By Safiyah Riddle
The Associated Press
July 7, 2026 - 10:16 am
LOS ANGELES — A suit filed Tuesday alleges that the Trump administration’s migration agencies person been sharing confidential accusation astir Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, violating nationalist migration regulations and endangering countless Iranians, tribunal filings argue.
The suit depicts a coordinated run betwixt the U.S. and Iranian governments to place Iranians successful Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and unit them to instrumentality to Iran — a marked departure from decades of diplomatic hostility betwixt the 2 governments and an ongoing war. The Department of Homeland Security denied that it is sharing asylum exertion records with the Iranian government.
Roughly 600 Iranians were enactment successful migration detention past year, according to nationalist records obtained by the National Iranian American Council. In June, an Iranian pistillate was among the 2 twelve migrants the U.S. deported to the Central African Republic — successful a marked departure from a decades-long signifier by the U.S. of welcoming Iranian dissidents, exiles and others since the 1979 Islamic Revolution forced a ample fig of Iranians to flee.
The U.S. authorities is allowed to enactment with authorities officials of overseas countries to coordinate deportation logistics. However, national regulations passed successful the precocious 1990s prohibit the authorities from sharing accusation that could uncover that the idiosyncratic getting deported applied for asylum.
“Congress made these confidentiality protections mandatory precisely due to the fact that lives beryllium connected them, and nary bureau and nary administration, of either party, whitethorn acceptable them aside,” said Ali Rahnama, the interim enforcement manager of Iranian American Legal Defense Fund.
Starting successful March 2025, the U.S. State Department arranged monthly meetings with Iranian officials, utilizing the Pakistani embassy arsenic an intermediary, successful which U.S. officials shared detailed, delicate accusation astir detained Iranian immigrants who the U.S. authorities hoped to deport, lawyers for the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund and the Public Citizen Litigation Group wrote successful a complaint.
The accusation included details astir asylum applications filed by radical who accidental they were persecuted for converting to Christianity, for their sexuality oregon for participating successful the Women, Life, Freedom protests against the Iranian authorities successful 2022, according to the lawsuit, which was filed successful U.S. District Court successful Washington, D.C.
ICE forced Iranian asylum applicants who had been detained successful galore facilities, mostly confederate states, to conscionable with an Iranian authorities authoritative who had extended and circumstantial cognition astir their applications, according to the complaint. The accusation was shared adjacent aft the associated U.S.-Israeli strikes connected Iran started the Iran warfare successful February 2026.
Homeland Security said successful a connection Tuesday that ICE works to get question documents for detainees successful their custody and that ICE facilitates “consular entree to detained individuals, successful accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and bureau policy.”
“These allegations that ICE shared asylum exertion records with the Iranian authorities are FALSE,” DHS said successful a statement.
The suit is seeking to halt sharing accusation astir asylum seekers with the Iranian authorities and name an autarkic show to forestall aboriginal disclosures.
“Despite the U.S.’s ongoing warfare with Iran, the medication seems much committed to wide deportation than protecting quality lives,” Michael Kirkpatrick, lawyer astatine Public Citizen Litigation Group said successful a statement.
The ailment names the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and the Department of State arsenic immoderate of the defendants.
The allegations travel amid President Donald Trump’s ambitious and assertive migration crackdown that progressive implicit 600,000 deportations and causing astir 1.9 cardinal immigrants to voluntarily permission successful 2025 alone, according to an announcement made by DHS.
Iranian officials acknowledged successful September 2025 that arsenic galore arsenic 400 Iranians could beryllium returned nether an statement with the Trump’s administration. That month, the archetypal of 3 deportation flights brought dozens of Iranians backmost to Iran. The 2nd deportation formation was successful December 2025, and the last recorded deportation formation departed astatine the extremity of January 2026, astir a period earlier the warfare connected Iran started, and conscionable weeks aft the Iranian authorities killed thousands of citizens arsenic portion of a brutal crackdown connected protests. The New York Times reported astatine the clip that immoderate of those deported successful the flights successful September, December and January were asylum seekers.
Associated Press newsman Rebecca Santana successful Washington contributed to this report.
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