Key facts
- Court documents unsealed on November 5, 2026 show the administration held secret talks with Iran on deporting Iranians during the war.
- Judge Ana Reyes ordered 24-hour notice of any finalized deportation plans and five days' written notice before any deportation.
- The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund said at least 12 Iranian detainees were notified of an upcoming deportation flight to Iran through Pakistan.
- The documents describe three immigration flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026 that returned more than 100 Iranians to Iran.
- DHS has denied sharing asylum application records with the Iranian government.
- The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration held secret talks with Iran on deporting Iranians while the war continued, according to court documents obtained by the Associated Press and unsealed on November 5, 2026.
The documents show the administration said as recently as mid-October that it had plans to deport the Iranians through an unnamed third country, though it was unclear when it intended to do so. They also show the administration maintained contacts with Iranian officials during the war over the removals, specifically for submitting travel documents and figuring out possible avenues for removal.
At an October 15 hearing, US District Judge Ana Reyes 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. She warned she would initiate contempt proceedings if the order was violated. "We are talking about sending individuals in our care and custody to a country that we have bombed and we may continue bombing, and is a declared enemy of this country," Reyes said, according to the transcript.
Justice Department attorney Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel told the court there was no specific date set to carry out any removals. "The government is executing lawful orders of removal," he said. In a court filing on Wednesday, the Justice Department said the judge's order effectively served as an injunction against the government given the possibility of sanctions and contempt.
The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, which brought the lawsuit, said on Thursday that at least 12 Iranian detainees had been contacted by the Iranian Interest Section, an Iranian representative office in the Pakistani embassy in Washington that handles consular affairs, in the past week and notified of an upcoming deportation flight to Iran through Pakistan. The group did not say when the deportation would occur. Yasmine Chubin, the organization's executive director, said one detainee attempted suicide once he learned he might be returned to Iran, and that he was one of two people subsequently moved across state lines to a detention center in Texas. None of the detainees contacted had been provided any information in writing from immigration authorities, the group said.