Iranian Christian convert detained by ICE could face death if deported, pastor fears
A Christian convert who evangelized to Muslims in Iran, who is currently detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, fears he could be killed if he is deported back to the Islamic Republic, now at war with the United States and Israel.
Pastor Blaine Hooper of the Refuge Church of Houston spoke about the situation involving two detained Iranian Christians who have been attending and regularly volunteering at his congregation since last year. He told The Christian Post in an interview that his church is actively supporting the detainees by visiting them regularly and raising funds to “procure a qualified legal counsel” to “help them with their asylum case.”
Hooper, who identified as a conservative Evangelical, said that his congregation is not “an open border kind of church” and that countries, including the United States, “should regulate borders." However, he noted that “these issues are really complex.”
“I think that the current left-right media narrative is not really capturing the essence of what’s happening,” the pastor said. “It’s just a lot of yelling between the two sides. … I actually think that Christians have a really important role to play in this to call people to a higher standard.”
Houston Public Media reported on the situation involving two detained Iranian Christians on Monday, giving them the pseudonyms Mehran and Amin for their safety.
Hooper told the outlet that Mehran was involved in evangelizing Muslims in Iran, which is a criminal offense that carries the death penalty.
“Mehran was part of a network of Christians who were bringing the Christian faith message, the Gospel, into Iran for a few years out of different countries surrounding Iran,” Hooper said.
Both men “presented themselves at the border under the [Biden] administration and claimed asylum,” Hooper added, saying they were vetted at that point, and later received work authorization.
Hooper said the two men were detained in December during a routine check-in related to their efforts to obtain asylum status in the United States.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told HPM that both men entered the country illegally and that Mehran was found removable by an immigration judge last November.
Hooper contends, however, that there is “a difference qualitatively between” someone coming to the U.S. for "economic reasons” and “someone who’s fleeing for their Christian faith and practice, and who will be killed under an Islamic regime if they return.”
“There’s a greater sense of justice here at play,” the pastor told CP. “Justice isn’t just punishment. Justice in a biblical lens or a Christian lens is doing the best good for all.”
Since taking office last year, President Donald Trump's administration has ramped up immigration enforcement operations and has detained or deported thousands of people deemed to be present in the country illegally.
While the Trump administration and its supporters argue that these operations are necessary to crack down on criminals, critics say many refugees and asylum seekers who followed the established processes to request asylum while fleeing persecution are also at risk of being detained and deported.
This includes asylum seekers from Iran, including those who have converted from Islam to Christianity, which is a criminal offense that can carry the death penalty or imprisonment in Iran. Also, there have been several cases of Hispanic pastors and church leaders being detained or deported after decades of ministry in the U.S.
Last June, Iranian Pastor Ara Torosian in California reported that five members of his congregation were detained by authorities, including a family seeking asylum.
"I believe that America is better than this," Torosian wrote in an op-ed for The Los Angeles Times last year. "This behavior reminds me disturbingly of what I fled in Iran. But I know that most Americans do not support this, nor do most fellow evangelical Christians: Many evangelicals voted for Trump because he pledged to protect persecuted Christians — not to deport them."
The Trump administration deported 11 Iranian Christians from the U.S. to Panama last year. Among them was 27-year-old Artemis Ghasemzadeh, who crossed the border illegally in 2024 but alleges she was never given a “credible fear” interview as an asylum seeker.
Last December, U.S. Border Patrol’s Ramey Sector posted to its Facebook account that agents had “encountered two illegal immigrants from Iran” in the U.S. Virgin Islands after Thanksgiving.
The two illegal immigrants are sisters Mahan Motahari, 38, and Mozhan Motahari, 31, who had converted to Christianity and, according to their lawyer, had legally applied for asylum. After press reports on their cases and Episcopal Church leaders speaking out on their behalf, the sisters were released from detention in January while their cases continue.
