For Immediate Release

November 19, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund (IALDF) announced today that it has filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Department of State seeking public records concerning a previously undisclosed agreement between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. For the first time, the agreement reportedly enabled the forced return of asylum seekers to the very regime they had fled–the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Recently, more than 120 Iranians, many of whom had sought protection in the United States, were forcibly returned to the Islamic Republic–a regime that the U.S. has long considered hostile–under unusual arrangements that remain unclear. Hundreds more remain at risk of removal. Iranian asylum seekers are often political dissidents, members of religious minorities such as Christians, Jews, and Baháʼís, women’s rights advocates, or members of the LGBTQ community–groups that face serious persecution under the Islamic Republic’s regime.

IALDF’s FOIA requests aim to uncover the legal, procedural, and diplomatic basis for these removals–which appear to have bypassed safeguards created by Congress to protect those fleeing persecution. Our objective is to promote transparency and uphold core American values–values reflected in bipartisan concerns that secretive removals to an authoritarian regime endanger lives and undermine foundational principles of our nation. Human rights advocates warn that returning people to a regime known for torture and persecution places them at grave and foreseeable risk, a reality underscored by recent New York Times reporting.

Cyrus Mehri, civil rights attorney and IALDF Board Member, stated that “Americans value being a land of liberty and a country that welcomes those escaping political, social, and religious persecution. Entering a secret agreement with the Islamic Republic, rounding up asylum seekers without full due process, shackling them, and sending them on mass deportation flights back to where they face grave danger, is an outrageous betrayal of American values.” Mehri added, “Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with his life experience as a Cuban American, should be the first to know that such action not only tramples on American values but could violate international law. Fortunately, through expedited Freedom of Information Act requests Americans can begin to get answers.”

“Americans of all political stripes agree that sending back asylum seekers to a regime where they face a well-founded fear of persecution runs against America’s best principles,” said Ali Rahnama, the Interim Executive Director of IALDF. “When it comes to deportations–especially to a hostile regime like the Islamic Republic–we must uphold our values, provide full due process, and follow the law. That’s what sets us apart and keeps us safe.” Rahnama emphasized that shedding light on these deportation flights is about protecting American integrity and national security, and ensuring that U.S. immigration policies reflect the nation’s core ideals of justice, accountability, and human dignity.

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