In Iran, the act of converting from Islam to any other religion is punishable by death. In America, one of the strongest historical rationales for immigrants seeking asylum has been the fear of religious persecution.
Yet on February 9, when Artemis Ghasemzadeh, an Iranian Christian convert, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, after an arduous trip that took her from Iran to Dubai to South Korea and finally Mexico, she said she was never asked about her reasons for seeking asylum. Instead, she said, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents put her in shackles, walked her onto a military plane, and flew her to Panama. They did the same to at least 10 other Iranian Christians, including three children. They all remain stuck in legal limbo in Panama to this day.