On a Sunday in June, Pastor Ara Torosian gave a message to his congregation in Los Angeles: If detained by immigration officers, "first, call your lawyer, and second, call your pastor."
It didn't take long. By the end of the month, two families reached out to Torosian, one through their lawyer and another through a spouse, to notify him they were being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"There are hundreds of Iranian Christians from different churches that are in danger of deportation," Torosian said. "And if they go back to Iran, there's a big danger. Many, many of them will be in prison."
Torosian has been advocating for the release from ICE custody of the Iranian members of his congregation, who entered the U.S. to escape religious persecution in their home country. According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Iranian authorities routinely target members of minority faith communities, especially Christians who converted from Islam.
One of the families in his congregation entered the U.S. with the app formerly known as CBP One, which under the Biden administration allowed migrants to schedule asylum appointments at legal ports of entry. The Trump administration this year shuttered that function of the app and told everyone who entered the country with the app to self-deport.
Torosian told NPR that one couple and their child were released from detention over the weekend, but they were placed in an alternative to detention program with an ankle monitor. The others, a couple, remain in separate detention facilities.
Religious persecution is one of the many reasons individuals can claim asylum or apply to be a refugee. But the Trump administration's overhaul of the U.S. asylum and refugee systems has taken a toll on people fleeing religious persecution — many of whom saw the U.S. as a symbol of religious freedom.
The pause on most refugee admissions and curbs on some asylum claims mark a shift from the administration's first term, which offered support for some Christian refugees, even while tightening immigration overall.
The White House says the president still supports Christians worldwide.
"President Trump has a humanitarian heart, and especially cares deeply for Christians around the world who are facing persecution for their faith. Any individual who fears persecution for religious reasons is able to apply for asylum to remain in the United States," said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman. "The Trump administration is also working to undo the damage by the Biden administration, who admitted countless poorly vetted migrants into the United States through temporary programs."
Jackson added that 13,000 individuals have been granted asylum since the start of the administration. During a similar period, the Biden administration approved roughly 18,000 asylum cases through immigration courts, according to data from Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
In May, Trump signed an executive order to establish a White House Religious Liberty Commission, focused on promoting "America's founding principle of religious freedom."
Prior to signing, he said: "We're bringing religion back to our country and it's a big deal."
Fleeing persecution
But the broader numbers of asylum approvals mask struggles for particular families, especially those who first entered the country under temporary programs.
An Afghan Christian in Oklahoma said last month he has been waiting more than six months for an update on his asylum application. The man, who declined to give his name for fear of persecution due to his immigration status, recalled fearing for his life after the Taliban took control in 2021.
Three years later, he and his family fled to Brazil and later traveled by foot and boat to the U.S.-Mexico border. They entered the U.S. through the CBP One app.
Although he hoped to feel safer in the U.S., the fear of deportation and potentially facing persecution in Afghanistan still haunts him.
" My family and I, we can't sleep," he said. "All the time, we are scared."
Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy for World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization and refugee resettlement agency, said religion is often a big factor in persecution worldwide.
" Everyone wants to stay home when they can, but often it reaches a point where people feel that they have no choice but to leave home," he said. "And that is a tragedy, but it's even more tragic when then they have nowhere to go."
By the end of last year, there were more than 10 million Christian immigrants in the U.S. vulnerable to deportation, whether because they have no legal status or their protections such as temporary protected status could be withdrawn, according to a report by World Relief and other Christian and immigration organizations.
The report notes that 8% of all Christians in the U.S., including Catholics and Evangelicals, are either personally at risk for deportation or are in a household with someone who is.
While it is difficult to quantify how many refugees are granted status because of religious persecution, Christian denominations made up the largest group among refugee arrivals in fiscal year 2024, according to the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
" Last year at least, and in most of the last several years, the majority of refugees we resettled happened to be Christians," Soerens said. "More than half of them come from countries where Christians face persecution."
Christians face religious-based violence in countries in the Middle East and Africa, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2025.
Trump's immigration policies affect Christian immigrants
In addition to changes to refugee and asylum policies, advocates for Christian refugees and asylum-seekers have also expressed concern over the loss of temporary protected status for migrants from Afghanistan. The country is ranked among the most dangerous places for Christians, according to a watch list by Open Doors, a group that supports persecuted Christians.
Some of the administration's changes to the country's refugee and asylum systems have been challenged in court, including a suit brought by refugee resettlement groups over the administration's halt on refugee admissions and resettlement. A small group of refugees was recently allowed into the U.S. amid the legal challenges.
The stricter tone of the Trump administration's approach to immigration has also disheartened some people who believed there would be some exceptions to Trump's goals of mass deportation, "because they had understood that he was going to champion the cause of persecuted Christians," World Relief's Soerens said.
Polling data shows more nuance. While some Christian organizations have protested against Trump's treatment of legal and illegal immigration, white Christians are among the groups most likely to approve of Trump's handling of immigration, according to a poll from the Public Religion Research Institute.
There have been slivers of opportunity. In June, the administration announced its new travel ban but included some exceptions, including immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran.
Still, organizations are calling for broader protections. A group of faith leaders sent a letter and distributed petitions calling on the Trump administration to protect hundreds of Afghan Christians from deportation as their temporary protected status and other legal protections end.
Torosian, the pastor in Los Angeles, traveled to Washington, D.C., this month to conduct a silent prayer outside the White House and meet with Republican members of Congress to advocate for exceptions to Trump's deportation policies.
Ahead of his travels, he said he received hundreds of messages on social media from Iranian and other Christians fearing deportation.
"I came as a refugee here. So their pain is my pain right now. If they are in prison, in detention, I am in prison," Torosian said, noting that he sought refuge from Iran, in part, for religious persecution. "I will not rest until they come back home."
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