Los Angeles man pleads for answers as wife remains in ICE custody 30 days after arrest
A Studio City man is pleading for answers after his wife was detained by federal agents during an immigration appointment in downtown Los Angeles a month ago.
Hoosang Aghdassi has fliers posted in the windows of his business, Elegant Balloons, pleading for his wife's return. They say, "Bring Her Home. My wife was taken by ICE. Our family is broken, But our love is unshaken. We need her back."
Aghdassi says that his wife, 55-year-old Sharareh Moghadam, was called for an immigration appointment at the beginning of August for what she thought was a ceremony after she recently passed her U.S. citizen test.
However, it was there that she was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and he hasn't been able to see her since.
"I know this is not fair, I know it's not fair ... and she didn't do nothing wrong," Aghdassi said. "She didn't kill anyone, she didn't rob the bank, she didn't do nothing. She doesn't have a parking ticket."
Those who know the couple say they're inseparable, and Aghdassi said that his wife is suffering as she remains in ICE custody at a detention center in Arizona.
He said that she's stopped taking insulin for her diabetes after she had a negative reaction, and that when he is able to speak to her, she seems lost.
"One time she was talking to me, I feel she might suicide because she was so down," he said. "Anything conversation like that is hurt me, cause she's desperately needs something."
Aghdassi, who moved to America in 1977, said that his wife followed him about a decade ago after she was persecuted in Iran for being of the Bahai faith. He says that she did the entire process legally and obtained a green card.
In the weeks since Moghadam was detained, nearly 100 people have stopped by the balloon shop to sign a petition asking Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), who represents Studio City, to help their cause.
Aghdassi said that his wife has obtained an attorney in Arizona, but that if she's not released within a month, she plans to self-deport. He says that he doesn't plan to go back to Iran, but he would leave the country if it meant he could be somewhere safe with his wife again.
"I like my neighborhood. I like here. ... This is my country now, I don't feel I came from Iran ... this is my land, my country," Aghdassi said. "I used to believe, pray, and now this situation happened, I lost my feeling about the prayer."
CBS News Los Angeles has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for further information on Moghadam's detainment, but has not yet heard back.
