MASON, Tenn. (WMC) – An 81-year-old Iranian man held in federal immigration custody at the West Tennessee Detention Center is scheduled to be released Thursday. According to his attorney, this comes after a grueling seven-month legal battle.
Hasan Besharat has been detained at the CoreCivic facility in Mason, Tennessee, since February, despite his attorney emphasizing he spent decades fully complying with every immigration requirement.
“Our office was contacted by Mr. Besharat’s family after he was detained in late February of this year,” said Brandon Viele, an immigration attorney with The Law Offices of Jamie Naini. “We found out that he had an exceptional case because he had been consistently checking in with ICE for multiple decades.”
According to Viele, Besharat came to the United States legally on a student visa in 1974. He earned an engineering degree while studying in Nashville and has not returned to Iran since 1976.
Viele said an immigration judge issued a removal order in 2001, but Besharat was placed on an ICE ‘order of supervision’ in 2004. Viele said that required regular check-ins that Besharat never missed.
Viele said earlier this year, ICE abruptly detained Besharat in Nashville. Viele called the move “shocking.”
CoreCivic’s detention facility in Mason, Tennessee(Action News 5)
“Tensions with the nation of Iran had started to reach a peak, and of course with our country’s involvement overseas, the possibility of removing Mr. Besharat from the country was highly unlikely,” said Viele. “Over the course of months after that, there was a lot of active litigation about whether that would be possible or not.”
During nearly seven months in custody, Viele explained Besharat’s health became a concern. Viele said Besharat is 81 years old, barely 100 pounds, and suffers from high blood pressure.
Viele stated the legal team worked tirelessly on Besharat’s case, including late hours at night. Viele said that included multiple petitions filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, and two petitions for a writ of habeas corpus challenging the ongoing detention.
Beyond the legal work, Viele said Besharat also gained advocacy from the community.
“It took a lot of community support and recognition from Tennesseans raising awareness about Mr. Besharat’s situation to have the opportunity to see him released,” said Viele.
Viele also noted that former detainees frequently share troubling descriptions of the Mason facility’s conditions, which contrast sharply with official statements.
“When they finally get out, and we’re able to meet them in person… they tell us about the conditions that they had to go through,” Viele said. “They often struggled in many ways that are unseen.”
Viele said Besharat’s family in the U.S. is extensive. Besharat has a brother who is a U.S. citizen and two U.S. citizen sons. Viele said one is a successful urologist, and the other is a successful local businessman.
(Far right) Hasan Besharat(Law Offices of Jamie Naini)
“For somebody like that who is a person of great importance to the community and did what he had to in order to comply with the government’s requirements, what happened to him was an absolute tragedy,” Viele said. “But we’re thrilled and ecstatic that he’s being reunited with his family today.”
Tennessee Sen. Raumesh Akbari stated she welcomes the release of Besharat.
“His story resonates with me personally. My father came to Memphis from Iran in 1977 as a student at the University of Memphis. He came here in search of an education and opportunity, and Tennessee became his home. He built a business, raised a family and became part of the community he chose to call home,” said Akbari in a statement. “What happened to Mr. Besharat was wrong, and it reflects a deeply concerning shift in immigration enforcement in our country. An 81-year-old man who has lived here for more than five decades, has deep ties to his family and community, and had been regularly reporting to immigration authorities should not have spent six months in detention after appearing for a scheduled ICE check-in.”
Attorneys expect Besharat to be released and reunited with his family by Thursday evening. Viele stated that a court order sets Besharat’s release time at 5 p.m.
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