WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration held secret talks with Iran about deporting Iranians even as the war dragged on, court documents obtained by The Associated Press show. Court documents unsealed Thursday show that the Republican administration said in mid-October that it planned to deport the Iranians through an unnamed third country, although it was unclear when it intended to do so. The judge in the case ordered the government to give the court 24 hours’ notice of any finalized plans to deport Iranians to Iran or any other country and five days’ notice in writing before any such deportation takes place. The documents show that the administration maintained contacts with Iranian officials during the war about the expulsions, specifically to present travel documents and determine “possible avenues for expulsion.” Not yesterday, which is essentially anarchic… A country that is an enemy of the United States, according to the current president. A country that, according to our president, murdered tens of thousands of protesters,” Judge Ana Reyes said according to the transcript on October 15. Story continues below advertisement “And what you are telling me is that the United States of America is going to send people back to that region, facing what you and I and everyone who would ever watch this would know would be, at the very least, a serious threat of certain death.” Get the latest national news Get the latest Canadian news in your inbox as they happen so you don’t miss any breaking news. “Yes, your honor,” said Justice Department lawyer Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel. “The government is executing legal deportation orders.” The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. court documents argue New court documents show coordination continued during war The lawsuit describes a coordinated campaign between the US and Iranian governments to identify Iranians in Immigration and Customs Enforcement and pressure to return them to Iran – a marked departure from decades of diplomatic hostility between the two governments and an ongoing war DHS has denied it is sharing asylum application records with the Iranian government. between US immigration officials laid out how the two countries worked together to arrange the return of more than 100 Iranians to Iran on three immigration flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026. Deportations of Iranians back to their home country are historically rare, due to the lack of diplomatic relations between the US and Iran and the potential persecution they could face if they were sent to Iran. to people even from countries that have typically been reluctant to take people back or with which the United States has had cold or no diplomatic relations. Sometimes that has meant sending people back to their home country, but it has also meant deporting people to other countries with which they have no connection. During Trump’s second term, countries including El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama accepted non-citizens from the United States. In June, an Iranian woman was among two dozen immigrants deported by the United States to the Central African Republic. Activists abroad have expressed concern about deportees returning to Iran, whose theocracy has been repressing intellectuals and where the government loudly cracks down on any dissent. © 2026 The Canadian Press.