Iranian woman suffers severe panic attack as ICE agents arrest her husband

Iranian asylum-seekers who fled the Islamic Republic have been arrested recently by immigration officials in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES — Iranian asylum-seekers who fled the Islamic Republic in hopes of resettling in Los Angeles have been arrested recently by immigration officials despite having what lawyers and advocates consider credible-fear cases pending in court.

The detentions follow a pattern developing throughout the country of targeting Iranians as tensions continue between the Trump administration and Iran.

Many of the asylum-seekers are Christians who fled Iran and its intolerant views toward non-Muslim religions. There are 4 million Iranian exiles worldwide, just under a third of them in the United States, according to Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry statistics from 2021.

A man is detained by ICE agents in Los Angeles, on Tuesday.Courtesy Ara TorosianThe sudden detentions have prompted some Iranians to go on hunger strikes in custody and triggered at least one medical emergency during an attempted arrest.

On Tuesday, an Iranian woman experienced a severe panic attack after she witnessed her husband's arrest near an area known as “Tehrangeles” because of its large Iranian population. The woman called her pastor, Ara Torosian, to help intervene, but he could do little as he watched her panic attack escalate into convulsions.