75-year-old grandmother from Iran tells the story of her detention at LAX
Siavosh Naji-Talakar greets his grandmother Marzieh Moosavizadeh, 75, at LAX at about 1 a.m. Sunday. He said his grandmother, who has had a green card since 1997, was detained for hours after arriving from Iran.
Marzieh Moosavizadeh and her grandson follow a routine when she visits almost every year from Iran.
The 75-year-old, who travels in a wheelchair and speaks little English, struggles to find direct flights to Phoenix, where he and his family live. So they meet in Los Angeles and he escorts her on the last leg of her trip.
This time was different.
Moosavizadeh landed at Los Angeles International Airport a day after President Trump signed an executive order banning citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran, from entering the United States.
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Marzieh Moosavizadeh and her grandson Siavosh Naji-Talakar leave their hotel room in El Segundo after she was detained at LAX.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Moosavizadeh’s plans to catch her last flight were upended when she said she was held at LAX for nine hours with dozens of other passengers who, like her, had no idea whether they would be released or sent back to their native country.
“Sitting there for eight hours, for somebody who has arthritis, is very, very hard,” Moosavizadeh said while recounting her detention in an interview with The Times in Persian while her son translated by phone. “Please, tell Mr. Trump when they make these kind of decisions, think it all the way through.”
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For Moosavizadeh, who her grandson said has held a green card since 1997, the anxiety set in when she landed shortly after 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Customs officers scanned her passport, held it up next to her head and told her to wait. Then, they ushered her to a room where she said a couple dozen passengers — Iranians, Africans and Asians — were being held.
She sat there for two hours before officers led her, along with a handful of others passengers from her flight, to another room filled with travelers from Iran. She spent the next several hours there.
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Siavosh Naji-Talakar, left, helps his grandmother Marzieh Moosavizadeh, 75, pack at their hotel near LAX in El Segundo.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
At about 6 p.m., Moosavizadeh’s wheelchair attendant offered her a cellphone to call her grandson.
She told him to go eat and rest — she heard she’d be held for a few more hours. He told her to stay calm, he wasn’t going anywhere.
Every hour or so, Moosavizadeh said, officers would come by to escort passengers to the bathroom or drop off 8-ounce water bottles. The English-speakers implored them for answers.
It’s out of our hands, the officers said. Their fate was up to their superiors.
Passengers were afraid to talk to one another, Moosavizadeh said. No one knew whether they’d be released or sent back to Iran.
“Most of them, they thought they were going to get deported,” she said, through her son.
A hand made sign in Siavosh Naji-Talakar, held this sign as his greeted his grandmother Marzieh Moosavizadeh at Tom Bradley International Terminal.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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At one point, she was taken elsewhere for questioning. Customs officers asked her when she last visited the U.S., who she lives with in Iran and where she gets her income.
When she returned, she snacked on almonds she’d packed in her purse.
“Thank God I put them in my purse, otherwise I didn’t have anything on me,” she said.
Meanwhile, in Phoenix, her sons frantically refreshed news articles and peppered her grandson, Siavosh Naji-Talakar, with questions he couldn’t answer. Huddled among throngs of boisterous protesters demanding the detainees be released, Naji-Talakar could do little but wait.
Over and over, they chanted, “Let them in!” They said they wouldn’t leave otherwise.
Some offered Naji-Talakar food and a couch for the night, others money for a hotel room.
Nearby, the detainees heard the cries, faintly. They had no idea, though, if those who had gathered were there to support or decry them. A customs officer, Moosavizadeh said, told the group that it wasn’t safe for them to let them go.
Eventually, officers began calling passengers one by one. Detainees were taken away, alone or in pairs, while those left behind wondered if they were being released or deported.
“We all thought they were going to give us hard time first and then send us back,” Moosavizadeh said.
She added that she wants Trump to know that Muslims condemn Islamic State.
“They might be Muslim, but they’re not a part of us,” she said. “We are all brothers and sisters and we don’t believe in their values — at all.”
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Supporters of President Trump rally in favor of his immigration ban executive order Saturday at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters rallying against the first travel ban signed by President Trump march around Los Angeles International Airport in February. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Trump supporters gather at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Muhaned El Hindi protests the immigration ban Saturday during a rally at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Mathew Woods, a supporter of President Trump, voices support for an immigration ban during a rally at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Passengers stand in the doorway of a baggage claim area to take pictures and video of marchers protesting the immigration ban of President Trump at LAX on Saturday.
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Supporters of President Trump’s travel ban stand across the street from the #NoBanNoWall protesters at LAX on Saturday.
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Cooper Chvotkin, 6, gets a turn to voice his opinion on the megaphone with other protesters at LAX on Saturday.
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Protesters march through the Tom Bradley International terminal at LAX on Saturday to protest President Trump’s travel ban.
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Abeer Abdelrahman, left, hugs her sister Areej Ali at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Monday after Ali, who has a green card, was able to come through the arrivals area with the help of an attorney after being detained and questioned. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Noor Hindi, left, and Sham Najjar, right, join the protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday.
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Attorney’s crowd a small table at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Monday to assist travelers who require help due to President Trump’s travel restrictions.
