Trump administration held talks with Iran on deporting Iranians during war
Associated Press · Michael Kunzelman, Rebecca Santana, Safiyah Riddle ·
Court documents reveal President Donald Trump's administration held secret talks with Iran about deporting Iranians during the ongoing war. Unsealed Thursday, the documents show the Republican administration said as recently as mid-October it had plans to deport Iranians through a third country. A judge ordered the government to notify the court of any finalized deportation plans. The documents reveal contacts with Iranian officials to arrange removals, despite the war and diplomatic tensions. A lawsuit claims the Trump administration shared confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with Iran, violating regulations. The Department of Homeland Security denies sharing asylum records. Deportations to Iran are rare due to diplomatic and safety concerns.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration held secret talks with Iran on deporting Iranians even as the war there dragged on, court documents obtained by The Associated Press show.
The court documents unsealed Thursday show the Republican administration as recently as mid-October said it had plans to deport the Iranians through an unnamed third country, although they did not specify when that would be carried out. The judge in the case ordered the government to give the court 24-hour notice of any finalized plans to deport Iranians to Iran or to any other country and five days’ written notice before any such deportation is carried out.
A legal group representing Iranians held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement said at least a dozen Iranian detainees had been notified over the past week that they were being deported to Iran, with some told it could be as soon as this coming Sunday. The legal group, the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, brought the lawsuit in which the new court documents were released.
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