Unsealed Filings: U.S. Held Deportation Talks With Iran During the War; Judge Orders Advance Notice of Any Removal Plan
The Trump administration held talks with Iran on deporting Iranians even as the two countries were at war, according to court documents unsealed on Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press. The documents show U.S. officials maintained contacts with Iranian officials during the war over the removals, specifically for submitting travel documents and figuring out "possible avenues for removal." As recently as mid-October, the government said it had plans to deport the Iranians through an unnamed third country, although it did not specify when that would be carried out.
The documents surfaced in a lawsuit brought by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund in federal court in Washington. The lawsuit alleges that the administration's immigration agencies have been sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, violating federal immigration regulations and endangering the applicants. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately comment on the unsealed filings, AP reported.
A transcript of an October 15 hearing shows U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes pressing the government: "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." When she asked whether the United States still planned to send people back to that region, facing what she called "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."
Judge Reyes ordered the government to notify the court within 24 hours of finalizing any plan to deport Iranians to Iran or to any other country, and to give five days' written notice before any such deportation is carried out. She warned at the hearing that she would initiate contempt proceedings if the administration violated the notice order. In a filing on Wednesday, the Justice Department argued that the order effectively served as an injunction against the government.
The legal defense fund said on Thursday that at least 12 Iranian detainees had been told in the past week that they could be flown to Iran through Pakistan. It remains unclear whether any deportation flight will actually take place.
Source: Associated Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Washington 的 Prettyman 联邦法院大楼，哥伦比亚特区联邦地区法院所在地。Toohool 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington, home to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. By Toohool, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
