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Newly Released Emails Detail ICE-Iran Coordination On 2025-26 Deportation Flights
Newly released internal ICE emails show the agency coordinated with Iranian officials to deport more than 100 Iranians on three flights in September 2025, December 2025 and January 2026.[1]
The messages include ICE staff explicitly amending and expediting passenger manifests at the Iran Embassy's request, with lines such as "Per request from the Iran Embassy I added a few cases." CBS News The correspondence shows Iranian officials pressed for changes even on the day of departure, and at least one person not on the final manifest nevertheless boarded a flight.[1]
Hundreds of the internal emails were obtained by the National Iranian American Council and released on August 18, 2026.[2] During the June 13-24, 2025 U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons called the repatriations a "priority" after President Trump's June 16, 2025 social-media warning, and ICE operations chief Marcos Charles told staff to develop a plan "ASAP" to remove 58 Iranians.[1] The emails also show ICE arranged meetings between Iranian officials and detainees in U.S. custody while the Department of Homeland Security publicly denied sharing asylum application records with Iran.[1]
Early coverage treated the contacts as routine deportation logistics, but later reporting by PBS and CBS emphasized that the flights were pushed during wartime and included asylum seekers, shifting the story toward human-rights and policy concerns.[2] Human-rights advocates say sending Iranians back to a country known for persecuting women, religious minorities and political opponents marks a sharp break from post-1979 U.S. practice and heightens criticism of the deportations.[1]
Show source details & analysis (5 sources)
📌 Key Facts
- Hundreds of internal ICE emails obtained by the National Iranian American Council and released on August 18, 2026 provide a detailed play-by-play of three deportation flights that returned more than 100 Iranians in September 2025, December 2025 and January 2026 (internal ICE emails).
- The emails show Iranian Embassy officials requested additions to passenger lists and ICE officials explicitly amended and expedited manifests at those requests, including messages such as “Per request from the Iran Embassy I added a few cases” and notes of meetings with the “Director at the Iranian Embassy” (Iranian Embassy).
- Three ICE-coordinated deportation flights in September 2025, December 2025 and January 2026 collectively returned more than 100 Iranians, and the reporting notes that asylum seekers were among those deported (three ICE-coordinated deportation flights).
- Emails indicate Iranian officials were still requesting passenger changes even on the day of departure (requests that ICE sometimes denied), and at least one person not on the final manifest nevertheless boarded a flight — an ICE official wrote, “I have no idea how the case/person got through on the plane” (final manifest).
- The correspondence describes both indirect communications relayed via Qatari officials who helped charter flights through Doha and direct contacts with an “Iranian delegation” and the Iranian Embassy director (Qatari officials).
- Reporting says ICE prioritized completing the repatriations during the June 13–24, 2025 U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict: emails show then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons called the repatriations a “priority” after President Trump’s June 16, 2025 social-media warning, and ICE removal-operations chief Marcos Charles directed staff to develop a plan “ASAP” to deport 58 Iranians (Marcos Charles).
- The emails show ICE arranged for Iranian officials to meet detainees in U.S. immigration custody — a point raised in a July 2026 lawsuit alleging illegal sharing of asylum applicants’ confidential information with Tehran — while the Department of Homeland Security publicly denies sharing asylum records and calls such allegations “FALSE” (DHS).
- Advocates and human-rights activists say the deportations represent a departure from the U.S. post-1979 practice of offering refuge to Iranian exiles and criticize returning people to a country known for persecuting women, religious minorities and political opponents (human-rights activists’ criticism).
📰 Source Timeline (5)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
August 20, 2026
4:58 PM
ICE worked directly with Iran on over 100 deportations, emails reveal
New information:
- CBS segment published Thursday, August 20, 2026, reiterates that ICE worked closely with Iranian officials to deport more than 100 Iranian migrants, including asylum seekers.
- The broadcast emphasizes that the newly released internal emails are the basis for confirming the direct coordination between ICE and Iran on these deportations.
- Article underscores that asylum seekers were among those deported under the ICE-Iran coordination described in the emails.
