Ten Iranian Christian Refugees Arrived in Los Angeles

About ten Iranians whose asylum requests to the United States had previously been denied, despite the existence of a special immigration program for religious minorities, have finally arrived in Los Angeles, America.

According to the Los Angeles Times, lawyers for these individuals stated that their cases have been reconsidered. Kate Mier, one of the lawyers for the “International Refugee Assistance Project,” said these individuals arrived in Los Angeles last week.

While the lawyer for these individuals stated that their asylum applications were rejected in February of last year, the U.S. State Department says that rejections of asylum applications under this religious immigration program have been occurring since the end of 2016, during the Barack Obama administration, and that the increase in asylum rejections is not related to President Trump’s executive order on restricting immigration to America.

In total, asylum applications from 87 Iranian applicants were rejected. When rejecting their applications, the U.S. government did not provide a reason for its decision and said it was within its discretion. However, family members of the applicants in America filed a class action lawsuit in a California court last year, and in July of last year, a judge ruled that the U.S. government must disclose the reason for rejecting these individuals’ asylum applications, which allowed the applicants to file for reconsideration. After that, the U.S. federal immigration agency reconsidered their cases.

According to the Los Angeles Times, under the special immigration program for religious minorities, 36,000 Iranians, many of whom are Armenian Christians, have come to America. Other religious groups that have come from Iran include Jews, Zoroastrians, Bahá’ís, and Mandaeans.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the U.S. State Department also added that the government “remains committed to supporting the people of Iran.”

The U.S. State Department told the Los Angeles Times that it cannot comment on specific asylum rejection cases.

According to Kate Mier, many individuals are still waiting in Vienna, Austria, for their cases to be resolved and are separated from their families in America, and are concerned that if they return to Iran, they will face persecution and harassment.

Source: Voice of America