Bombshell Transcript Unsealed: Government Lawyer Confirms U.S. Plans to Remove People to Iran, Acknowledging They Will Face Potential Death
WASHINGTON D.C. — A newly unsealed transcript from the evidentiary hearing in Iranian American Legal Defense Fund v. Rubio reveals that the government is knowingly removing people in its custody to Iran, a country that the U.S. is in an active conflict with and where they may face torture or execution.
Exchanges include:
Judge: We are going to remove people in our custody to a country with which we are at war?
Gov’t Lawyer: That is my understanding, Your Honor
…
Judge: What you’re telling me is that the United States of America is going to send individuals back to that region facing what you and I and everyone who would ever look at this would know would be at a minimum a serious threat of certain death?
Gov’t Lawyer: Yes, Your Honor.
…
Judge: We are talking about sending individuals in our care and custody to a country that we have bombed and we may continue bombing, and is a declared enemy of this country. It is like saying we have individuals in 1942 in this country that we are going to send back to Nazi Germany. That is the equivalent of what you are telling me.
…
“It is shocking that the U.S. is planning removals to Iran while engaged in a war against the country. It’s even more disturbing given that we know the United States has shared confidential asylum-application information with the Iranian Interest Section,” said Michael Kirkpatrick, attorney for the plaintiffs and with Public Citizen Litigation Group. “The government’s lawyers have made clear that the Trump administration is knowingly putting people in mortal peril — sending them to a country where they are likely to face persecution, imprisonment or death.”
About the case
In March 2025, the Trump administration adopted a policy of providing the Iranian government with confidential information from the immigration files of Iranians seeking asylum in the United States, including pro-democracy protesters, religious minorities, and LGBTQ people who fled grave danger in Iran.
The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, sued Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Department of Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arguing the policy violates federal confidentiality regulations and endangers asylum seekers and their families. The suit asks the court to stop the sharing and to require notice to every asylum seeker whose information was disclosed.
Read more about the case and access the full transcript here. If you’d like to speak to a representative of the plaintiff or the attorney, email Maddie Sell, [email protected].