After being detained by ICE for almost two months, Mahan and Mojan Motahari have been released from its custody. Both sisters are members of St. Thomas Church in McLean, Virginia. They are asylum seekers originally from Iran and were in the country legally at the time of their arrest.
The Rev. Fran Gardner-Smith, rector of St. Thomas, confirmed the sisters’ release to The Living Church. Mojan was freed on January 17, followed by Mahan—the elder of the two siblings—on January 21.
On their way to the mainland from the U.S. Virgin Islands on December 1, the sisters were pulled aside for questioning at Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas. A social media post shared by U.S. Customs and Border Protection described them as “two Iranian national women who were determined to be illegally present in the U.S.” Both have valid work permits, which were recently renewed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
From the Virgin Islands, a U.S. territory, they were transferred to the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Florida, where they were held until their release.
“I’m delighted beyond my wildest imagination. I’m so grateful,” Gardner-Smith told TLC on the evening of January 21. The rector had been actively advocating for the sisters’ release and raising awareness about their detention, with the support of the Diocese of Virginia. She said she is delighted for the sisters and their family, but acknowledged that the good news is a “drop in the bucket” compared with the overall situation affecting immigrants in the country.
“These are just two people who are caught in a system that’s so broken right now around immigration and they’ve done nothing wrong,” Gardner-Smith said. She was able to visit the Motaharis at the detention center on January 5. Together with Bishop Mark Stevenson of Virginia, she attended a court hearing on January 6 in Florida. The sisters’ habeas corpus petition was approved by a federal judge, paving the way for a bond hearing with ICE.
Habeas corpus is a legal procedure that allows individuals in government custody to challenge their detention in court. Both U.S. citizens and noncitizens have access to the legal remedy. A bond hearing determines a petitioner’s eligibility and, if granted, sets the stage for release.
The bond hearing for the Motaharis was held on January 16, when the judge granted bond, which is at least $1,500, according to an ICE document describing the bond hearing.
A petitioner’s family member, sponsor, or friend must pay the entire amount of the bond at the detention center or at the ICE office closest to the person paying the bond before a detainee is released. Only lawful permanent residents or U.S. citizens may pay the bond.
The Motaharis’ detention is the first such incident in the Diocese of Virginia. Since the beginning of the Trump administration and the increase in immigration enforcement activity by the Department of Homeland Security, Episcopalians from the dioceses of Los Angeles, New York, and Texas have been detained by ICE.
There are nearly 66,000 individuals in ICE detention, 73 percent of whom have no criminal conviction.
Caleb Maglaya Galaraga is The Living Church’s Episcopal Church reporter. His work has also appeared in Christianity Today, Broadview Magazine, and Presbyterian Outlook, among other publications.
