Adopted As A Toddler By US War Veteran, An Iran-Born Woman Faces Deportation Over Visa Issue

Last Updated:February 22, 2026, 09:28 IST

The letter from the Department of Homeland Security says she is eligible for removal because she overstayed her visa in March 1974 — when she was 4 years old.

A woman adopted from Iran as a toddler by an American war veteran is now facing deportation to the country she left more than 50 years ago.

Found in an Iranian orphanage in 1972 and raised in the United States as a Christian, she was ordered earlier this month to appear before an immigration judge in California.

The letter from the Department of Homeland Security says she is eligible for removal because she overstayed her visa in March 1974 — when she was 4 years old. She has no criminal record.

“I never imagined it would get to where it is today," she said. Fearing deportation to Iran, she added, “I always told myself that there is no way that this country could possibly send someone to their death in a country they left as an orphan. How could the United States do that?"

She is among thousands of international adoptees who were never granted citizenship because their parents did not complete a separate naturalization process required at the time. She only learned she was not a citizen at 38, when she applied for a passport. Her parents have since died.

Her father, a former Air Force officer and World War II prisoner of war, adopted her with his wife while working in Iran as a government contractor. The family returned to the U.S. in 1973, and her adoption was finalized in 1975.

A lawyer’s letter from that year suggested her immigration matter was concluded. She still does not know what went wrong.

She has spent years trying to fix her status, contacting federal agencies and lawmakers. Her congresswoman’s office recently told her it was “not able to advise or interfere."

“It just baffles me that it’s OK to send me to a foreign country that I could potentially die or I could get imprisoned because of a clerical error," she said.

A judge has postponed her hearing until next month and ruled she does not have to appear in person.

The case comes as deportations have increased under President Donald Trump. While the administration says it is targeting criminals, many people without records have also been caught up.

In 2000, Congress passed a law granting automatic citizenship to many international adoptees, but it did not apply retroactively to those born before Feb. 27, 1983. Advocates have pushed for years to fix the gap.

“I’m horrified. It’s rare for me to feel shocked by a story these days. But this is an absolutely unbelievable situation," said Hannah Daniel, a former policy director with the Southern Baptist Convention’s lobbying arm.

She called the situation “un-American and unconscionable."

Ryan Brown, CEO of Open Doors, said converts to Christianity in Iran are often treated as enemies of the state.

“It is assumed that you are an enemy of the state. It is assumed that if you are a Christian, that you are aligned to the West and you desire to see that the regime toppled," he said. “There is no benefit of the doubt extended."

Converted Christians are routinely arrested, he said, and some receive death sentences. Prisons are harsh, especially for women.

The woman fears Iran would be even more suspicious of her because of her father’s military service. She says she has lived an entirely American life.

“I’m proud of my father’s legacy. I’m part of his legacy. And what’s happening to me is wrong," she said. “And I know that he was here, it would break his heart to know that I’m on this path."

(With inputs from AP)

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