What started out as a routine immigration check-in has turned into a nightmare for a southwest Houston church, where congregants say two Iranian men from their pews are now fighting for their lives from inside federal detention.
The men, both of whom attended Refuge Church, are being held in ICE custody after reporting to an immigration facility near Bush Intercontinental Airport in December for what they believed was a standard appointment. Pastor Blaine Hooper said the pair were suddenly handcuffed and chained.
"They were detained without explanation," Hooper said. The church has asked that their names be withheld for safety. Leaders say both men had U.S. work authorization and had been legally employed and paying taxes for more than two years. As reported by KHOU, an ICE spokesperson said the men did not enter the country through a formal port of entry and that one of them showed up to his scheduled check-in nine days late.
One of the men has been living with a host family from the church. They told reporters he is “like my brother” and say they are terrified that deportation to Iran would be a death sentence. Attorney Blake Jenkins told KHOU his client fears arrest along with “physical punishment and death” because he converted to Christianity and had joined protests that drew the regime’s attention.
Hooper said he has already met with federal lawmakers, urging them to push for the men’s release while their asylum claims move through the courts. The church is treating the situation not just as an immigration case, but as an emergency for its own community.
The detentions are playing out against a broader backdrop of interior immigration enforcement. According to TRAC Immigration, roughly three quarters of people held in ICE detention have no criminal convictions. Advocates say that kind of statistic shows how easily people with legitimate protection claims can end up behind bars instead of in front of an asylum officer.
In Houston, church members have launched a flurry of calls and emails, seeking legal help and pressing elected officials to intervene before the men are sent back.
Why Church Leaders Say Deportation Could Be Deadly
Refuge Church leaders are not just worried. They are citing chapter and verse from human rights records when they say deportation could be fatal.
Human rights groups and U.S. watchdogs have long warned that Christian converts and political protesters face serious danger in Iran. In 2024, the country carried out hundreds of executions, and reporting by the AP and findings from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom describe increasing sentences and harsh treatment for religious dissenters.
Those reports are now central to the church’s warnings, as leaders argue that sending the men back to Iran could expose them to imprisonment, torture, or worse.
What Happens Next
ICE has said the men will receive due process and that their cases will be heard before an immigration judge. In those hearings, attorneys are expected to raise asylum and related protection claims.
But the legal path is anything but straightforward. Changes to asylum rules and strict requirements about how and where someone enters the United States have narrowed the options for many migrants. As the American Bar Association explains, people who did not arrive at a recognized port of entry now face more complicated and less predictable outcomes.
For now, Refuge Church is focused on mobilizing legal support and keeping pressure on lawmakers to secure the men’s release while their cases are prepared. Congregants say they are not planning to let up, arguing that anything short of protection risks sending their fellow worshippers into what could be a deadly return to Iran.
