Court documents unsealed Thursday show the Trump administration held secret talks with Iran on deporting Iranians while the war dragged on. The filings emerged from a lawsuit over alleged information sharing. A judge ordered advance notice of planned deportations.
Court documents unsealed Thursday show that President Donald Trump's administration held secret talks with Iran on deporting Iranians even as the war there dragged on. The documents show the administration maintained contacts with Iranian officials during the war over the removals, specifically to submit travel documents and work out possible avenues for removal. Earlier filings and emails show talks with Iran on deportations that took place last year and shortly before the war.
Flights and emails
Hundreds of emails exchanged between U.S. immigration officials showed the two countries worked together to arrange for more than 100 Iranians to be flown back to Iran on three immigration flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026. In June, an Iranian woman was among two dozen migrants the U.S. deported to the Central African Republic.
The lawsuit
The documents emerged from an ongoing lawsuit brought by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund. The suit alleges that Trump administration immigration agencies have shared confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government. DHS has denied sharing asylum application records, and the judge appeared skeptical of claims of a coordinated policy of sharing.
Hearing and court order
At an Oct. 15 hearing, Judge Ana Reyes said sending individuals back would pose at a minimum a serious threat of certain death. Justice Department attorney Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel said the government is executing lawful orders of removal and that no specific date was set to carry out any removals. As recently as mid-October, the administration said in court documents that it planned to deport the Iranians through an unnamed third country, and it was unclear when. The judge ordered the government to give the court 24-hour notice of any finalized plans to deport Iranians to Iran or any other country, and five days' written notice before any such deportation is carried out.
Detainee notices and official responses
The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund 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 the coming Sunday. The group said detainees were contacted by the Iranian Interest Section in the Pakistani Embassy in Washington and notified of an upcoming deportation flight to Iran through Pakistan. The State Department said it generally does not comment on pending litigation or private diplomatic discussions and referred other questions to DHS, which did not immediately respond.
