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NEW ORLEANS (AP) 鈥� An Iranian mother detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers has been released this week following advocacy from Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

Mandonna 鈥淒onna鈥� Kashanian, 64, was detained by ICE officers last month as she gardened in the yard of her New Orleans home. She had been living in the United States for 47 years, and her husband and daughter are both U.S. citizens.

Kashanian had been allowed to stay in the U.S. as long as she checked in regularly with immigration authorities, as she had done without fail, her family and attorney said.

After a surge of community support for Kashanian, Scalise, who represents Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District, including the New Orleans suburbs, that he asked the Department of Homeland Security to give Kashanian 鈥渁 fair shake.鈥�

Scalise said Kashanian should be judged on 鈥渉er life鈥檚 work鈥� and role in her community.

鈥淲hen she was picked up, we looked at it and said, 鈥楢re they really looking at it the right way, objectively?鈥欌�� Scalise told WDSU. 鈥淎nd so they took a second look at it.鈥�

Scalise鈥檚 office did not respond to a request for comment from the AP.

Scalise鈥檚 intervention was 鈥渁bsolutely crucial鈥� to behind-the-scenes advocacy to secure Kashanian鈥檚 release, her attorney Ken Mayeaux told The Associated Press. What happens next for Kashanian’s legal status is still being worked out, said.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement that 鈥渢he facts of this case have not changed.鈥�

鈥淢andonna Kashanian is in this country illegally,鈥� McLaughlin said. 鈥淪he exhausted all her legal options.鈥�

Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, a Republican who represents Kashanian鈥檚 community, said she had been a 鈥渄evoted mother and wife, a caretaker, neighbor and dedicated volunteer鈥� with Habitat for Humanity, her local school district and other organizations.

More than 100 of Kashanian鈥檚 neighbors wrote letters of support for her, which Hilferty told the AP she and Scalise had shared with President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration.

鈥淪he鈥檚 just been an incredible volunteer and servant to our Lakeview community, everybody knows her because of all she gives and does,鈥� said Connie Uddo, a neighbor of Kashanian鈥檚 who leads the NOLA Tree Project where Kashanian and her husband have volunteered for years.

Some neighbors wrote letters addressed to Trump expressing support for his immigration policies but saying that some people like Kashanian were being detained improperly and urging him to reconsider her case.

Kashanian had arrived in the U.S. in 1978 on a student visa and unsuccessfully applied for asylum based on her father’s support of the U.S.-backed shah.

ICE New Orleans said in a June post on the social platform X that Kashanian had failed to depart the U.S. after the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld a deportation order in 1992.

鈥淪he was ordered by a judge to depart the U.S. and didn鈥檛,鈥� the agency said. 鈥淪houldn鈥檛 be a surprise we came knocking.鈥�

But Kashanian was allowed to remain with her husband and child as long as she checked in regularly with immigration authorities, her family said. For decades, she had 鈥渇aithfully and fully complied with those terms,鈥� said Mayeaux, her attorney. She even managed to check in with authorities while displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Kashanian met her husband, Russell Milne while bartending as a student in the late 1980s. She filmed Persian cooking tutorials on YouTube and doted on the neighboring children.

Milne told the AP his family was 鈥渆xtremely grateful鈥� for all the support from their community and elected officials.

鈥淪he鈥檚 meeting her obligations,鈥� Milne told the AP following her detention. 鈥淪he鈥檚 retirement age. She鈥檚 not a threat. Who picks up a grandmother?鈥�

Other Iranians living in the U.S. for decades have also been picked up by immigration authorities, and U.S. military strikes on Iran have raised concerns that more may be taken into custody and deported. Iran was one of 12 countries subject to a U.S. travel ban that took effect this month.

Immigration authorities are seeking to arrest 3,000 people a day under directives from the Trump administration.

Kashanian’s attorney Mayeaux said he represents other clients who had built lives in the U.S. over decades and are now being detained and deported.

鈥淭here is still a tremendous amount of heartache that is happening for people,鈥� Mayeaux said. “The difference is they lived quiet lives and didn鈥檛 have access to political power to change the outcomes in their cases.”

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.