‘I was in their shoes’

worried because thenPresident Carter issued an executive order to cancel visas for all Iranian nationals in retaliation for Iranian revolutionaries taking hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. There was also talk of deporting Iranian students studying in the U.S., and potentially seeking the deportation of Iranian nationals in general. Being sent back to Iran would have been a death sentence for my family and the thousands of religious minorities and dissidents who had sought refuge in the U.S.

Mysteriously, however, my family and our entire community were spared this doom. Thus, I grew, thrived, and am now an immigration attorney in the U.S., helping families reunite and businesses prosper.

Fastforward 40 years — almost to the day from when we arrived in America — to an April afternoon in 2019. At a UCLA event, I met for the first time the White House policy adviser instrumental in finding a solution to that executive order — one that saved our community.

This story recently became unclassified, and I learned that in response to that 1979 executive order a delegation of 10 Iranian community leaders — nine men and one woman — found a sympathetic ear in the White House: Stuart Eizenstat.

Eizenstat was deeply disappointed by the U.S.’ tarnished history when it refused refugees fleeing the holocaust during World War II and instead sent them back to their impending deaths in concentration camps. He was determined not to let the U.S. make the same mistake again.

Eizenstat, Carter’s chief domestic policy adviser, met with the Iranian American delegation, along with representatives of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, State Department, and Justice Department, to find a solution. It was not easy. Nevertheless, Eizenstat and the delegation persisted, and this meeting set the stage for a policy to facilitate asylum applications for Iranians whose lives were in danger.

Consequently, thousands of Iranians in the U.S. were protected from potential deportation. Eizenstat’s determination to find a humanitarian solution and the courage of the delegation kept my community safely in the U.S. It meant our neighbors never had to come to an abandoned home and gather our belongings.

In addition to Eizenstat’s brilliant work, I discovered that the woman in that delegation was Shamsi Hekmat — my grandmother.

Though growing up I had witnessed my grandmother’s big heart and tireless community work, I lived all my life without knowing she was a contributor to this achievement, too.

My memories of my grandmother still inspire me, and she instilled in me the values of justice and dedication. As an immigration attorney, I have dedicated my career to helping the next generation of immigrants. As I counsel clients distraught over one of the most unjust executive orders of our generation — the travel ban on several Muslimmajority countries — I can’t help but be inspired by the courageous leaders who have come before us. When I advocate against another executive order causing cruel treatment of refugees at our southern border today, I am guided by the wisdom gleaned from elders such as Eizenstat and my grandmother.

Who are the Eizenstats of our time? Who is going to stand up for what is right at this moment in history? We must carry forth the wisdom of these heroes. We must not forget our country’s mistake during the Holocaust nor the tragedy of lives lost by other misguided immigration and detention policies. We must remove needless legal barriers.

Nearly all of us in America are descendants of immigrants. We must follow the morally sound path for the immigrants of our era and welcome asylum seekers, knowing that our forefathers could have been in their shoes. Indeed, I was in their shoes.

Navid Dayzad has been an immigration attorney for almost 20 years. He strives to educate the public and has served as an immigration expert on CNN, ABC and CBS. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Law and now practices in Los Angeles.

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