ICE Coordinated Mass Deportations to Iran Amid Trump Administration’s War Planning
Internal ICE emails reveal that agents worked with Iranian officials to send over 100 Iranian nationals to Tehran while the United States was preparing for military action against Iran.
Emails released by the National Iranian American Council expose a concerted effort by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport over 100 Iranian nationals to Tehran while the United States and Israel were preparing for the Twelve-Day War. Acting ICE director Todd Lyons ordered staff to prioritize “target cases,” prompting head of removal operations Marcos Charles to task teams with drafting removal plans. Coordination was handled through the agency’s Tel Aviv office, with attaché Joshua Coster liaising with Qatar for landing permits and passenger manifests.
The first flight on September 29, 2025 carried 54 deportees, far fewer than the 120 expected, prompting complaints from the Qatari Ministry of Interior. The emails also document an accidental inclusion of an unlisted Iranian on the charter and repeated requests from the Iranian embassy to add three specific individuals. DHS declined to comment on the mix-up, and ICE has denied allegations of sharing asylum records with Iran. Subsequent flights were planned through Kuwait, but later bombing campaigns disrupted further departures.
Why it matters
The story shows how U.S. immigration enforcement was used to send vulnerable individuals back to a hostile regime during active conflict.
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