Federal immigration officials detained two Iranian asylum seekers in Los Angeles on Tuesday on national security grounds, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said, quoted by Reuters, reports News.bg.
The detention is part of a broader operation that has arrested a total of 11 Iranian citizens illegally residing in the United States over the past weekend. The arrests followed the US military's airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites carried out on June 22.
Pastor Ara Torossian, the leader of a Farsi-speaking church in Los Angeles, said he received a call from an Iranian family in his community during the raid. He said federal agents broke into their home and he was prevented from approaching while he was recording on his phone. The woman in the family had a panic attack and fainted, and was later taken to the hospital. DHS confirmed that she has been released, while the two detainees remain in immigration detention.
According to the pastor, this is the second such incident in a week. The previous day - on Monday - another Iranian couple with a 3-year-old child were detained during a routine immigration appointment. Both families entered the United States legally through the southern border using the CBP One electronic registration system.
The Department of Homeland Security has labeled the couple as a potential national security threat since Tuesday, without specifying any specific charges. All of those detained are being held in immigration detention pending their cases.
Iran refuses to take back its citizens deported from the United States. However, the U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed the Trump administration to send migrants to third countries without requiring proof that their lives would be in danger if returned.