In a dramatic escalation of U.S. immigration enforcement, dozens of Iranian nationals have been deported and hundreds more now find themselves at risk, according to advocacy groups and official data. The surge in removals comes amid heightened tensions following the Israel-Iran war and subsequent U.S. air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, with the Trump administration’s policies drawing sharp criticism from immigrant rights organizations and political leaders alike.
According to the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), at least 55 Iranians have already been removed from the United States on a charter flight, and “hundreds” more are awaiting similar fates. Jamal Abdi, president of NIAC, described the situation bluntly to Middle East Eye: “This is a case where injustice has been stacked on injustice. Iranian nationals should not have been ripped from their families by ICE after the [Israel-Iran] war and treated as a terror threat. They should not have languished in horrible, unsanitary prisons with minimal, poor food and cut off from their loved ones and support networks.”
Abdi emphasized that many of those facing removal had previously enjoyed legal status or were in the process of seeking asylum, only to see those avenues abruptly closed. “They should have had a choice to stay in the US rather than being deported to a third country or back to Iran,” he added.
Ryan Costello, NIAC’s policy director, highlighted the impact of recent policy changes: “It’s unclear how many of these people might be some form of political refugee or asylum seeker, who otherwise under a different administration would have a pretty clear path to an asylum case and be able to stay. But the asylum process has basically been totally upended by the Trump administration.”
NIAC is now working to connect affected Iranians with legal support to challenge what it calls “harmful executive actions” by President Trump. The group warns that thousands more Iranians with uncertain immigration status could be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the coming months. Many, Costello noted, are not undocumented or recent border crossers, but have found themselves suddenly without status after the administration canceled long-standing protective visa programs overnight.
One such program is Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which had provided relief for Venezuelans, Cubans, Afghans, and others. Its abrupt termination left tens of thousands—including Iranians—vulnerable to deportation. In some cases, legal immigrants have been targeted for relatively minor infractions, such as writing a check that bounced or missing a court date due to an address change. The administration has also refused to recognize the legality of marijuana possession, even in states where it is permitted, citing federal law.
In August, the case of Sharareh Moghadam, an Iranian national living in Los Angeles, drew particular attention. Despite holding lawful status since 2016 and having passed her citizenship test, Moghadam was arrested by ICE at a routine immigration appointment and transferred to a detention facility in Arizona. ICE justified the arrest by citing two theft convictions, but her husband insisted she was just steps away from becoming a U.S. citizen. Arizona congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, the first Iranian-American elected to office in the state, condemned the move: “The implication by this administration that Iranian Americans are more likely to engage in terrorism or criminal activity is absurd, false and outrageous.”
ICE Director Todd Lyons, speaking to NewsNation earlier this year, confirmed that enforcement had intensified following the Israel-Iran conflict. “We’ve always done targeted enforcement, we’ve always focused on high-risk countries – including Iran,” Lyons said. The agency announced the arrest of 130 Iranian nationals in a single week in June, portraying them as potential terror threats and warning of further removals.
Numbers obtained by NewsNation from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in June revealed that 5,840 Iranian nationals were on ICE’s nondetained docket—a list of individuals ordered removed by an immigration judge but not held in custody. Many of these people had been allowed to remain in the country under a “stay of removal,” provided they attended regular check-ins. However, the Trump administration has largely ceased honoring these deferred removal decisions, breaking with an American tradition of offering refuge to Iranian dissidents and religious minorities since 1979.
Costello noted that ICE data showed just 79 deportations of Iranian nationals over four years prior to the recent spike. Now, he said, “there are supposed to be at least 300 more Iranians who are scheduled to be put on those deportation flights, leading to maybe thousands more... under the Trump administration. So a big spike.”
Tehran, for its part, has shown little resistance to the removals. “The fact that Iran did not accept deportations from the United States [previously] was actually cited as a reason to impose the travel ban,” Costello explained. Now, he suggested, Iran sees the acceptance of deportees as a diplomatic win, allowing it to present itself as responsive to the needs of its citizens while also accommodating a U.S. priority.
The New York Times recently published a video report titled “Behind the U.S. Deportation Flight to Iran,” offering a rare glimpse into the logistics and human toll of these removals. The video underscores how the U.S. government’s deportation operations have become more aggressive, particularly in the aftermath of the Israel-Iran conflict and U.S. military actions.
But the crackdown extends beyond Iranian nationals. The story of Kilmar Ábrego García, a Maryland father and union sheet-metal apprentice, has become another flashpoint in the immigration debate. Ábrego, who immigrated illegally as a teenager in 2011, married an American mother of two and has a six-year-old son with special needs. In March 2025, he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador due to what ICE described as an “administrative error.” Following public outcry and a Supreme Court order, he was returned to the U.S. in June, only to be charged with human smuggling and detained in Tennessee. After his release, he was detained again in Baltimore during a scheduled immigration check-in.
Despite having no criminal convictions, Ábrego has been labeled by the Trump administration as an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, domestic abuser, and child predator—a characterization his lawyers vehemently deny. President Trump himself weighed in, saying, “These judges want to try and take the place of a president that won in a landslide… Bring him back and show everybody how horrible this guy is.” Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem echoed these claims in public statements and on social media.
Ábrego’s legal team has filed motions seeking a gag order on top officials, arguing that their comments threaten his right to a fair trial. With a Baltimore judge denying his asylum bid on October 2, Ábrego now has 30 days to appeal. If unsuccessful, he faces deportation to Uganda, then Eswatini—despite a 2019 judge’s order barring his return to El Salvador due to a “well-founded fear of future persecution” from local gangs.
As the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown intensifies, advocates warn that the human costs—broken families, disrupted lives, and the erosion of long-held protections—are mounting rapidly. The debate over who belongs in America, and under what conditions, shows no sign of abating as new policies reshape the lives of thousands.
