Christian Convert Who Fled Iran and Was Ousted From U.S. Finds a New Home
nytimes.com/…adeh-iran-christian-us-deported-cana…
Artemis Ghasemzadeh, who had escaped religious persecution, was deported to Panama under Trump’s immigration crackdown. Now, Canada has given her asylum.
By Farnaz Fassihi
Farnaz Fassihi has followed and written about the Iranian Christian converts deported from the United States to Panama in 2025 and remained in regular contact with Artemis Ghasemzadeh.
Published Aug. 25, 2026Updated Aug. 27, 2026
The young woman became the face of migrants deported by the United States to Panama. She was locked up in a hotel, detained in a camp in the Darién jungle and stranded in a country where she knew neither the language nor anyone else. Later, she lent her name to a bill in Congress aimed at providing more protection to some migrants seeking asylum in the United States.
The woman, Artemis Ghasemzadeh, a 28-year-old Iranian Christian convert, has now found a home — in Canada. In June, the Canadian government granted her asylum, a happy bookend to her nearly two-year journey fleeing religious persecution in Iran only to get entangled in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Ms. Ghasemzadeh arrived on Denman Island near Vancouver in early July with few belongings other than clothes. But her heart, she said, was filled with gratitude and hope for a new beginning.
“I’m still kind of in shock. I can’t believe I’m really here and this is not a dream,” Ms. Ghasemzadeh said in a telephone interview. “I can finally say the struggle is over.”