The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund commends U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal for raising urgent concerns during the confirmation hearing of DHS Secretary nominee Senator Markwayne Mullin on DHS's secret agreements with the Islamic Republic of Iran that endanger Iranian asylum seekers and dissidents.
Citing the work of IALDF, Senator Blumenthal spotlighted the case of a husband and wife—Christian converts and Woman, Life, Freedom protesters—who fled the Islamic Republic only to face deportation back to the very regime that persecuted them. IALDF has directly supported this couple. Despite credible fears of persecution upon return, one was deported and forced to seek precarious refuge in Turkey, while the other has been detained in an ICE facility for over 14 months.
