Administration sharing info about asylum seekers with Iranian government, suit claims

The suit says the U.S. is endangering Iranian asylum seekers and their families.

The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging the Trump administration has been sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government.

According to the complaint filed in Washington, D.C., many Iranian asylum seekers are pro-democracy protesters, members of religious minorities, or members of the LGBTQ community who seek refuge in the U.S. "because of the grave dangers they face in Iran."

"Disclosing their confidential information to the Iranian Government violates the asylum seekers' confidentiality rights, puts those who are subject to removal to Iran, directly or through chain refoulement via third countries, at risk of persecution, torture, and death following their arrival in Iran, and endangers their family members and acquaintances who may still be residing in Iran," the group said in the complaint.

More than 100 people have been deported to Iran during the Trump administration, according to the IALDF.

The group wrote in the complaint that while the U.S. government may coordinate logistics with receiving countries, federal regulations prohibit the sharing of information that would "reveal or infer that the individual to be removed had applied for asylum."

"Disclosing their confidential information to the Iranian government violates federal regulations requiring confidentiality, endangers their family members and acquaintances who may still be residing in Iran, and puts those who are subject to removal to Iran at risk of persecution, torture, and death following their arrival in Iran," said Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group that is representing the IALDF.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which operates Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a statement to ABC News, "These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE."

"ICE meets and works to get travel documents for detainees with every country. ICE is committed to ensuring that illegal aliens are informed of their right to communicate with their consular representatives," the statement said. "Consistent with established protocols, ICE provides illegal aliens the opportunity to contact their consular post and facilitates consular access to detained individuals, in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and agency policy."

The IALDF complaint alleges that the Trump administration has continued to share confidential information during the current war