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Immigration Attorney Monica Glicken, left, listens to Mohamed, right, as she tries to find travelers to help at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Monday to assist travelers who require help due to President Trump’s travel restrictions.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Hundreds of people protested President Trump’s original travel ban at LAX in January. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Protesters block traffic at LAX, stranding motorists at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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Demonstrators take a pizza break while blocking traffic on the upper level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal while police monitor the rally.
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A pro-Trump supporter argues with protesters about the president’s travel ban at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Hundreds sit in on the arrival level of LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal, blocking traffic to protest President Trump’s immigration order.
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Airport police plead with protesters to get off the pavement in order to let stranded motorists exit.
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Protesters block traffic, stranding motorists at the Tom Bradley International Terminal of LAX.
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Muslims pray as hundreds stand in support on the departure level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal during a protest against President Trump’s immigration order. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Police position themselves as a man takes photos on the on the departure level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal during protests to President Donald Trump’s new immigration order.
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Hundreds block traffic on the arrival level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal to protest President Trump’s immigration order.
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People gather at the Tom Bradley International Terminal to protest against President Trump’s immigration order.
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A police officer watches protesters at the lower deck of the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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People gather at the Tom Bradley International Terminal to protest President Trump’s immigration order.
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Assmaa Kalm, left, and Rosanna Sounbl, right, protest President Trump’s travel ban at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 29, 2017. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Hundreds block traffic on the arrival level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal to protest President Trump’s immigration order.
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Police keep an eye on people who continue to protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Hundreds take part in an impromptu sit-in at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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People hang a banner in support of immigrants on a parking structure across the street from the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Meg Heatherly, 27, of Los Angeles holds a “Shame” sign during a protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Jan. 29, 2017. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Attorney Lisa Smith joins people at LAX who continue to protest President Trump’s travel ban.
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A lone supporter of President Trump and Vice President Pence is protected by police while a large group of people continue to protest President Donald Trump’s travel ban at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Chella, from Sherman Oaks, holds the U.S. flag with words from the tablet on the Statue of Liberty.
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Hundreds of people gather at Los Angeles International Airport to continue protesting President Trump’s travel ban.
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Donald Trump supporters hold signs across the road from protesters at Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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A traveler tries to get by protesters at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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Brothers Adam, left, and Noah Reich show their support of immigrants as they join opponents of Donald Trump’s new immigration order at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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A traveler tries to get by protesters at Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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A protester holds up sign at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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Hassan Al Garaawi, of San Diego, right, looks for his mother-in-law Gish Alsaeedi who has been detained at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Sunday.
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Passengers arrive at LAX as protests continue Sunday over President Trump’s travel ban.
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Izzy Berdan, of Boston wears an American flag as he chants slogans with other demonstrators Sunday during a rally against President Trump’s order that restricts travel to the U.S. by people from seven majority-Muslim nations.
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People gather in Boston’s Copley Square to protest the travel ban enacted by President Trump.
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Demonstrators gather Sunday near the White House to protest President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
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People continue to protest President Trump’s travel ban on Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport.
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Attorney Dana Clausen waits on Sunday to help at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX as people continue to protest President Trump’s executive order that led to travelers from several majority-Muslim countries being detained upon arrival.
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Kamryn Taghizadeh, 18, holds up a sign Saturday night as she waits for grandfather Reza Taghizadeh, 78, a minimalist painter who was detained as he arrived at Tom Bradley International Terminal from Iran. The artist and green-card holder was later released.
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Reza Taghizadeh, 78, an artist from Iran who holds a U.S. green card, is released after being detained at Tom Bradley International Terminal.
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Seattle police use pepper spray and push the last group of protesters out of a Seattle-Tacoma International Airport terminal after giving a final dispersal order at about 2 a.m Sunday.
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Saffiya Hrahsheh, center, is helped away from police by Liz Bates, left, and others after being pepper sprayed by officers breaking up protests early Sunday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
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Siavosh Naji-Talakar greets his grandmother, Marzieh Moosavizadeh, 75, at LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal. She was detained upon arriving from Iran.
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People arrive and LAPD officers stand by at Tom Bradley International Airport at LAX as the protest continues peacefully.
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Protesters gather at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX to oppose President Trump’s refugee ban.
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Saudia Airlines flight attendants wait to pass through a securioty checkpoint at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Saturday.
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Protesters rally against Trump’s refugee crackdown at at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Saturday.
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Protesters gather at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX to speak out against President Trump’s refugee policy Saturday.
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Protesters march through Tom Bradley International Terminal to voice opposition to President Trump’s refugee policy.
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Protesters rally against the new immigration order at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
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Protesters hold signs during a protest against Trump’s immigration executive order at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
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Protesters assemble at John F. Kennedy International Airport after two Iraqis were detained while trying to enter the country.
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Moosavizadeh’s name was among the last ones called, at about 1 a.m.
Finally, she said, she was “released from prison.”
When she spotted her grandson in the crowd, she felt like she was flying.
He saw her too, and bolted.
“I pushed people out of the way, I was like, ‘Get out of my way,’” Naji-Talakar said. “I ran up to her and gave a big old hug.”
That’s when the cheering and chanting started again.
Alene Tchekmedyian is an investigative reporter at the Los Angeles Times. She previously covered the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, focusing on accountability stories and writing about failures by officials to comply with transparency laws. Before joining The Times in 2016, she reported on crime and policing for the Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader.
