The Trump administration is secretly moving to deport 11 Iranians through Pakistan in defiance of a federal court order.
The US government on Sunday launched an emergency operation overnight to deport 11 Iranian nationals to Iran via Pakistan, in defiance of a binding federal court order requiring advance notice, according to legal filings by human rights advocates.
The emergency filing, filed in US federal court by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund (IALDF), revealed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents picked up ten men and one woman late Saturday from the Service's processing center in Florence, Arizona, and the Eloy Detention Center.
The detainees were transferred to Phoenix. Shaar Airport has cleared for a 4:00 a.m. charter flight to Islamabad, Pakistan, which includes a refueling stop in Georgia, ahead of a scheduled transfer to Iran on Tuesday.
According to court documents, ICE issued the detainees transit visas to Pakistan for 15 days and facilitated direct coordination inside a detention facility in Arizona, where an Iranian government official met with seven of the men on Friday to present official flight disclosures.
The secret removal directly violates an Oct. 15 order issued by U.S. District Judge Anna C. Rice, which legally requires the Trump administration to provide "five business days' prior written notice" before removing any Iranian national to Iran or a coordinating third country.
By filing a side notice late Tuesday, the administration attempted to make the flight after just three business days.