Correspondence reveals the US Immigration Agency’s cooperation with Iran to determine the names of deportees

Correspondence obtained by the National Iranian American Council showed that Iranian officials had a direct influence in determining the names of some deported Iranians, as the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency responded to Iran’s requests to amend deportation lists at the last minute, including adding names or accelerating the procedures for deporting some cases at the request of the Iranian embassy.

The correspondence included references to regular meetings between agency officials, the “Iranian delegation,” and the “director of the Iranian embassy,” with communication channels through Qatari officials at times, at a time when Iran was engaged in a 12-day war with the United States and Israel in June 2025, and Iranians were fleeing the country. Agency officials also acknowledged that deportation would be difficult due to the closure of Iranian airspace and the failure to issue travel documents.

The letters showed that pressure to carry out deportations came from the highest levels of the Trump administration, as the acting director of the agency described the return of Iranian immigrants as a “priority,” and officials insisted on developing a plan to deport 58 Iranians despite the difficult security conditions.

The open cooperation raises questions about the legality of these practices, especially in light of subsequent accusations that the agency shared confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, which the Department of Homeland Security strongly denied, but the letters revealed cases in which people not included on the final lists were deported, or asylum seekers were forced to return against their will.