A lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., alleges that immigration agencies under the Trump administration have been sharing sensitive, confidential information regarding Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government. The legal complaint argues that this practice violates federal immigration regulations and puts numerous individuals at risk, marking a significant shift from the long-standing U.S. tradition of offering refuge to Iranian dissidents and exiles following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
According to the lawsuit, filed by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund and the Public Citizen Litigation Group, U.S. officials began arranging monthly meetings with Iranian counterparts in March 2025, utilizing the Pakistani embassy as an intermediary. During these sessions, authorities allegedly disclosed detailed information about asylum applications from individuals who claimed persecution based on their sexuality, their conversion to Christianity, or their participation in the 2022 “Women, Life, Freedom” protests against the Iranian government. The complaint further claims that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) forced detainees in various facilities, primarily in southern states, to meet with Iranian officials who possessed specific knowledge of their asylum claims.
Ali Rahnama, interim executive director of the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, emphasized that confidentiality protections are mandatory under law, stating that lives depend on these safeguards being upheld by every administration. The lawsuit seeks an immediate injunction to stop the sharing of such information and requests the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee future compliance. Attorney Michael Kirkpatrick of the Public Citizen Litigation Group criticized the administration, asserting that it appears more focused on mass deportation than protecting human lives, even amid the ongoing war between the U.S. and Iran that began in February 2026.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has strongly denied the allegations. In a statement released Tuesday, the department stated, “These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE.” DHS maintained that ICE works to secure travel documents for detainees and facilitates consular access in accordance with all applicable laws and agency policies.
The lawsuit names several defendants, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. These legal challenges occur against the backdrop of an aggressive immigration crackdown by the Trump administration, which reported over 600,000 deportations in 2025 alone. Public records from the National Iranian American Council indicate that approximately 600 Iranians were placed in detention last year. Previously, Iranian officials noted in September 2025 that an agreement could lead to the return of up to 400 Iranian citizens, with deportation flights occurring in September and December 2025, and a final recorded flight in late January 2026, just weeks before the outbreak of the war.
Associated Press reporter Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.
Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
The U.S. government is allowed to work with government officials of foreign countries to coordinate deportation logistics. However, federal regulations passed in the late 1990s prohibit the government from sharing information that could reveal that the individual getting deported applied for asylum.
