A lawsuit filed in U.S. court accuses President Donald Trump’s administration of sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with Iran’s government while seeking to deport them. The plaintiffs, representing the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund and the Public Citizen Litigation Group, say U.S. immigration authorities and other agencies provided details from asylum-related processes to Iranian officials, violating federal protections that bar disclosure of asylum application and related confidential determinations. They argue the information sharing could expose asylum seekers and their families to persecution, torture, or death if returned to Iran.
According to the complaint, the alleged cooperation involves U.S. officials coordinating with Iranian counterparts to identify people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and to pressure them to return. Some accounts describe U.S. officials sharing sensitive details about applicants, including claims tied to religion, sexual orientation, and activism, and say Iranian officials appeared to have information from asylum applications.
The Trump administration denies the allegations. NBC News and ABC News report that the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund seeks to bar the U.S. from sharing such information. Public records cited by some outlets indicate hundreds of Iranian immigrants are detained by U.S. immigration enforcement in recent periods.
