U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released Mandonna "Donna" Kashanian, a 64-year-old Iranian national, earlier this week after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise pressed the Department of Homeland Security to re-examine her case. Kashanian, who has lived in the United States for 47 years and whose husband and daughter are U.S. citizens, was picked up by ICE agents on June 22 while gardening outside her New Orleans home. Federal records show a deportation order against Kashanian was upheld in 1992 after she overstayed a student visa issued in 1978. The family’s attorney says immigration officials subsequently allowed her to remain in the country provided she checked in regularly—a requirement she met for decades, even during Hurricane Katrina. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the "facts of this case have not changed," adding that Kashanian "exhausted all her legal options." Scalise said he asked Homeland Security to give Kashanian "a fair shake" and argued she should be judged on her "life’s work" in the Lakeview community. More than 100 neighbors sent letters supporting her, and local Republican state lawmaker Stephanie Hilferty called Kashanian a dedicated volunteer with groups such as Habitat for Humanity. Kashanian’s legal status remains unresolved, underscoring broader tensions as ICE seeks to make roughly 3,000 arrests a day under Trump-era directives and Iranian Americans report heightened scrutiny following recent U.S. military strikes on Iran.