An advocacy group has sued the US government, alleging that immigration authorities handed over confidential details from the asylum cases of detained Iranians to Iran's government, a practice the lawsuit says could expose those individuals and their relatives to serious harm. The government has denied the claims.
The allegation
The suit, filed in federal court in Washington by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, alleges that since early 2025 US immigration officials shared records from Iranian detainees' cases with Iranian representatives, in some instances during recurring meetings, NPR reported. According to the complaint, the material allegedly included asylum applications and the sensitive reasons people gave for fearing return, such as converting to Christianity, being LGBTQ+, or taking part in anti-government protests. The plaintiffs say officials also provided Iran with a list of names of detainees the US wanted to deport, PBS NewsHour reported.
Why it would matter
Sharing such information, the lawsuit argues, would violate long-standing federal rules meant to keep asylum details confidential, precisely because disclosure can endanger applicants. The plaintiffs contend that revealing to a government the identities and claims of people who sought protection from it could put deportees at risk of persecution, and could also endanger family members still in the country. They are asking a court to order the practice stopped and to notify anyone whose information was allegedly shared.
The government's denial
The Department of Homeland Security rejected the allegations. A department spokesperson said the claim that immigration authorities shared asylum records with Iran's government was "false," and said US officials routinely deal with other governments to arrange travel documents for people being deported, NBC News reported. Newsparlor could not independently verify the lawsuit's claims, which have not been tested in court.
The backdrop
The case lands at a fraught moment in relations between Washington and Tehran, days after US strikes on Iran and amid deportations of Iranian nationals. It raises a difficult question that a court will now weigh: where the line falls between the practical business of removing people who have lost their immigration cases and the legal protections meant to shield those who once asked the United States for refuge. For now, the allegations are just that, contested and unproven, but the stakes, if they are borne out, are grave for the people at the center of them.
