The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration alleging the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the State Department have been providing the Islamic Republic of Iran with confidential information about Iranians seeking asylum in the United States.
“Disclosing their confidential information to the Iranian Government violates the asylum seekers’ confidential rights, endangers their family members and acquaintances who may still be residing in Iran, and puts those who are subject to removal to Iran … at risk of persecution, torture and death following their arrival in Iran,” the complaint said.
Filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the lawsuit names Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE acting Director David Venturella as defendants, along with their respective agencies.
The complaint alleges that in March 2025, the Trump administration began providing Iran with confidential information about Iranians seeking asylum in the U.S., many of whom are pro-democracy protesters, members of religious minorities or members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund alleges the Trump administration continued providing the information to Iran even after the U.S. and Israel began military strikes against the country in February.
“These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Spectrum News. “ICE meets and works to get travel documents for detainees with every country.
“ICE is committed to ensuring that illegal aliens are informed of their right to communicate with their consular representatives,” the spokesman added. “Consistent with established protocols, ICE provides illegal aliens the opportunity to contact their consular post and facilitates consular access to detained individuals, in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and agency policy.”
A nonpartisan nonprofit that says it is dedicated to empowering, protecting and defending people of Iranian descent who live in the United States, the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund contends the United States, which does not have an Iranian consulate within the country, brokered a meeting with the Iranian Interest Section through the Embassy of Pakistan.
“The March 2025 meeting was attended by a senior official from the Iranian Interest Section and U.S. State Department representatives,” the lawsuit contends, adding: “A U.S. State Department representative stated that the United States wanted to deport Iranian nationals, including those in ICE detention, from the United States to Iran.”
The complaint alleges the Iranian Interest Section requested a list of detained Iranian nationals U.S. officials wanted to deport and the U.S. provided about 150 names. Since March 2025, the lawsuit says ICE and the Iranian government have been meeting monthly to share immigration information on Iranians held by ICE.
The State Department had not responded to Spectrum News’ request for comment before this story was published.
The Immigration and Nationality Act and the Convention Against Torture treaty both prohibit the disclosure of information in most applications for refugee admission and asylum.
According to the State Department, visa records are confidential in accordance with the INA.
The CAT is an international human rights treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1984 to prohibit member countries from engaging in, tolerating or ignoring torture anywhere within their jurisdiction, according to the United Nations International Law Fellowship Program.
In 2024, a State Department report on human rights practices in Iran cited “credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings; disappearances; torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; arbitrary arrest or detention; transnational repression against individuals in another country,” among other acts.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the Trump administration’s Iranian immigrant information-sharing policy unlawful and to prevent it from continuing. They are also requesting that individuals whose information was shared be given notice so they can determine if they are entitled to asylum or other protections, such as stopping their removal from the U.S. pursuant to the Convention Against Torture.