Iranian Christian convert deported from US granted asylum in Canada
By Ryan Foley - Posted at The Christian Post:
Published August 30, 2026
An Iranian Christian convert who was deported from the United States while seeking asylum has received a new home in Canada amid concerns about the safety of Iranian Christians who have faced removal from the U.S.Artemis Ghasemzadeh has received asylum in Canada, The New York Times reports. Ghasemzadeh, a Christian convert who fled Iran, entered the U.S. illegally with her brother in December 2024 and was detained in San Diego. She was separated from her brother shortly after arriving in the U.S.
Ghasemzadeh was one of 11 Iranian Christians seeking asylum in the U.S. who were deported to Panama two months later as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to resettle illegal immigrants outside the U.S. While Panama enabled Ghasemzadeh and other Iranian Christians to remain in the country legally through most of 2025, she sought to claim asylum in Canada after lawyers advised her it was unlikely that the U.S. would let her back into the country.
Ghasemzadeh’s deportation from the U.S. sparked outcry from religious freedom advocacy groups who alleged that she did not receive a “credible fear” interview traditionally granted to asylum seekers and was denied access to counsel. As Ghasemzadeh told the persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern, conversion to Christianity is punishable by imprisonment or death in Iran.
