ICE

ICE Handed Over Specific Iranians at the Islamic Republic's Request

Newly released FOIA files reveal a back channel between ICE's office in Israel, the Qatari government, and the Islamic Republic.

Matthew Petti | 8.19.2026 4:15 PM

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) flew specific people to Iran at the Islamic Republic's request, newly released documents show.

"The Iran Embassy just issued passports or travel documents for the three listed below. They requested that they be added to the flight leaving out on the 29th," an ICE official wrote in a September 2025 email. ICE seems to have complied with the request, as other ICE officials scrambled to collect these Iranians from different detention centers in the U.S.

The ICE flights to Iran have already been controversial. At the same time that the Trump administration was planning a war on Iran, ostensibly to free Iranians from a tyrannical government, it was deporting people back to that same government. The targets included Iranians who are openly gay and converted to Christianity, both of which are illegal in Iran.

A collection of documents released in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit by the nonprofit National Iranian American Council, first reported by The Intercept, reveals new behind-the-scenes details about the flights. In addition to ICE's cooperation with the Iranian authorities, the emails show that the deportations were a direct order from the White House—and that ICE deported one Iranian by mistake.

In the midst of the Twelve-Day War between Israel and Iran, on June 19, 2025, ICE Acting Executive Associate Director Marcos Charles ordered........

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