Five Detained as Fear Spreads Through Persian Christian Faith Community
Fear has spread through a West Los Angeles congregation after federal agents detained multiple Iranian immigrants this week, including an asylum-seeking couple whose pastor says were persecuted in their home country for practicing Christianity.
Pastor Ara Torosian, who leads a Farsi-speaking Christian church in West L.A., said five of his congregants have been taken into custody by immigration officers in recent days, including a family with a 3-year-old child. One woman suffered a severe panic attack during the arrest of her husband, escalating into convulsions as Torosian arrived and watched helplessly from a distance.
Torosian said the couple fled Iran due to religious persecution and has been attending his church for more than a year. They have no criminal history or family in Los Angeles, he added.
Agents told the pastor they were acting on a national security warrant, but no documentation was shown when requested, according to Torosian.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement Tuesday confirming the arrests of 11 Iranians nationwide over the weekend, citing national security concerns. The arrests came just days after U.S. military airstrikes targeted Iranian nuclear facilities, though federal authorities did not explicitly link the two events.
Torosian said his congregation, which includes about 50 to 60 members—most of whom arrived in the U.S. within the last two years—has been left shaken. He has since canceled church services and urged members to remain at home.
The pastor described the scene outside the couple’s home on Tuesday as overwhelming, with what he called “an army” of federal agents blocking access as he tried to intervene. He filmed part of the arrest on his phone and later recounted how the woman collapsed after witnessing her husband being taken away.
The couple had entered the U.S. through the CBP One appointment system, a digital border-entry program designed to process migrants in an orderly manner. Though Iran does not accept deportees from the United States, a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has cleared the way for deportations to third countries without granting asylum seekers a hearing on potential harm they could face.
The pastor, a naturalized American citizen, told Reuters that the arrest was traumatic.
