Man who has lived in the US for 40 years faces deportation to Australia despite having no ties to the country

Sky News AU

4 days ago

A man who has lived in the United States for four decades has been detained by immigration officers and told he could be forcibly removed not to his native Iran, but to either Australia or Romania - countries with which he has no known ties.
Reza Zavvar was arrested just metres from his home in Maryland five weeks ago by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and he is now being held in a privately operated detention centre in Ohio, facing an uncertain future far from his family.
The Iranian-born man moved to the US in 1985 at the age of 12, but despite living, working, and building a life in America for over 40 years, he never obtained US citizenship.
He was the only member of his family not to do so.
Zavvar previously held a green card, but lost it in 2004 after two minor marijuana-related offences which dated back to the 1990s.
Despite this, he was granted a non-expulsion order preventing his removal to Iran, allowing him to remain legally in the US.
Fresh court documents reveal the Department of Homeland Security is attempting to deport him to either Romania or Australia.
Why those countries were selected remains unclear as Zavvar is not a citizen of either, nor has he ever lived in the two countries.
'Being in a grey area with lots of question marks, it's torture,' his mother, Firouzeh Firouzabadi, told 9News.
She said he was taken into custody while walking his dog and that she hasn't seen him since.
The Australian government has expressed concern and confusion over the decision, saying it had not been consulted.
'We consider any application for a visa in its merits, we have not been contacted by the US government about this matter,' a spokesperson said.
Immigration lawyer Ava Beach added, 'Australia doesn't seek to be a place where America deports people to who aren't Americans. How they picked those countries is a mystery to me.'
Zavvar's case has raised questions about a controversial deportation tactic reportedly expanded under President Donald Trump's administration, one that allows ICE to target long-term residents with old or minor convictions and send them to third countries with little or no personal connection.
'This is not something we've seen involving Australia before,' said Mahsa Khanbabai, a board director with the American Immigration Lawyers Association, who spoke to ABC News.
'Normally, what we've been seeing is that the Trump administration is targeting countries where they feel they have some leverage, that they feel they can push around and bully. Australia is not a country that we would normally consider to be in such a position.'
ICE has defended the move, calling Zavvar a 'criminal illegal alien' and pointing to his past conviction for attempted possession of a controlled substance as justification for deportation.
'ICE continues to try and find a country willing to accept this criminal illegal alien,' said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement.
The US government insists it is following through on promises to tighten immigration enforcement with around 40 per cent of those currently in ICE custody having a criminal record, according to recent DHS figures.
Meanwhile, Zavvar's family and supporters are rallying to fight the deportation, launching a petition and fundraising campaign to cover legal costs.
'After 40 years of living in the US, Reza knows no other home,' his sister Maryam wrote online.
'He waits in a privately run detention centre, thousands of miles from anything familiar, while bureaucrats decide his future.'