- Internal emails reveal U.S. officials coordinated with Iranian representatives to deport over one hundred individuals between 2025 and 2026.
- The operation was labeled a White House priority during a period of intense military tension with Tehran.
- Advocates allege the agency shared confidential asylum data, exposing vulnerable groups like Christian converts and gay individuals to persecution.
U.S. immigration officials worked with Iranian representatives to deport more than 100 Iranians on three flights between September 2025 and January 2026, newly released emails show. The records indicate Iranian officials requested changes to passenger manifests, and the agency sometimes accepted them.
The correspondence also describes the operation as a White House priority. It unfolded days before U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025.
One email records a request from the Iran Embassy. An official wrote, “Per request from the Iran Embassy I added a few cases.”
Another message said, “Iran has requested that I amend the previous manifest and expedite the removal process.” The exchanges show direct Iranian involvement in deportation lists and removal timing.
The National Iranian American Council released the records on August 18, 2026, after pursuing them through the Freedom of Information Act. The emails identify a chain of planning that began with senior U.S. immigration officials and extended through Qatari intermediaries.
Acting Director Todd Lyons ordered planning for the removals on June 19, 2025. Removal chief Marcos Charles then told staff to “make a plan” to deport 58 Iranians who had final removal orders.
The timing was unusual. The directive came three days before the United States struck Iranian nuclear facilities, while Washington and Tehran faced direct military tension. Internal correspondence nevertheless labeled the deportation effort a “White House priority.”
The operation produced three flights.
| Flight | Timing | Details |
|---|---|---|
| First | September 29, 2025 | 54 Iranian deportees traveled from Louisiana, transferred in Qatar to a Qatar Airways flight bound for Tehran |
| Second | December 2025 | Approximately 50 people were carried on the flight |
| Third | January 2026 | A third flight returned Iranian nationals |
The first aircraft left Louisiana on September 29, 2025. Qatar served as the transfer point before the passengers continued to Tehran.
Qatar’s Ministry of Interior and its internal security service, Lekhwiya, helped with flight logistics. Joshua Coster, an agency attaché in Tel Aviv, also assisted with coordination.
The communications show that the Iranian channel ran through the Iranian Interests Section at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C. The section’s director visited Iranian nationals held in U.S. immigration detention.
Internal figures cited in the emails counted 522 Iranian nationals in detention in June 2025. Of those, 244 had final orders of removal, while 278 remained in deportation proceedings.
Iranian representatives did more than discuss broad numbers. They sought specific additions to the passenger manifests.
In a Sept. 26, 2025 email, an official said Iranian representatives were still asking for three additional Iranians to be placed on the flight. Other messages show requests to add named people and speed up their removal.
Iranian officials said as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under an agreement with the Trump administration. The three flights documented in the released emails carried more than 100 people.
At least one passenger appears to have boarded despite not appearing on the original manifest. A U.S. official later wrote, “I have no idea how the case/person got through on [the flight list].”
The emails confirm that one Iranian national was deported by mistake after being left off the final approved passenger manifest. The records do not treat the discrepancy as a planned exception.
The disclosures have also prompted allegations about what happened before the flights.
A lawsuit filed in July 2026 by an Iranian interest group alleged that 11 detainees were forced to meet with Iranian government officials inside U.S. immigration custody. Those officials reportedly possessed “intimate details” about the detainees’ asylum claims.
Attorneys for deportees said many people were “shackled on the flight” and delivered to the authorities they had fled. Iranian officials, by contrast, said some returnees left voluntarily because of “racist” U.S. policies.
Advocates said people targeted for removal included openly gay individuals and Christian converts. Both groups face persecution in Iran, according to the advocacy accounts described in the records.
The allegations place the manifest changes alongside questions about confidential immigration information. The meetings gave Iranian representatives access to people whose cases involved requests for protection in the United States.
Members of Congress have called for an investigation into whether the agency violated federal privacy protections by sharing confidential asylum-seeker information with Iranian officials. Iranian-American organizations have condemned what they called a “backchannel partnership.”
The disclosures came through a FOIA lawsuit and subsequent legal action by the National Iranian American Council. They provide an internal account of how senior officials, detention personnel and foreign intermediaries handled the removals.
The June 19, 2025 directive remains a central date in the record. It set the planning process in motion as U.S. military action against Iran approached, and it preceded the three flights that followed.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.
