An alleged ex-Iranian army sniper, held by ICE agents in Alabama, can now be forced to leave his pregnant woman behind while confronted with deportation.
Ribvar Karimi was one of a group of 11 Iranian nationals who were arrested this weekend and accused of being illegal in the country, said the Ministry of Interior Security.
The arrests came hours after President Donald Trump ordered a series of strikes against Iran.
Karimi “reportedly served as an Iranian army sniper” between 2018 and 2021, the DHS said Tuesday.
In his arrest on Sunday, the man was accused of having an Islamic Republic of Iran -identification card. He is currently being held in Ice Custody, where the DHS said that he will remain awaiting removal procedures.
The DHS released a photo of Karimi on Tuesday as one of the 11 Iranian subjects held by Ice Agents during the weekend (DHS)
Karimi is said to have arrived at a K-1 visa in October last October in October, which will be spent on a foreign subject that is a fiancé or fiancé of an American citizen. The document requires a few within 90 days after arrival.
His wife, Morgan Karimi, said he came to the US so that the couple could get married.
The DHS claims that Karimi has never adjusted his status', suggesting that the visa conditions were broken because he either did not register a green card or did not get married within the required time frame. The agency has not provided any further information.
Morgan Karimi, however, disputes that she and Karimi married in the 90-day window and that her husband was wrongly swept into the immigration content of the Trump government.
The resident of Blount County, who is 31 weeks pregnant, revealed that she met Karimi online for the first time in February 2019 while playing Call of Duty Mobile, according to a website dedicated to the wedding of the couple.
The couple should make the knot in Blountville on 22 February.
“He came to the US legally on a K1-fiancé visa. We followed all the rules are married within the 90-day window just as we had to,” said Morgan Karimi about her husband in a Facebook plea. “We did everything on the book.”
Morgan Karimi has asked for financial help from the local community to hire an immigration lawyer “to fight for his freedom and keep our family together.”
Morgan Karimi said the couple made the knot earlier this year after her husband had granted a K-1 visa (Facebook)
In another Facebook message on Tuesday, Morgan shared a mounting of photos of her husband with different items of clothing that are decorated with the star-spangled banner. One video seems to show that Karimi is running around, jubilant, waving with the American flag.
“There is no one who deserves to be more here than this man. He loves our country,” she wrote.
Morgan said she managed to make contact with her husband in Ice Custody, who said he is worried about both her and their unborn child.
Her Facebook page describes the relationship between the couple and their efforts to reach a visa for Karimi.
On April 18, Morgan shared a photo of an ultrasound of the baby of the couple.
On September 21 last year she asked for recommendations about how the couple could make their wedding more affordable “because the visa process was not cheap.”
Ice officers have increased their efforts to retain immigrants without papers since Trump returned to the White House in January (Getty)
Three days later Morgan shared that Karimi's visa “was finally approved”, adding: “Let the wedding planning start!”
According to screenshots that were shared on her Facebook profile, the Karimi case was approved on January 3, 2023. His visa application was reportedly received for the first time in September 2021, according to the Social Media Post.
On a photo of August 2022, Karimi was photographed with a T-shirt that is clearly labeled with a black and white American flag on his chest. In May 2021, Morgan Karimi updated her Facebook status to say she was engaged.
After the almost dozen ice cream arrests at the weekend, the DHS gathered behind their aggressive immigration raids, fighting to get the 'worst of the worst out'.
“Under Secretary, DHS has been full of gas about identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and violent extremists who entered illegally came in via the fraudulent conditional release programs of Biden or other,” said DHS Secretary Secretary Tricia McLaugh.
“We said we get the worst of the worst – and we are.”
The independent has contacted the DHS for more information.
