Judge blasts administration for planning to deport Iranian immigrants back to Iran during wartime

A flight carrying Iranian immigrants that was “ready for takeoff” on an Arizona tarmac was canceled Sunday, and the detainees were moved back to detention, an attorney for the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund told News.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said it “does not comment on prospective removal operations, including flight schedules, passenger manifests, destinations, or individual case details.”

The cancelation comes after the IALDF said in court filings overnight that it had been told that 11 Iranian nationals — 10 men and one woman — were scheduled to be deported from the U.S. on Sunday. 

According to the group, an Iranian government official reportedly met with a detained Iranian immigrant on Friday to inform them of a scheduled deportation flight set for Sunday.

The Trump administration said during a court hearing last month that it has been making plans to deport Iranian immigrants back to Iran while the U.S. is at war with that country, earning a rebuke from a federal judge, court documents show.

According to an unsealed transcript of a hearing held on Oct. 15, a Justice Department attorney disclosed in federal court that the Trump administration was making plans to deport Iranian nationals to Iran through third countries.

The hearing was part of a lawsuit brought by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund against the Trump administration alleging that the government is sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government.

During a heated two-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes blasted government lawyers after learning that Department of Homeland Security officials were working on removal logistics to send individuals back to Iran.

“Your Honor, one of the questions that you had asked is whether there are any planned removals to Iran,” said DOJ attorney Dimitar Georgiev. “The answer in August was no. Today that answer has changed and it is yes.”

“I’m sorry, I just want to make sure I understand this correctly,” Judge Reyes said. “We are going to remove people in our custody to a country with which we are at war?”

“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 … and what you’re telling me is that the United States of America is going to send individuals back to that region facing what you and I and everyone who would ever look at this would know would be at a minimum a serious threat of certain death?” Reyes said.

The transcript shows the U.S. government has been holding talks and coordinating with representatives of the Iranian government to arrange removals. 

According to the recent filing, the IALDF learned on Saturday evening from the U.S.-citizen wife of an Iranian national in ICE custody that Immigration and Customs Enforcement planned to remove 11 Iranian nationals from the U.S.

The group said in the filing that the Iranian detainee learned the flight details when an Iranian government official met with him and six other detained men at an Arizona detention center, announced the schedule, and showed him a flight list with his name and ten other Iranian nationals.

“My husband told me that the official said the individuals had been issued 15-day temporary visas to Pakistan [and] would be taken to Iran provided that Iranian airspace stays open at that time,” the U.S. citizen wrote in a sworn court filing. 

“My husband told me that he asked to see the flight list,” she added. “He saw his name on the list, along with the names of ten other Iranian nationals.”

According to court documents, the Iranian Interest Section in Washington, D.C.,  previously sent officials to U.S. detention centers to meet with detainees. Iranian detainees in California and Arizona were offered meetings with officials, but they refused and no meetings took place, according to the transcript.

During the hearing, Georgiev said the U.S. will “facilitate the travel” of the Iranian detainees to a third country and that the government of Iran will facilitate the travel from the third country into Iran.

Judge Reyes ordered the government to provide at least five days’ advance notice before any individual is “placed on a transport vehicle or plane bound for removal,” and 24 hours’ notice of any finalized removal plan.

“If anything happens that violates either of those two orders, I will hold every single person associated with violating it. I will start contempt proceedings,” Reyes said.

“We are talking about sending individuals in our care and custody to a country that we have bombed and we may continue bombing, and is a declared enemy of this country,” the judge said. “It is like saying we have individuals in 1942 in this country that we are going to send back to Nazi Germany. That is the equivalent of what you are telling me.”