US Held Iran Deportation Talks During War, Court Docs Show

Unsealed court filings show the Trump administration kept talking with Iranian officials about deporting Iranians while the countries were at war, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press.

The records, unsealed Thursday, say that as recently as mid-October the administration described plans to deport Iranians through an unnamed third country, though they did not say when any removals would occur. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ordered the government to give the court 24 hours’ notice of any finalized plan to deport Iranians to Iran or another country, and five days’ written notice before carrying out such a deportation, the Associated Press reported.

Contacts during the war

The filings say the administration stayed in contact with Iranian officials during the war to submit travel documents and discuss “possible avenues for removal,” according to the Associated Press.

At an Oct. 15 hearing, Reyes questioned sending people back to a country President Donald Trump had described as lawless and an enemy, saying they would face at least a serious threat of death, the Associated Press reported from the transcript. Justice Department attorney Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel replied, “Yes, your honor,” and said the government was “executing lawful orders of removal.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to the Associated Press.

Lawsuit and earlier flights

The disclosures come in a lawsuit that alleges U.S. immigration agencies shared confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government. The Department of Homeland Security has denied sharing asylum application records with Iran, the Associated Press reported.

Earlier emails cited in related reporting showed ICE arranging for more than 100 Iranians to be flown back to Iran on three immigration flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026. In June, an Iranian woman was among about two dozen migrants the United States deported to the Central African Republic, the Associated Press said.

Developing: No finalized mid-October third-country removal flight was identified in the unsealed material summarized by the Associated Press; the lawsuit and notice requirements remain active.

Sources: Associated Press via Clinton Herald, Associated Press via Courier News, Associated Press, court filings