The case matters because it tests how far a broad immigration crackdown can reach into relations with a state Washington is fighting.
The Trump administration held secret talks with Iran over the deportation of Iranians even as war between the two countries continued, according to court documents obtained by the Associated Press and reported by The Guardian. The documents, unsealed on Thursday, show the administration saying as recently as mid-October that it had plans to remove the Iranians through an unnamed third country, though it was unclear when it intended to act.
The filings emerged from a lawsuit brought by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, which alleges that US immigration agencies have shared confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, breaching national immigration regulations. The Department of Homeland Security has denied sharing asylum application records with Tehran. Neither DHS nor the State Department immediately responded to a request for comment, the report says.
At a hearing on 15 October, the judge in the case, Ana Reyes, pressed the government on the consequences of removal. She described Iran as a country the president has called lawless and an enemy of the United States, and asked whether Washington intended to send individuals back to a region facing what she said would be, at a minimum, a serious threat of certain death. A justice department attorney, Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel, replied that the government was executing lawful orders of removal and that no specific date had been set. Reyes ordered 24 hours' notice of any finalised deportation plans and five days' written notice before any removal, warning that she would begin contempt proceedings if the order were violated.
According to the legal group, at least 12 Iranian detainees were contacted in the past week by the Iranian Interest Section, the consular office housed in Pakistan's embassy in Washington, and told of an upcoming deportation flight to Iran through Pakistan. The group said one detainee attempted suicide after learning he might be returned, and that he was one of two people moved across state lines to a detention centre in Texas, where detainees are often relocated before removal. None of those contacted had received written information from immigration authorities, the group said.
The documents also describe contacts with Iranian officials during the war over travel documents and possible avenues for removal, and hundreds of emails showing the two governments arranging for more than 100 Iranians to be flown home on three flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026. Deportations to Iran have historically been rare, given the absence of diplomatic relations and the risk of persecution. The case matters because it tests how far a broad immigration crackdown can reach into relations with a state Washington is fighting, and whether courts can slow removals the executive regards as lawful. The timing of any flight, the identity of the third country and the fate of the detainees remain unconfirmed.
