A lawsuit filed on July 7, 2026, alleges that the US government under the Trump administration unlawfully shared confidential personal data of Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government. The complaint, submitted in Washington by the Iranian American Legal Defence Fund and Public Citizen Litigation Group, claims that the US provided detailed information on hundreds of Iranian detainees seeking asylum, including pro-democracy protesters, religious minorities, and members of the LGBTQ community.

According to the suit, in March 2025, State Department officials met with Iranian representatives in Washington to discuss deporting Iranians held in detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This occurred despite concerns raised by a dozen US senators in February, who wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio warning against sending detainees to a country where they could face persecution or torture.

A day before the Iran war began that month, a State Department official acknowledged in correspondence that the Iranian government systematically persecutes religious minorities and oppresses its citizens through arbitrary detention, coerced confessions, and killings. The lawsuit warns that deported asylum seekers could face persecution, torture, or death upon return to Iran.

The US sharing of private data with Tehran has raised significant human rights concerns amid ongoing tensions between the two countries.

Sources