• Newly unsealed court documents show the Trump administration continued secret contacts with Iran over deportations during the war, with removal plans still discussed in mid-October 2026.
  • A federal judge has imposed advance-notice requirements, but no new deportation flight has been confirmed since the three documented returns in September and December 2025 and January 2026.
  • The central legal fight is whether officials improperly shared confidential asylum-seeker information with Tehran—a claim DHS denies.

Wartime Backchannel

Court records unsealed Thursday reveal that the U.S. and Iran quietly coordinated on deportation logistics even as the two countries were at war, according to documents filed in a federal lawsuit. Hundreds of emails exchanged between officials show discussions about travel documents and "possible avenues for removal" for Iranian nationals held in U.S. immigration detention.

The records indicate that in mid-October 2026, the administration was still exploring plans to deport Iranians through an unnamed third country, though the timing of such removals remained unclear. The disclosure offers a rare glimpse into the operational channels that persist between adversaries even during open conflict—a backchannel that has raised thorny legal and ethical questions.

A Justice Department attorney, Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel, told a federal judge at an October 15 hearing that the government was simply "executing lawful orders of removal." But the plaintiffs in the case argue the coordination went far beyond routine logistics.

Confidentiality at Issue

The lawsuit, filed in July by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund and Public Citizen Litigation Group, alleges that U.S. officials shared sensitive asylum-seeker information with Iranian representatives—including details about claims of persecution tied to conversion to Christianity, sexuality, and participation in the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom protests. The suit further claims that detainees were pressured to meet with Iranian officials who already knew the specifics of their asylum cases.

The Department of Homeland Security has previously denied sharing asylum application records. It did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the newly unsealed documents. The allegation remains contested, and the reporting does not establish a final ruling that any disclosure occurred unlawfully.

The legal distinction is narrow but consequential: U.S. officials may coordinate with foreign governments to establish nationality, obtain travel documents, and arrange returns. Federal regulations, however, generally prohibit disclosures that reveal an individual has sought asylum—a boundary the plaintiffs say was crossed.

Judicial Safeguards

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes has ordered the government to notify the court within 24 hours of any finalized plans to deport Iranians to Iran or another country, and to provide five days' written notice before carrying out such removals. The requirement addresses a practical concern raised in the plaintiffs' July filing: lawyers sometimes learned of impending removals only hours beforehand, leaving little time to seek judicial intervention.

At the October hearing, Reyes warned of potentially fatal consequences for returnees, citing the risk of persecution. The judge's advance-notice order is a procedural safeguard, not a blanket prohibition on deportations.

Flights Before the War

An important clarification: the three documented deportation flights—in September 2025, December 2025, and January 2026—returned more than 100 Iranians before the war that began in February 2026. Earlier hostilities also occurred in June 2025. Thursday's revelations concern continued wartime coordination and subsequent removal planning, not confirmation that those three flights took place during the war.

The lawsuit describes how, according to the plaintiffs, U.S. officials began arranging monthly contacts with Iranian representatives through Pakistan's embassy starting in March 2025. Later-released emails showed Iranian officials requesting changes to passenger lists, though whether particular individuals volunteered for return remained unclear. A fourth flight planned for late March 2026 did not take place because of the conflict, according to the plaintiffs' court filing.

Eleven detained Iranians described compelled meetings with Iranian officials in sworn declarations cited in the case—accounts that support the lawsuit but have not been independently adjudicated.

Broader Implications

The case sits at the intersection of enforcement of final removal orders and the confidentiality protections afforded to asylum seekers. DHS has defended its travel-document procedures, saying those removed had final removal orders or voluntary-departure orders and received due process. Advocates counter that an immigration order does not eliminate the danger of returning someone to a government alleged to be their persecutor.

A closely related case concerns Afghan detainees facing possible removal to Afghanistan or Pakistan. On November 3, Judge Valerie Caproni barred those removals through November 7 after the government represented that no such flights were planned that week. That case, while separate, illustrates the same dispute over third-country routes, dangerous destinations, and sufficient time for court review.

In the short term, the decisive developments will be whether the government finalizes another Iranian removal plan, which transit country it proposes, and what judicial review follows the required notice. The November 5 reporting establishes planning—not a confirmed new departure.

Longer term, the litigation could clarify the boundary between permissible consular coordination and prohibited disclosure of asylum-related information. Plaintiffs seek an order stopping the alleged sharing and independent monitoring; those are requested remedies, not outcomes already secured.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the timing of the three documented deportation flights. They occurred in September 2025, December 2025, and January 2026—before the war that began in February 2026.