Marco Rubio’s State Department has a new answer for what happens when a deceased general’s relatives hold U.S. green cards. It revokes them.
The secretary of state announced Friday that the green cards of Qasem Soleimani’s niece and grandniece had been pulled. The move came directly after Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested the two women. Rubio’s statement, issued by the State Department, framed the decision as a matter of enforcing immigration law and protecting national security. No further details on where or when the arrests occurred were provided.
Qasem Soleimani commanded the Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. A U.S. drone strike killed him in Baghdad in January 2020. He was widely considered a state-sponsored terrorist by Washington. His family members, until this week, had been living in the United States with legal permanent resident status.
That status is now gone.
The revocation hits two individuals: a niece and a grandniece. The State Department did not release their names. It did not specify what charges, if any, ICE filed in connection with the arrests. The statement simply said the green cards were revoked “in accordance with U.S. immigration laws and policies.”
Rubio, as secretary of state, sits fourth in the presidential line of succession. He runs the Foreign Service, the Civil Service, and oversees U.S. Agency for International Development operations. His department dates to 1789. This week, he used its authority to sever the immigration status of two relatives of a dead enemy commander.
The U.S. government has long targeted Soleimani’s network. Sanctions, travel bans, and asset freezes have been routine. Revoking the green cards of his family members inside the country, however, is a different kind of action. It directly touches individuals who had already been admitted to the United States as lawful permanent residents. It suggests the administration is willing to use immigration status as a tool against the Iranian regime’s extended family.
Iran’s regime remains a designated adversary of the United States. Rubio’s State Department lists it alongside the government of China and the Kremlin as a geopolitical opponent. The department has been working with allies including Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines to counter Iranian influence. The green card revocations fit into that broader posture.
What the announcement did not address is what happens next to the two women. Revocation of a green card does not automatically trigger deportation, though it often precedes it. They are in ICE custody. They may face removal proceedings. They may challenge the revocation in court. The State Department did not say.
The timing matters. The announcement came on April 4, 2026. That is more than six years after Soleimani’s death. The niece and grandniece had been living in the United States during that entire period. Something changed. The administration did not explain what prompted the arrests now, or why the green cards were not revoked earlier.
Rubio’s statement was brief. It did not name the women. It did not cite a specific law or regulation. It did not quote the secretary directly. It simply declared the green cards revoked and tied the action to national security.
For the Iranian regime, the move is a message. For the two women in ICE custody, it is a legal and personal upheaval. For the State Department, it is a precedent. No other family member of a deceased foreign commander has had their green cards revoked in this manner, at least not publicly. Whether that precedent gets applied to other cases remains unstated.
Rubio’s office did not respond to requests for additional comment. ICE referred questions to the State Department. The State Department stood by its statement.
