an Iranian Trump supporter, was detained by ICE in front of her family in Diamond Bar on June 30.
  • Masihi firmly supports Trump and says he's doing the right thing.
  • Masihi’s green card was revoked after a 2008 burglary conviction; she blames Democrats for her current detention.
  • DHS labels Masihi a 'criminal illegal alien' and notes she had 15 years to self-deport following a 2009 removal order.
  • Her detention coincides with increased arrests of Iranian nationals amid fears of sleeper cells tied to Trump’s Iran strikes.
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    Arpineh Masihi still supports Trump after being detained by ICE

    Image credits: FOX 11

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    Masihi, who was two when she fled to the U.S. from Iran, is now being held indefinitely at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Victorville.

    But despite her circumstances, she continues to back the U.S. president and says he is doing the right thing.

    “I vote Trump all the way. I’ll never take it back,” she told a reporter from The Orange County Register over the phone.

    “He did the right thing … He’s doing the right thing. I would never take it back. And a lot of people hate me in here for that.”

    Masihi said most of the people at the facility are “all from the border” and many of them don’t speak English.

    Image credits: Mario Tama/Getty Images

    But it is better than the first facility she was held at, Masihi said.

    “The other facility I was in was the worst facility in the world,” she said. “We had no showers for three days … we had no blankets, anything.”

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    While she had a green card, it was revoked in 2008 when she was convicted of burglary and spent two years in prison.

    Both Masihi and Sahakyan say it was an incident of “petty crime” and involved less than $200, but she has been unable to remove the conviction from her record.

    Masihi has placed some blame for her detention on the Biden administration.

    Image credits: FOX 11

    While she conceded she would not be in custody if she hadn’t “made the mistake when I was young,” she said she blamed “the Democrats for allowing people in, because Trump would never have done this.”

    Sahakyan told The Orange County Register that in April, Masihi had met with immigration authorities who reportedly assured her that the matter would be resolved.

    But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described Masihi as “a criminal illegal alien from Iran” in a statement to the publication.

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    “She was convicted of burglary and sentenced to two years in prison in 2008,” a senior DHS official said.

    The couple hopes to resolve the issue in the courts

    “Following her criminal conviction, she was placed into immigration proceedings.”

    “A judge issued her a final order of removal on June 24, 2009. She had more than 15 years to self-deport and leave the U.S.

    “Under President Trump and (DHS) Secretary (Kristi) Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences,” they said.

    “Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.”

    Sahakyan has defended his wife and hopes the matter will be resolved in the courts, with the couple having spent a lot of money over the years trying to get Masihi’s citizenship back.

    “She made mistakes,” he said. “But we all make mistakes.”

    Masihi hopes she will receive a court date soon and said ICE could have released her with an ankle monitor after 48 hours.

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    “Emotionally, I’m broken,” Masihi said. “Mentally, I don’t even know who I am.”

    Her arrest comes amid fears that Iranian sleeper cells in the U.S. could be activated in response to Trump launching strikes on several nuclear facilities in Iran.

    According to Fox News, more than 130 Iranian nationals have been arrested across the U.S. since Trump launched the strikes on June 23.