ICE emails show coordination with Iran on deportation flights

Hundreds of internal emails from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have exposed details of three deportation flights carrying over 100 Iranian citizens. These operations occurred in September and December 2025 and January of the current year.

The documents, obtained by the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) through Freedom of Information Act requests and subsequent litigation, detail communications between U.S. officials and Iranian representatives during the planning of these flights. NIAC reported a confidential collaboration between ICE and the Iranian government to execute mass deportations.

In August 2025, an ICE official noted the inclusion of individuals on a list at the request of the Iranian embassy. Days later, another internal message mentioned a meeting with the director of the Iranian representation and a request to modify a flight manifest to expedite an expulsion. Shortly before the first flight, the embassy reportedly asked to add three more individuals. Communications occurred through various channels, some via Qatar, which served as a transit point, while others involved direct contact with representatives and Iran's Interests Section in Pakistan.

"The same administration that would later promise Iranians that aid is on the way was working to expedite the deportations of asylum seekers," said Jamal Abdi, president of NIAC, in a statement. The ICE considered the deportation of Iranians a priority, with documents linking the planning to an instruction from the Donald Trump administration during the conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. Then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons reportedly called the return of Iranian citizens a priority.

Despite obstacles such as Iran's airspace remaining closed and authorities not issuing travel documents for some deportable citizens, agency officials began developing a plan to transfer 58 Iranians with final deportation orders who were in custody. Internal messages urged finding an alternative to meet what they described as a "White House priority."

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The same administration that would later promise Iranians that aid is on the way was working to expedite the deportations of asylum seekers.