A federal judge warned the Trump administration she would start contempt proceedings if it deported Iranian detainees without first notifying her court, according to court records unsealed Thursday that reveal secret U.S. talks with Iran about deportations during the war, the Associated Press reported.
“We are at war with a country where the President of the United States has said, as recently as two or three days ago, if not yesterday, that it is essentially lawless,” U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said at the Oct. 15 hearing, pointing to Trump’s own accusation that Iran had killed tens of thousands of protesters.
Reyes then asked whether the administration still planned to send people back to a country the U.S. was bombing, where she said they faced “a serious threat of certain death.”
“Yes, your honor,” DOJ lawyer Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel replied. “The government is executing lawful orders of removal.”
Reyes required the administration to alert the court when deportation plans are finalized and give five days’ written notice before carrying them out. In a filing Wednesday, the DOJ argued the threat of sanctions effectively turned the notice requirement into an injunction, according to the report.
The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, which brought the lawsuit, said Thursday Iranian consular officials had told at least 12 ICE detainees in the past week that they would be flown to Iran through Pakistan. The group said U.S. immigration authorities had given those detainees nothing in writing.
The lawsuit alleges that U.S. immigration officials shared confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with Tehran. The Department of Homeland Security has denied sharing asylum application records with Iran.
"Activists abroad have expressed concern about deportees returning to Iran, whose theocracy has been cracking down on intellectuals and where the government vociferously cracks down on any dissent," the AP reported Thursday.