Earlier this year, Artemis Ghasemzadeh, a 27-year-old Iranian Christian convert, was shackled and deported from the U.S. to Panama — without a fear interview, a court hearing, or a chance to make her asylum claim.

Now she’s living in limbo, unsure if she’ll ever find a safe, permanent home. If she’s sent back to Iran, she could face imprisonment or even execution for converting from Islam — a form of religious persecution well documented by human rights organizations.

Her story sparked national outrage and has now inspired a bill in Congress: The Artemis Act.

The new U.S. legislation will be introduced this week in Congress by Representative Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian-American Democratic lawmaker from Arizona. 

The bill would ban the expedited removal of asylum seekers fleeing countries known to persecute religious minorities, and ensure they have a chance to plead their case in immigration court — a basic right guaranteed under U.S. and international law.

We call on Congress to pass the Artemis Act and guarantee all religious asylum seekers a fair process before removal

Help us end deportations that ignore credible fear of persecution or death
Prevent tragedies like Artemis’s from happening again.

No one fleeing for their life should be sent away without being heard.