WASHINGTON, D.C. — Early Sunday morning, Public Citizen Litigation Group and the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund notified the court presiding over a case challenging the sharing of asylum seekers’ confidential information with the government of Iran that ICE intended to deport 11 Iranian detainees back to Iran without providing five business days’ notice, as had been required by the court’s order.
“The government narrowly avoided violating a court’s order by removing the Iranians from the flight at the last minute,” said Michael Kirkpatrick, Public Citizen Litigation Group attorney and lead lawyer for the plaintiffs. “At the same time, we are continuing to push the government to halt further sharing of confidential information with the government of Iran and to provide a remedy for those whose information was already shared.”
About the case
In March 2025, the Trump administration adopted a policy of providing the Iranian government with confidential information from the immigration files of Iranians seeking asylum in the United States, including pro-democracy protesters, religious minorities, and LGBTQ people who fled grave danger in Iran.
The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund and Public Citizen Litigation Group sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Department of Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arguing the policy violates federal confidentiality regulations and endangers asylum seekers and their families. The suit asks the court to stop the sharing and to require notice to every asylum seeker whose information was disclosed.
Read more about the case, including the recently released transcript of a hearing with government lawyers here.
