Trump administration set to deport more Iranians back to their home country

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration is expected to deport dozens of Iranians back to their home country on Sunday, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

It is the second such deportation flight after a rare agreement between Washington and Tehran, which do not have diplomatic relations, amid the Trump administration’s extreme push to expel undocumented immigrants.

There are serious concerns from human rights and advocacy organizations about the Iranians who fled to the US and may now be forced to return. The State Department’s latest human rights report, issued under the Trump administration, said there are “significant human rights issues” in Iran.

One person who said they are expected to be on the deportation flight Sunday said their life will be at risk if they return.

The person, who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation, said he fled Iran because of his sexuality. Homosexuality is punishable by death in Iran.

“I suffered a lot in country for what I am,” he said, telling CNN he was tortured and raped in Iran.

He said he came to the US “just to have a normal life like everyone else.” He was detained after crossing the border in the waning days of the Biden administration, after traveling months and being robbed and beaten en route to the US. He said he has suffered abuse and discrimination while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.

CNN cannot independently confirm the man’s account. The person said he had filed for asylum, but the status of his application is unclear.

“Definitely my life is at risk if I return to my country,” he said.

The National Iranian American Council, a nonprofit organization, called on the administration to halt the flight.

“Iranians like the ones on this imminent deportation flight come here to escape government repression. It is disturbing that, instead of honoring their asylum claims and offering them safety, our own government may be violating their human rights and compounding the harm done to them with abuses in detention,” the group’s president, Jamal Abdi, said in a statement.

According to the source familiar with Sunday’s deportation flight, it is expected to stop in Kuwait en route to Iran. The first deportation flight was in September.

CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Iranian Mission to the UN for comment.

ICE declined to confirm reporting by BBC Persian about the deportations, without denying the planned operation, citing “the safety of the flight and its passengers.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.