Since unlawful communications started between the U.S. government and representatives of the Iranian regime, more than 100 Iranian asylum seekers were deported to Iran
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are launching a new probe investigating the role the U.S. government and two private operators of immigration detention facilities played in allowing representatives of the Iranian regime to communicate with detained Iranian asylum seekers in order to coerce them to go back to Iran.
In inquires addressed to the heads of Management & Training Corporation’s (MTC) and CoreCivic, the Senators are demanding all records of communications between employees, consultants, contractors, representatives from the U.S. State Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security, and representatives from the Iranian regime.
“These asylum seekers only disclosed this information on their applications because they trusted the U.S. government to keep it confidential from their persecutors. Not only does this policy flagrantly violate that trust, but it places them at great risk of retribution from the Iranian government if they are removed. The Iranian official featured in the lawsuit confirmed he used information provided by the Trump Administration to facilitate the removal of between 150 and 160 Iranian nationals detained in the U.S.,” the Senators wrote.
The Senators emphasize that sharing confidential information is illegal and violates domestic and international laws, let alone sharing it with the Iranian regime who likely oppressed these individuals.
The Senators point to several instances where Iranian representatives were given access to asylum seekers’ confidential applications: a detainee at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona reported being physically forced to fingerprint papers related to her deportation to Africa; detainees’ reporting an ICE official passing sensitive information on other individuals to the Iranian representative upon request during their meeting; and one detainee at the El Valle Detention Center in Texas reports being told by a facility officer she “had no choice” but to participate in a phone call with a representative of the Iranian regime, and that she “wouldn’t be allowed to return back to [her] pod until she answered” the call.
Schiff and Blumenthal tell MTC and CoreCivic to preserve all records and communications, and demand details of the physical entry of Iranian officials to their detention facilities, the extent of the facilities’ involvement and communications, and for a compliance review of policies regarding permitting the entry or communication of Iranian representatives to its facilities.
The full text of the letter to MTC can be found here.
The full text of the letter to CoreCivic can be found here.
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