Maria Kari is a Houston-based human rights attorney. She is the founder and executive director of Project TAHA, a legal nonprofit, and practices through the Law Office of Maria Kari.
What DI has documented
DI has documented statements by Maria Kari on Immigration Policy. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.
Role at the time: Human-rights attorney and member of the family’s legal team
Challenged the characterization
Response to this claim
As of August 19, 2026, no U.S. government agency had presented evidence supporting its allegations that the family posed a national-security threat.
“No US government agency has presented any evidence to support their allegations.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)BBC News report on Tahmasebi’s detention and legal challengeQuoted statements from Maria Kari and a State Department spokesman
Why we used this label
The statement disputes the factual basis offered for the action rather than merely objecting to its outcome.
U.S. officials revoked the Hashemi–Tahmasebi family’s permanent residency and detained them, citing national-security and foreign-policy concerns tied to Eissa Hashemi’s mother. The family and its supporters say the government imposed guilt by association.
