Reps. Randy Hultgren (R., Ill.) and James McGovern (D., Mass.) want answers from the Trump administration about the reasons behind a Department of Homeland Security decision to deny refugee status in the United States for dozens of Iranian Christians and other Iranian religious minorities.
The congressman, co-chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, on Tuesday said they are disappointed that DHS has denied asylum to a large percentage of a group of roughly 100 Iranians fleeing religious persecution in Iran.
Roughly 76 to 80 members of the group, which is largely Christian but also includes Zoroastrians, Andeans, and at least one Jewish family, reportedly received notice of the DHS denial on Monday, while the rest remain “under investigation” and have yet to receive a clear answer.
The group, which applied for refugee status under a U.S. law reserved for persecuted minorities from Iran, Ukraine, and former Soviet countries known as the Lautenberg amendment, has been waiting in limbo in Vienna for more than a year while the U.S. government evaluates their cases.
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