Unsealed Court Documents Show Trump Administration Kept Deportation Contacts With Iran During the War

The Trump administration kept talking to Iran about deporting Iranians while the two countries were at war, according to court documents unsealed Thursday, Nov. 5, in a federal lawsuit. The documents were first obtained by The Associated Press.

The records show the government said as recently as mid-October that it had plans to remove Iranians through an unnamed third country. It is unclear when. The contacts with Iranian officials covered submitting travel documents and working out "possible avenues for removal."

The judge's order

The case is before U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes. Following an Oct. 15 hearing, she ordered the government to give the court 24 hours' notice of any finalized plan to deport Iranians to Iran or any other country. She also ordered five days' written notice before any such removal is carried out.

At the hearing, Reyes laid out the contradiction as she saw it. "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," she said, according to the transcript. She added that the country is "an enemy of the United States, according to the current president" and one that "murdered tens of thousands of protestors," according to Trump.

She then asked whether the government was sending people back to what would be, in her words, "at a minimum, a serious threat of certain death."

Justice Department attorney Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel answered: "Yes, your honor. The government is executing lawful orders of removal." He told the court no specific date had been set for any removals.

What the lawsuit alleges

The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund brought the suit. It alleges that U.S. immigration agencies shared confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, in violation of immigration regulations. The group argues this endangers Iranians who sought protection in the United States.

DHS has denied sharing asylum application records with Iran. The department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the newly unsealed material. The State Department did not either.

The lawsuit also points to earlier cooperation. Hundreds of emails among U.S. immigration officials show the two governments worked together to fly more than 100 Iranians back to Iran on three immigration flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026.

Deportations of Iranians to Iran have historically been rare. The U.S. and Iran have no diplomatic relations, and returnees can face persecution.

A new flight through Pakistan

The legal group said Thursday that at least 12 Iranian detainees in ICE custody have been contacted in the past week by the Iranian Interest Section. That is an Iranian representative office inside the Pakistani Embassy in Washington that handles consular affairs. The detainees were told of an upcoming deportation flight to Iran through Pakistan, according to the group. It did not say when the flight would leave.

One of those detainees attempted suicide after learning he might be returned to Iran, according to Yasmine Chubin of the legal group.

The government's position

The administration's stated position, as presented in court, is narrow. The people in question are subject to lawful removal orders, and carrying them out is the government's job. Enforcing final orders is routine immigration law, and removing someone requires a destination country willing to accept them. That is why travel documents and contact with the receiving government come into the process at all.

The tension is also plain. Trump has publicly described Iran as an enemy that killed tens of thousands of protesters, and his administration has been negotiating logistics with that same government. Reyes put that in front of the Justice Department directly, and the government's answer was that the orders are lawful.

The record leaves open how many people are affected and what the third-country route would be. It also leaves open whether the flight through Pakistan the detainees were told about will go ahead. The government has not said, and it has not explained why Iran's consular office was contacting detainees directly.

The judge's notice requirement now governs any removal. The court must receive 24 hours' notice of any finalized plan, and five days' written notice must precede any deportation, which gives the plaintiffs time to challenge it before anyone is put on a plane.