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Court filings revealed ICE and the State Department shared Iranian detainees' asylum records with Iran's government

On July 7, 2026, the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund sued the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and ICE in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleging that since March 2025 the agencies had shared confidential asylum-application and immigration files of Iranian asylum seekers with Iran's government while working to deport them. The Department of Homeland Security denied the allegations.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On July 7, 2026, the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, acting ICE Director David Venturella, and their agencies in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleging that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State Department had, since March 2025, shared confidential immigration and asylum-application files of Iranian asylum seekers with Iran's government while working to deport them [1][2][3].

The complaint said ICE officials met monthly with Iran's Interests Section to share detainees' immigration files and periodically mailed or hand-delivered the documents directly to Iranian government representatives, an arrangement that continued after the United States and Iran went to war in February 2026 [1][2][3]. Many of the asylum seekers are pro-democracy protesters, religious minorities, or LGBTQ people who fled Iran fearing persecution, torture, or death if returned [2][3]. The Department of Homeland Security denied the allegations, and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment [1][2].

Updates

2026-07-15 — Sworn declarations detailed ICE-Iran contacts and deportation total [4]

A board member of the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund testified in a sworn declaration that an Iranian official described maintaining ongoing communications with ICE and said the administration's goal was to "get rid of all Iranians" held in immigration detention, and filings stated that more than 100 Iranians were deported to Tehran between September 2025 and January 2026.

2026-08-18 — Newly released emails detailed ICE-Iran coordination on three deportation flights [5]

Hundreds of emails obtained by the National Iranian American Council and made public August 18, 2026 gave the fullest documentary record yet of the ICE-Iran channel, showing Iranian officials had influence over which detainees were placed on deportation manifests -- an ICE official wrote "Per request from the Iran Embassy I added a few cases" ahead of a September 2025 flight, and Iranian officials continued requesting manifest changes up to the day flights departed. The emails detailed three separate flights, in September and December 2025 and January 2026, that returned more than 100 Iranians.

Why we recorded this

Privacy and asylum protections exist so that people fleeing persecution are not exposed to the very governments they escaped; federal regulations bar disclosing that a person applied for asylum. Court filings show U.S. immigration authorities shared confidential asylum records and detainee dossiers with Iran's government, the regime those detainees had fled, while working to deport them. This archive records when the state hands a hostile foreign government sensitive personal data on people in its custody, exposing them to persecution, torture, or death.

Sources

  1. New lawsuit alleges U.S. shared asylum application details with Iran — NPR investigative accessed July 19, 2026
  2. Trump admin shared confidential information on Iranian asylum seekers as it worked to deport them, lawsuit alleges — CNN investigative accessed July 19, 2026
  3. Iranian American Legal Defense Fund v. Rubio - Complaint (Case 1:26-cv-02375, filed 07/07/26) — U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (via Public Citizen Litigation Group) primary accessed July 19, 2026
  4. Court Filings Describe Ongoing Contact Between ICE and Iran on Deportations — The New York Times investigative accessed July 16, 2026
  5. A quiet channel between ICE and Iran shaped deportation flights, newly released emails show — MS NOW (AP) primary accessed August 20, 2026

See also