Congress Must Not Let Iranian Asylum Seekers Be Sent Back Into Danger

As your constituent, I am writing to protest deeply alarming allegations in a federal lawsuit filed this week by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund. The lawsuit alleges that our own government has been handing the Iranian regime confidential information about Iranians who sought asylum in the United States, and then deporting some of those very people back to Iran. It further alleges that these disclosures continued even after the United States entered open war with Iran. AMERICA GAVE TEHRAN ITS DISSIDENTS’ FILES A federal lawsuit filed this week by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund alleges that, beginning in March 2025, the Department of State arranged monthly meetings with Iranian officials at which United States agencies shared detailed files on Iranian detainees, including asylum information. Detainees held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report being forced into meetings with Iranian officials who already knew the contents of their asylum claims, including religious conversion, sexual orientation, and participation in the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom protests. Three deportation flights have already returned more than 100 people to Iran according to the plaintiffs, and public reporting has said that some deportees were asylum seekers. IF TRUE, THIS VIOLATES THE LAW AND ENDANGERS LIVES Federal regulations flatly prohibit revealing information that identifies someone as an asylum applicant to the government they fled. Congress made these protections mandatory because disclosure can mean arrest, torture, or execution upon return. Handing the Iranian regime a roadmap to its own dissidents, converts, and protesters is not deportation logistics. If these allegations are true, it is a life-threatening betrayal carried out with American paperwork. CONGRESS HAS BEEN WARNED AND MUST NOW ACT A dozen senators wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio in February about deporting people to a country that persecutes and tortures its citizens. The flights continued anyway. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now denies sharing asylum records with Iran - which is precisely why Congress must compel disclosure of what was actually shared. Oversight letters are not enough when lives are at stake and the law is being ignored. America has welcomed Iranian dissidents since 1979. Betraying them now to the regime they escaped stains our nation’s honor and tells every future refugee that America’s word means nothing. I ask that you: (1) CONDEMN THE POLICY. Publicly condemn the sharing of asylum information with the Iranian government and call for an immediate halt to all deportations to Iran. (2) COMPEL DISCLOSURE. Use oversight and appropriations powers to compel DHS and the Department of State to disclose exactly what was shared, with whom, and under whose authorization. (3) ENFORCE THE LAW. Support legislation that enforces asylum confidentiality protections, with real consequences for officials who violate them. (4) SPEAK OUT. Speak out about this publicly and press for hearings that bring this scandal fully into public view. Thank you.