Los Angeles: Pastor Ara Torosian never expected to receive frantic calls from his congregation — not in the United States. But this week, two distressing phone calls changed that. Iranian members of his Farsi-speaking church in Los Angeles were being detained by US federal immigration officers at their homes.
Pastor Ara Torosian never expected to receive frantic calls from his congregation — not in the United States. But this week, two distressing phone calls changed that. Iranian members of his Farsi-speaking church in Los Angeles were being detained by US federal immigration officers at their homes.
It was the second such incident Pastor Torosian encountered within days. On Monday, an Iranian couple with a 3-year-old child was taken into custody during what was supposed to be a routine immigration appointment.
According to Torosian, both families had recently arrived in the U.S. as asylum seekers through the CBP One system — a border appointment mechanism implemented under President Biden but later dismantled by President Donald Trump following his return to office.
When the pastor rushed to the couple’s home on Tuesday, he described the scene as overwhelming — “an army” of federal officers surrounding the house. He filmed the encounter on his phone, capturing the distress as one of the Iranian women being detained collapsed in a panic attack.
“She’s sick! Call 911!” Torosian can be heard shouting in the video. “Why are you doing this?”
The Department of Homeland Security later confirmed via a statement on X (formerly Twitter) that two Iranian nationals were detained in Los Angeles on Tuesday for reasons related to national security. The woman was hospitalized but discharged shortly after; both individuals remain in immigration custody.
These arrests come just days after U.S. military bombers targeted three Iranian nuclear sites, escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran. Over the weekend, DHS reported the arrest of 11 Iranians across the country who were allegedly in the U.S. illegally.
Despite Iran’s refusal to accept deportees from the U.S., the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the Trump administration could deport migrants to third countries without giving them a chance to prove they face danger there.
Pastor Torosian, a naturalized American citizen, said the recent crackdown has left his 50- to 60-member congregation in fear. Most of them have been in the U.S. for less than two years and are now afraid to leave their homes — even to attend church.
“In a million years, I never thought I’d be telling my members not to come to church,” he said, his voice breaking. “America is supposed to be a free country. But now they’re locking themselves inside their homes.”
Reflecting on the arrest he witnessed, Torosian said it felt surreal.
“When I saw masked officers pushing a woman to the ground, I asked myself — am I in Los Angeles, or Tehran?” he said. “It broke my heart. I cried a lot that day.”Tools