4:36 PM
ICE coordinated with Iran on over 100 deportations, new emails reveal
New information:
- CBS News broadcast on August 20, 2026 reports that newly obtained internal ICE emails show the agency coordinated with Iranian authorities to deport more than 100 Iranian migrants, including asylum seekers, despite the ongoing U.S. war with Iran.
- The segment emphasizes that the Department of Homeland Security publicly denies allegations that ICE shared confidential asylum information with the Iranian government.
- The article timestamps the public release of the email-based reporting to Thursday, August 20, 2026, at 11:36 a.m. Central time.
3:53 PM
ICE and Iran worked together to deport Iranians from U.S., newly released emails show
New information:
- The PBS/AP piece confirms that three ICE-coordinated deportation flights in September 2025, December 2025 and January 2026 collectively returned more than 100 Iranians to Iran.
- Emails quoted in the article show ICE officials explicitly altering and expediting passenger manifests at the request of Iranian Embassy officials, including messages such as "Per request from the Iran Embassy I added a few cases" and references to meetings with the "Director at the Iranian Embassy."
- A September 26, 2025 email shows the Iranian Embassy was still requesting three additional passengers three days before the first flight, and ICE later noted that at least one Iranian not on the final manifest nonetheless boarded the aircraft, with an official writing, "I have no idea how the case/person got through on the plane."
- The article reports that pressure to complete the deportations came from the Trump White House during the June 13–24, 2025 U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict, citing an email in which then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons labeled the repatriations a "priority" shortly after Trump's June 16, 2025 social-media warning to "immediately evacuate Tehran."
- Emails show ICE removal-operations chief Marcos Charles directing staff during the June 2025 fighting to develop a plan "ASAP" to deport 58 Iranians with final removal orders, despite staff warnings that Iranian airspace was closed and travel documents were not being issued.
- The story details that ICE arranged for Iranian officials to meet with detainees in U.S. immigration custody, aligning with declarations in a separate July 2026 lawsuit alleging U.S. agencies illegally shared Iranian asylum applicants' confidential information with Tehran.
- The article notes DHS has publicly denied sharing asylum application records with Iran, reiterating a July statement that allegations of such sharing are "FALSE," while advocates argue the emails contradict the administration's stated rationale for its Iran war and deportation policy.
9:44 AM
ICE, Iran quietly worked together on deporting Iranians to Iran, emails show
New information:
- Hundreds of internal ICE emails obtained by the National Iranian American Council and released Tuesday, August 18, 2026, provide a detailed play-by-play of three deportation flights returning more than 100 Iranians to Iran in September 2025, December 2025 and January 2026.
- Emails show an ICE official wrote in late August 2025, 'Per request from the Iran Embassy I added a few cases,' indicating Iran had influence over who was placed on the September flight.
- About a week later, an ICE official reported meeting with the 'Director at the Iranian Embassy' and wrote, 'Iran has requested that I amend the previous manifest and expedite the removal process.'
- On September 26, 2025, three days before the first flight departed, ICE emails noted the Iranian Embassy was still requesting that three additional Iranians be added to the manifest; the article says the final passenger list remains unclear and the flight ended up smaller than originally planned.
- Emails show that even on the day of departure, Iranian officials were still making passenger requests, which an ICE official said were denied.
- The correspondence indicates continued prioritization of coordinating the flights even as ICE officials acknowledged that Iranians were fleeing Iran amid the deadly 12-day war with the U.S. and Israel in June 2025.
- Iranian officials publicly said in September 2025 that as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under an agreement with the Trump administration and that most had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico illegally, with some having other immigration issues.
- The emails describe both indirect communications relayed via Qatari officials, who helped charter flights through Doha, and direct contacts with an 'Iranian delegation' and the Iranian Embassy director.
- At least one individual who was not listed on the final manifest sent to Qatar’s Interior Ministry was nevertheless boarded on a flight, with one ICE official writing, 'I have no idea how the case/person got through on the plane.'
- The article underscores that the practice marked a departure from the U.S.'s post-1979 pattern of offering refuge to Iranian exiles and dissidents, and notes human-rights activists’ criticism of returning people to a country known for persecuting women, religious minorities and political opponents.