An 81-year-old Tennessee man who has spent roughly half a century in the United States is now in federal immigration custody after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement revoked a long-standing order of supervision, according to his family.
Relatives identify him as Hasan Besharat, originally from Iran, who they say has lived quietly in the U.S. for about 50 years. Family members report he was picked up in early March and is now being held at the West Tennessee Detention Facility in Mason, about 40 miles northeast of Memphis. They say Besharat has no criminal record and describe his health as fragile, citing high blood pressure and other age-related conditions.
The family says ICE notified them in late February that the old supervision arrangement was being revoked and that the agency could now enforce a 2001 removal order. As reported by FOX13 Memphis, relative Brandon Viele said Besharat had been living under an order of supervision since 2004 without any previous issues.
Besharat is currently held at the West Tennessee Detention Facility, a former prison that had been shut down before being brought back online last year to house immigration detainees. The Town of Mason approved contracts with private prison company CoreCivic to reopen the site. The Associated Press reported the facility began taking in detainees in September 2025, and CoreCivic filings state the company resumed operations under an intergovernmental services agreement with ICE. Local coverage notes the reopening has drawn protests and increased legal scrutiny from civil-rights advocates in the area.
Relatives argue that locking up an 81-year-old with significant medical needs is especially dangerous. In his interview with FOX13 Memphis, Viele described Besharat as "very ill," citing high blood pressure and other ailments, and said the family is urgently pushing for medical care and clear answers from the government. The family maintains that Besharat followed supervision rules for years and that he has adult children living in the United States.
What Revocation Of Supervision Actually Means
Federal rules give ICE the power to revoke an order of supervision if "changed circumstances" suggest a person can be deported in the reasonably foreseeable future. Those standards are laid out in 8 C.F.R. § 241.13 and § 241.4.
Under those regulations, ICE is supposed to inform the person of the reason for the change and offer a prompt, informal interview where they can respond, provide documents, or seek legal help. Recent lawsuits and legal challenges around the country have focused on whether those procedural steps are actually being followed in specific cases. For the technical details, see 8 C.F.R. § 241.13 in the federal regulations, available via the eCFR.
Local Fallout And The Bigger Picture
Besharat’s case lands right in the middle of an already tense local fight over ICE detention in West Tennessee. Reporting by Tennessee Lookout and earlier coverage by Hoodline recount how the Mason Board’s vote to let CoreCivic run the detention center sparked public outcry, an ACLU demand for more transparency, and ongoing questions about how the facility is monitored. Critics say Besharat’s detention brings those concerns into sharp focus, especially around medical care, due process, and the risks of holding elderly detainees far from their support networks.
Besharat’s relatives say they are now weighing legal options while trying to get more information from ICE and facility officials about why supervision was pulled and whether removal will actually move forward. His case is one of several recent supervision revocations across the country that have triggered court challenges and renewed scrutiny of how federal authorities are handling longtime residents who suddenly find themselves back in detention after years under supervision.
