Federal agents approach protestors outside Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, N.J., in May. A new lawsuit alleges that the U.S. government gave information to Iran about asylum seekers. File Photo by Angelina Katsanis/UPI | License Photo
July 7 (UPI) -- A new lawsuit filed Tuesday by an advocacy group alleges that the Trump administration broke the law by giving the Iranian government confidential information about asylum applications for Iranians it planned to deport.
The suit was filed by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund and Public Citizen Litigation Group. It alleges that the information given endangers the lives of pro-democracy protesters, LGBTQ+ people, religious minorities and their families back in Iran.
The suit alleges that the administration began sharing the information with Iran in March 2025. Since then, federal government officials "periodically mailed or hand delivered immigration files of Iranians" in custody to the Iranian government.
"The law is very clear that information within an asylum application or other applications for similar forms of protection cannot be shared, particularly with the government that the individual is fleeing," said Michael Kirkpatrick, an attorney with Public Citizen, told NPR. Public Citizen Litigation Group is representing the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund in the suit.
