Lawsuit over sharing Iranian asylum data

A lawsuit filed on July 7, 2026, by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Public Citizen Litigation Group alleges that the Trump administration illegally shared confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims that starting in March 2025, the U.S. State Department arranged monthly meetings with Iranian officials via the Pakistani embassy, during which U.S. officials shared detailed asylum application data, including reasons for persecution such as religious conversion, LGBTQ status, or participation in the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom protests. The lawsuit states that ICE forced detained Iranian asylum seekers to meet with Iranian officials who already knew their confidential details. The information sharing allegedly continued even after the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February 2026. The Trump administration deported over 100 Iranians in three flights between September 2025 and January 2026, some of whom were asylum seekers. DHS denied the allegations, stating it only follows established protocols for consular access. The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to halt the information sharing and appoint an independent monitor.