Judge blocks planned deportation of Iranian nationals to Iran amid U.S. conflict

A legal group accused the Trump administration of planning to deport 11 Iranian nationals to Iran through Pakistan on Sunday without giving a federal judge in Washington, D.C., five business days’ advance notice. The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund said it received credible information from multiple independent sources that Immigration Customs and Enforcement had scheduled a flight from Mesa, Arizona, to Islamabad, Pakistan.

The group’s executive director, Yasmine Chubin, said forcibly returning people to a country with which the United States is at war and actively striking is reckless. She added that the government appeared poised to disregard a federal court order designed to ensure basic oversight and accountability.

According to lawyers and a relative of the detainees, some of the 11 people expected on the planned flight had been held in detention for months. The group said 10 of the individuals are men and one is a woman.

An attorney for the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund told ABC News that a flight carrying Iranian immigrants was ready for takeoff on an Arizona tarmac on Sunday before it was canceled. The detainees were moved back to detention after the cancellation.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the department does not comment on prospective removal operations, including flight schedules, passenger manifests, destinations, or individual case details. The White House also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During an October 15 court hearing, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes compared deporting Iranians to their native country with sending people to Nazi Germany during World War II. A Justice Department attorney disclosed that the administration was making plans to deport Iranian nationals to Iran through third countries.

The hearing was part of a lawsuit filed by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund alleging that the government is sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government.