Court documents detail Trump administration talks with Iran over deporting Iranian nationals
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The Facts
- Court documents show the Trump administration communicated with Iranian officials about deporting Iranian nationals.
- The contacts occurred during the U.S.-Iran war.
- The administration said in mid-October it was considering deportations through an unnamed third country.
- The court documents did not specify when any deportations would occur.
- A federal judge required 24 hours' notice of finalized plans to deport Iranians.
- The judge also required five days' written notice before any such deportation.
- The court hearing arose from a lawsuit alleging confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers was shared with Iran.
Context
What were U.S. officials discussing with Iran?
The documents describe contacts over submitting travel-document requests and identifying possible ways to remove Iranian nationals from the United States. Times of India theepochtimes.com WKMG Yahoo WTVA 9 Tupelo Las Vegas Sun
What restrictions did the judge impose?
The government must give the court 24 hours' notice of finalized deportation plans and five days' written notice before deporting an Iranian national to Iran or another country. Guardian U.S. News & World R… Independent Times of Israel Times of Israel Economic Times GULF NEWS WRAL San Diego Union-Tri… WKMG Newsday NBC New York thespec.com Yahoo WTVA 9 Tupelo Northwest Arkansas … Las Vegas Sun قناة العربية
Have deportation dates been set?
The documents reported plans for removals through an unnamed third country but did not specify a date for carrying them out. Guardian U.S. News & World R… Independent Times of India Times of Israel Times of Israel Economic Times GULF NEWS WRAL San Diego Union-Tri… WKMG Newsday NBC New York thespec.com Yahoo WTVA 9 Tupelo Northwest Arkansas … Las Vegas Sun International Busin… قناة العربية
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Court documents confirm the administration contacted Iranian officials about deporting Iranian nationals during the war, and both sides treat the judge's notice requirements as a real constraint on the process.
- Where Left and Right split
- Asylum seekers' safety being bartered with the government they fled, or a sovereign state's authority to enforce its own deportation laws.
- Why they won’t converge
- The divide is one of trust in institutions: the left sees secret deportation talks during wartime as proof the administration cannot be trusted to protect asylum seekers it may be endangering, while the right treats notice requirements as adequate proof the executive remains accountable while exercising lawful removal authority.
- Watch for
- Watch for whether the administration provides the court the required 24-hour notice of any finalized deportation plan or the five days' written notice before carrying one out.Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice, International Business Times
How left and right read it
People who fled Iran and asked this country for protection should never have their safety traded back toward the government they fled. Yet the administration kept talking with Iranian officials about deporting Iranian nationals even as the war went on, and that same hearing grew from a claim that confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers had reached Iran. Notice is the floor, not the fix.
“But the revelation that it was maintaining those contacts even after the war broke out highlighted the administration's resolve in carrying out its hardline immigration crackdown, which has involved ramping up removals, including to places that critics say could endanger the lives of the returnees.” — The Independent
A nation that cannot carry out deportations is sovereign only on paper, so contacts with Iranian officials about deporting Iranian nationals — even during the war — are the unglamorous work of enforcing our own immigration laws. Considering an unnamed third country is flexibility, not evasion. The court's five days' written notice and 24 hours on finalized plans are terms the executive can meet. Meet them, and keep the authority.
The receipts — 31 sources
Wire services (11)
Independent coverage (20)
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