• Analysis
Secret Talks With Iran: Court Documents Show US Planned Deportations During War
Court documents show the Trump administration held secret talks with Iran about deporting Iranians even as the war continued, with plans as recently as mid-October to remove detainees through an unnamed third country.
Deportation plans during the war
Court records unsealed on Thursday revealed that the Trump administration negotiated in secret with Iranian officials over removing Iranian nationals, a diplomatic channel that stayed open even as fighting between the two countries continued. According to the documents obtained by the Associated Press, the discussions covered travel paperwork and what the administration described as possible avenues for removal.
The records also show how concrete the preparations became. Hundreds of emails between the two governments detail cooperation that put more than 100 Iranians on three immigration flights back to Iran in September and December 2025 and January 2026.
- •In filings made as recently as mid-October, the administration's stated position was that Iranians in custody could be removed via an unnamed third country
- •No specific date was set for any of those removals, a point the Justice Department confirmed in court
- •Deportations to Iran have historically been rare, because the two countries have no diplomatic relations and returnees could face persecution there
- •Under the administration's wider immigration crackdown, ICE has sought to remove people even to countries that will not take them back or with which the US has hostile ties, at times routing people to third countries they have no connection with
Judge Reyes's warning and court order
Judge Ana Reyes has ordered the government to give the court 24-hour notice of any finalized plans to deport Iranians to Iran or elsewhere, and five days' written notice before any such deportation is carried out. At a hearing on 15 October, she noted that the United States was at war with Iran, a country the president had called lawless and an enemy responsible for murdering tens of thousands of protesters.
In the transcript of that hearing, Reyes said what any deported person would face:
would know would be, at a minimum, a serious threat of certain death
She also argued the government would be sending people in its custody to a country it had bombed, might bomb again, and considered a declared enemy. Reyes warned she would initiate contempt proceedings if the administration violated her advance-notice order.
Detainees notified and the lawsuit's allegations
The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, which brought the case and represents Iranians held by ICE, told the court that a dozen Iranian detainees received notice over the past week that they would be deported to Iran. On Thursday the group said at least 12 detainees had been contacted by the Iranian Interest Section in the Pakistani embassy in Washington and told of an upcoming deportation flight to Iran through Pakistan.
The fund's executive director, Yasmine Chubin, said one detainee attempted suicide after learning he might be returned to Iran. She said two detainees, including that man, were moved across state lines to a detention center in Texas, where detainees are often relocated ahead of a removal.
The lawsuit makes a further allegation: that US immigration agencies shared confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, in violation of immigration regulations and to the danger of Iranians in Iran. It describes what the fund calls a coordinated campaign between the US and Iranian governments to identify Iranians in ICE custody and pressure them to return, a striking shift after decades of hostility between the two governments. The Department of Homeland Security has denied sharing asylum records.
The legal group added that none of the detainees contacted were given any information in writing by immigration authorities.
Government response
In court, Justice Department attorney Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel confirmed that removals were going ahead, telling the judge: "The government is executing lawful orders of removal". He said there was no specific date set to carry out any removals.
In a Wednesday filing, the Justice Department argued that the judge's order effectively functioned as an injunction, given the possibility of sanctions and contempt dangling overhead. The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At the 15 October hearing, Judge Reyes repeated that she would begin contempt proceedings if the administration broke her advance-notice order, and as of the latest filings no date had been fixed for any deportation flight.
