A newly filed lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration shared confidential information with Tehran about Iranian asylum seekers as it worked to deport them from the United States, putting them at risk of “persecution, torture, and death following their arrival in Iran.”
According to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the US District Court of the District of Columbia, many Iranian asylum seekers in the US are pro-democracy protestors, members of religious minorities, or members of the LGBTQ community – people who would face grave risks if they were forced to return to Iran.
The lawsuit names Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement David Venturella, and their respective agencies as defendants.
It was filed by Public Citizen on behalf of the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund.
“These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE,” a DHS spokesperson said in an email to CNN.
