US held secret talks with Iran on deporting Iranians amid war, records show

Judge requires advance notice of Iranian deportations and warns of contempt

The Trump administration held secret talks with Iran about deporting Iranians to their home country even as the war there continued, according to court documents unsealed Thursday that were obtained by the Associated Press. The documents show that as recently as mid-October the administration said it had plans to deport Iranians through an unnamed third country, although it was unclear when it intended to act.

The judge in the case, Ana Reyes, 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.

The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, which brought the lawsuit in which the transcript was released, said Thursday that at least 12 Iranian detainees held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security, were contacted in the past week by the Iranian Interest Section — an Iranian representative office in the Pakistani embassy in Washington that handles consular affairs — and notified of an upcoming deportation flight to Iran through Pakistan. The group did not say when the deportation would occur, and it said none of the detainees who were contacted had been provided any information in writing from immigration authorities.

Reyes’ remarks came during an October 15 hearing, according to the transcript that has now been unsealed. “We are at war with a country where the president of the United States has said, as recently as two or three days ago, if not yesterday, that it is essentially lawless … A country that is an enemy of the United States, according to the current president. A country that, according to our president, murdered tens of thousands of protestors,” she said, according to the transcript.

“And what you’re telling me is that the United States of America is going to send individuals back to that region, facing what you and I and everyone who would ever look at this would know would be, at a minimum, a serious threat of certain death,” Reyes said.

“Yes, your honor,” Justice Department attorney Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel said. “The government is executing lawful orders of removal.” Georgiev-Remmel told the court there was no specific date set to carry out any removals.

Yasmine Chubin, the legal fund’s executive director, said one of the detainees attempted suicide once he learned he might be returned to Iran. He was one of two people who were subsequently moved across state lines to a detention center in Texas, where detainees are often relocated immediately preceding a removal, according to the group.

The unsealed documents show the administration maintained contacts with Iranian officials during the war over the removals, specifically for submitting travel documents and working out “possible avenues for removal.” Hundreds of emails exchanged between US immigration officials show 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.

The lawsuit alleges that the administration’s immigration agencies have been sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, violating national immigration regulations and endangering countless Iranians, as court filings argue. The suit depicts a coordinated campaign between the US and Iranian governments to identify Iranians in ICE custody and pressure them to return to Iran — a marked departure from decades of diplomatic hostility between the two governments. The Department of Homeland Security has denied that it is sharing asylum application records with the Iranian government.

DHS, ICE’s parent agency, and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During the October 15 hearing, Reyes warned government attorneys that she would initiate contempt proceedings if the administration violated her order to give the court advance notice of any planned deportation flights. “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,” she 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 dangling overhead.”

Deportations of Iranians back to their home country are historically rare, owing to the lack of diplomatic relations between the US and Iran and the possible persecution they could face there. Under the Trump administration, ICE has pushed to deport people even from countries that have typically been reluctant to take people back or with which the US has had icy or no diplomatic relations — sometimes sending people back to their home country, and sometimes deporting them to other countries with which they have no connection.

Activists abroad have expressed concern about deportees returning to Iran, where, activists say, the government has cracked down on intellectuals and dissent.