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A new lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. alleges the Trump administration is divulging details of Iranian asylum seekers to the government of Iran.
Lawyers with the left-leaning Public Citizen Litigation Group argue the administration began sharing information about the applications with Iran in March 2025. Since then, U.S. government officials have “periodically mailed or hand delivered immigration files of Iranians” in immigration custody to the Iranian government, according to the complaint.
“The law is very clear that information within an asylum application or other applications for similar forms of protection cannot be shared particularly with the government that the individual is fleeing,” said Michael Kirkpatrick, an attorney with Public Citizen, told NPR. Public Citizen Litigation Group is representing the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund in the suit.
“That information could put them in grave risk upon return,” Kirkpatrick said. “They could be detained. They could be interrogated. They could be sent to prison. They could be tortured. As well as the risk to their family and acquaintances who remain in Iran.”
The lawsuit also alleges applications for deportation relief and asylum applications were provided during monthly meetings between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Iranian Interests Section, the body that handles consular duties in the U.S.. These meetings, according to the filing, stopped after the U.S. attacked Iran in February, but the sharing of documents continued.
The Trump administration increased the number of deportees back to Iran just before the war between the U.S. began. Kirkpatrick said attorneys at Public Citizen believe the administration is sharing this information based on testimony with detainees in immigration custody. The detainees say they have been called into meetings with senior officials from the Iran Interest Section and officials already know information within their asylum claims, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit is also based on confidential information from an Iranian government official confirming the data sharing policy. This testimony has not been independently reviewed by NPR.
Kirkpatrick said the organization is planning to request a preliminary injunction to freeze the information sharing temporarily and for those whose information has been shared to be personally notified.
The Homeland Security Department did not respond to an immediate request for comment, or questions about information sharing with the Iranian Special Interest Section.
The Iranian Mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.
Federal regulation related to asylum applications states that records kept by the Homeland Security Department and immigration courts should be protected from being disclosed and that the State Department must also work to ensure confidentiality of records is maintained if transmitted to State offices in other countries.
The lawsuit claims that information on hundreds of Iranian detainees seeking asylum, including information protected from disclosure, was shared. The disclosures allegedly include identifying information, familial relationships, political opinions, and the reasons they feared the Iranian government.
“The detainees contributed this information to their asylum application files in reliance on the confidentiality protections provided by federal regulations, with the understanding that the information would not be shared with the Iranian Government,” the lawsuit states, and at times detainees met with Iranian Interest Section officials despite not consenting to do so.
Some information sharing between governments about asylum applications is normal – but that has primarily been limited to details that facilitate the person’s return. This includes travel arrangements and documents, like a passport.
“What’s different here, though, is they are revealing information from the asylum applications, and that is a very specific category of information that is kept confidential,” Kirkpatrick said. “They shouldn’t even reveal information from which one could infer that somebody had sought asylum.”
He said some of those identifying details could be information about participation in pro-democracy demonstrations, that they are a member of the LGBTQ community or that they have converted to Christianity; all which could put a person at risk of persecution in Iran.
The Trump administration has so far sent three deportation flights and over 100 people to Iran, according to Kirkpatrick. Others have been deported to so-called third countries like Panama and the Central African Republic.
