U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana helps a Uranian woman and says the nation's immigration laws need to be updated.(Photo courtesy of U.S. House)

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Jefferson, Louisiana’s No. 2 official in the U.S. House of Representatives, has come to the aid of an Iranian woman. Donna Kashanian has lived in New Orleans for almost 50 years and was arrested by ICE agents outside her Lakeview home on June 22.

Kashanian walked free from detention in Basile after hundreds of residents wrote to Scalise and local and state officials highlighting her contributions to the community, according to a news report by NOLA.com.

Most illegal immigrants who have lived and worked in this country for years and have been arrested by ICE don’t have anyone with political influence like Scalise speaking up for their interests. They have been detained without any chance to prove they haven’t received a fair shake.

Catherine Rampell summed the current immigrant situation up well in a Wednesday column when she said, “… Agents have descended upon big cities and small town America alike, often masked, armed and refusing to show warrants or identification. With daily arrest quotas to meet, agents are filling detention centers not with criminals and gangbusters, but people who have no criminal history whatsoever.”

Scalise helped secure Kashanian’s release after reviewing her file and determining she did not receive fair treatment in her applications for asylum and a green card in the 1980s, Scalise said.

Kashanian came to the United States from Iran on a student visa in 1978 and unsuccessfully petitioned for asylum, citing her family’s connection to the U.S.-backed Shah, who was deposed the following year. She also applied for a green card as the spouse of a U.S. citizen after marrying Russell Milne in 1990.

The family said officials rejected that claim because of a previous Kashanian marriage that they deemed fraudulent.

Kashanian will be allowed to live at home while she submits new green card and asylum applications, Scalise said. He emphasized that he can’t guarantee the outcome of that process — only that “she’s going to get a fair shake.”

Isn’t that what other illegal immigrants who haven’t committed a crime deserve — a fair shake?

The family of Kashanian thanked Scalise, state Rep. Stefanie Hilferty, R-Metairie, and New Orleans City Council member Joe Giarrusso for ensuring she is “treated fairly.”

Once again, isn’t that what other illegal immigrants also deserve?

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, obviously isn’t happy.

“Mandonna Kashanian is in this country illegally,” McLaughlin said. “She exhausted all her legal options.”

Even Scalise admits something is currently wrong with the way illegal immigrants are being rounded up. He said Kashanian’s arrest shows the need for federal legislation streamlining how the country treats people who lack legal residency but follow the law.

Scalise praised President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, securing the border and deporting people with criminal histories. However, he also explained the weakness in the current arrest system.

According to NOLA.com, Scalise said the case of Kashanian — a 64-year-old with no criminal record known widely in New Orleans volunteering circles — illustrates how the system is sometimes ill-equipped to fairly handle millions of people living in the United States without legal residency who have not committed crimes.

“We all know there are bad people here illegally and there are people here illegally who haven’t committed other crimes,” Scalise said. “And so what do you do about that? That’s not a problem the president alone can figure out, because some of this is law.

“We will have to change law in Congress,” he added, “and that means both parties are going to have to come together to do it, not to yell and scream and demagogue the issue.”

The news report said Scalise didn’t elaborate on specific legislative changes to the immigration system he would support. But he said he’s hopeful now that border crossings have plummeted that attention in Congress can turn to that question.

NOLA.com said the remarks by Scalise highlight the broad range of perspectives now shaping debate over the future of the U.S. immigration system in Washington.

Why wait to reform immigration law when there are so many innocent people like Kashanian sitting in detention centers right now? Each one would also like help from someone with the political power of Scalise.

Don’t all of us want a chance to prove our innocence anytime we are arrested?

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jim.beam.press@gmail.com.

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