'She put herself second:' Family chokes up on MSNBC after mom snatched by ICE
Immigration officials sparked outrage after they snatched a 64-year-old Iranian woman who has lived in the country for decades while she was gardening at her New Orleans home. Speaking to MSNBC on Friday, the daughter of Madonna “Donna” Kashanian became choked up talking about the kindness and care of her mother.
Kashanian's husband, Russ Milne, told host Nicolle Wallace that she has fought through the system for citizenship for many decades. He said that she entered a previous marriage "at a very young age." It was finally deemed unlawful, and she was able to apply for asylum while attending university on a student visa.
For five decades, that previous "marriage" has prevented her from obtaining her citizenship, the family said after reading her files. Kashanian was denied asylum, but the U.S. granted her a stay of removal due to her father's close ties to the Shah of Iran.
So, the U.S. has required her to conduct check-ins with immigration for four decades. She's never missed an appointment, the family said. Still, the new administration suddenly revoked her status without telling her, came to her home, and took her into custody.
Over the weekend, the administration arrested 11 Iranians in the United States. It corresponded with President Donald Trump's announcement that he was bombing Iran's nuclear facilities.
"She's tried going through the correct system and ... it's been hard for her," said daughter Kaitlynn Milne.
"She's always caring. She's our support system, so it's obviously been really rough this week," the daughter said with tears in her eyes. "She's the person that was always at my school. Always taking care of things around my school. She was, you know, always a huge volunteer, always helping everybody around."
Her voice cracked as she recalled, "Everybody knew Kaitlynn's mom."
Kashanian's husband noted her volunteer work, particularly after Hurricane Katrina, when she helped build homes with Habitat for Humanity.
"She's a hard worker, you know?" he said of his wife of 35 years. "She put herself second to everybody else, you know? There was nobody that she wouldn't consider first. As a matter of fact, recently, a homeless person came walking down our street, and she went out to make sure he had clothes. And the police were there to help out and, and, you know, get him the help he needed."
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