Heidi Altman is vice president of policy at the National Immigration Law Center, where her work focuses on federal legislative and administrative advocacy for immigrant communities. She previously directed policy at the National Immigrant Justice Center and served as legal director of the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition.
Case
On April 11, 2026, the State Department said it terminated the Hashemi–Tahmasebi family’s lawful permanent-resident status and that ICE held them pending removal. Officials cited family ties and foreign-policy or national-security grounds; the family and its lawyers called the action family-based punishment.
Role at the time: National Immigration Law Center vice president of policy, interviewed by AP
Responding to
U.S. termination of the Hashemi–Tahmasebi family’s residency status and ICE detention
"fear and punishment"
The speaker explicitly criticizes the action or its effects in the surrounding directly attributed statement.
Statement dates: May 19, 2026
