In March 2025, the Trump administration began providing the Iranian government with confidential information from asylum seekers’ immigration files. The Iranian asylum seekers whose information was handed over include pro-democracy protestors, members of religious minorities such as Evangelical Christians, and members of the LGBTQ community. They sought refuge in the United States because of the grave dangers they face in Iran. In return, the current administration disclosed their confidential information to the very regime they fled.

This disclosure violates federal regulations requiring confidentiality: 8 C.F.R. § 208.6 prohibits disclosing information contained in or pertaining to asylum applications to third parties. It also endangers family members and acquaintances who remain in Iran, and it puts those subject to removal to Iran at risk of persecution, torture, and death upon their return.

IALDF’s litigation partner, Public Citizen, filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and other federal officials to stop this illegal sharing. Our lawsuit asks the court to order the U.S. government to stop sharing asylum-applicant information with Iran and to notify every Iranian asylum seeker whose information was unlawfully shared.