A judge has ordered the release of two Iranian-born LSU students from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, where they have been detained since late June.
Pouria Pourhosseinhendabad and Parisa Firouzabadi, a married couple enrolled in the mechanical engineering Ph.D. program at LSU, were released this week on the recommendation of a federal magistrate, according to a news release from the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana.
“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.
The pair were arrested at their off-campus apartment in Baton Rouge in late June. Both have legal status to study in the United States, according to the ACLU.
The couple’s attorneys allege their arrests were illegal. According to the release, ICE used state police to get the couple to step out of their apartment to discuss a hit-and-run they reported previously so that ICE could arrest them.
“Pouria and Parisa came to the U.S. legally, have no criminal records, and have spent years taking classes and pursuing their studies,” said Sarah Gillman, who leads strategic U.S. litigation for the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization. “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.”
Ken Mayeaux, an immigration attorney representing the couple, said they will return to their studies at LSU.
Their arrests came days after President Donald Trump authorized the U.S. military to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities. ICE has reported multiple arrests of Iranian nationals in the U.S. since then, including at least one other Iranian woman who’s lived in New Orleans for nearly 50 years, the Times- Picayune reported. She has also been released from ICE detention.
LSU enrolls thousands of international students, many seeking advanced degrees. According to a 2024 report from the Institute of International Education, there are more than 1 million international students enrolled in U.S. colleges in universities, with approximately 12,000 from Iran.
To study in the United States, international graduate students need to be accepted not only by their university, department and faculty adviser, but they also obtain legal status from the U.S. State Department.
Inside Higher Ed has identified nearly 2,000 international students and recent graduates who have had their legal status suddenly changed. Attorneys for many of the students have alleged they were targeted for their speech. The Trump administration announced earlier this year it would monitor immigrants’ social media for “antisemitism.”
The Trump administration has cracked down on international students who they say have forfeited their right to be educated in the U.S., leaving hundreds at risk of deportation.