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Judge blasts administration for planning to deport Iranians to Iran during wartime

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Cite

Romero, L. (2026, November 5). Judge blasts administration for planning to deport Iranians to Iran during wartime. ABC News (US). https://abcnews.com/US/judge-blasts-administration-planning-deport-iranian-immigrants-back/story?id=137886625

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

ABC News (US) · collected 2026-11-06 · by Laura Romero

Quick Summary

A federal judge criticized the Trump administration during a court hearing for planning to deport Iranian immigrants back to Iran while U.S. is at war with the country. In an October 15 hearing, a Justice Department attorney disclosed that the government was preparing such deportations through third countries, which prompted Judge Ana Reyes to express strong concern about the safety and legality of these actions. The judge ordered the administration to provide advance notice before any deportation plans are executed.
Written by AI on 2026-11-06, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

President Donald Trump's administration held secret discussions with Iran regarding the deportation of Iranian immigrants even as a war continued in the country, according to court documents unsealed by The Associated Press. During a federal hearing on October 15, a Justice Department attorney disclosed plans to deport Iranians through an unnamed third country, though no specific timeline was provided. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes strongly criticized these intentions, emphasizing the dangers of sending individuals back to a region that President Trump had previously described as "essentially lawless." The judge ordered the government to provide 24-hour notice for any finalized deportation plans and five days' written notice before carrying out such deportations. Additionally, the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund reported that at least 12 Iranian detainees were contacted by Iran's representative office in Washington about imminent deportation flights.

Written for “Trump Administration Deportation Talks Iran War” on 2026-11-06, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Trump Administration Deportation Talks Iran War
Politics · 4 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 18% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Global News
Hedges 4 of 21 claims Outlet record 63/100
The Independent
Hedges 9 of 38 claims Outlet record 59/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 6 of 29 claims Outlet record 65/100
Dawn
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 3 of 5 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles describe different groups of immigrants (Afghans and Iranians) being planned for deportation under separate circumstances.”
Al Jazeera
Hedges 3 of 32 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles describe different events involving the deportation of Afghans and Iranians, respectively.”
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 6 of 16 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different deportation plans affecting Afghan and Iranian immigrants, involving distinct nationalities and potentially separate court rulings.”
The Hindu
Hedges 4 of 26 claims Outlet record 77/100
“The articles describe different groups of people (Afghans vs. Iranians) and different contexts (wartime for Iran but no such context mentioned for Afghanistan).”
Dawn
Hedges 6 of 12 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles describe different events involving the deportation of Afghan and Iranian immigrants, respectively.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different deportation plans involving Afghans and Iranians, not the same specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
18%
4 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
67/100
ABC News (US)'s corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

ABC News (US) · 1419 article(s) · 4 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 4 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Laura Romero
14 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 "We are at war with a country, where the president of the United States has said as recently as two or three days ago, if not yesterday, that it is essentially lawless ... and what you're telling me is that the United States of America is going to send individuals back to that region facing what you and I and everyone who would ever look at this would know would be at a minimum a serious threat of certain death?
🔮 The Justice Department in May 2025 charged Petrova over the "noninfectious and non-toxic frog embryos."
🔮 Immigration advocacy groups have raised concerns about the initiative, arguing that the same government seeking to deport the minors under the administration's immigration crackdown should not be representing them in court. A DHS spokesperson told ABC News, "Many of the children who came across the border unaccompanied were allowed to be placed with sponsors who were smugglers and sex traffickers." "Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and DHS take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement to reunite children with their families," the spokesperson said.
🔮 The announcement, posted by the Department of Health and Human Services, says that HHS lawyers under a new agency division will "provide direct legal services to unaccompanied alien children."
🔮 Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was returned to the U.S. after being mistakenly deported to a Salvadoran mega-prison, is set to return to federal court in Maryland on Tuesday to continue fighting his deportation case.
🔮 The 63 lawmakers wrote that they are "gravely concerned that ORR would entrust a vulnerable population with firms so plainly unqualified for the task."
🔮 The Trump administration will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to continue swiftly deporting immigrants to third countries that are different from their country of origin, Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Thursday.
🔮 According to the lawsuit, immigrants were routinely transferred to third countries with little to no notice when the administration cited "diplomatic assurances" that the receiving nation would not mistreat them.
🔮 Moreno de Armas was living in Miami with his family and working at a meatpacking plant when federal immigration authorities detained him last May.
🔮 The DHS spokesperson said ICE training will now be extended to 72 days from 42 days.
Also by Laura Romero
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 14 articles by Laura Romero →

Topics

Iran Iranian Justice Department The Trump administration U.S.

Subjects

Iranian NORP · 8× Iran GPE · 7× U.S. GPE · 5× Reyes PERSON · 4× The Trump administration ORG · 2× Ana Reyes PERSON · 1× Department of Homeland Security ORG · 1× Justice Department ORG · 1× Trump PERSON · 1× the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund ORG · 1×

Narrative

"We are at war with a country, where the president of the United States has said as recently as two or three days ago, if not yesterday, that it is essentially lawless ... and what you're telling me is that the United States of America is going to send individuals back to that region facing what you and I and everyone who would ever look at this would know would be at a minimum a serious threat of certain death?
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-06
🔮 "We are at war with a country, where the president of the United States has said as recently as two or three days ago, if not yesterday, that it is essentially lawless ... and what you're telling me is that the United States of America is going to send individuals back to that region facing what you and I and everyone who would ever look at this would know would be at a minimum a serious threat of certain death?

Claims (22 extracted, 4 hedged)

Judge blasts administration for planning to deport Iranian immigrants back to Iran during wartime The administration disclosed the plans in a hearing last month, documents show. asserted
documents → blast → hearing
The Trump administration said during a court hearing that it has been making plans to deport Iranian immigrants back to Iran while the U.S. is at war with that country, earning a rebuke from a federal judge, court documents show. asserted
documents → say → judge
According to an unsealed transcript of a hearing held on Oct. 15, a Justice Department attorney disclosed in federal court that the Trump administration was making plans to deport Iranian nationals to Iran through third countries. uncertain
administration → accord → countries
The hearing was part of a lawsuit brought by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund against the Trump administration alleging that the government is sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government. asserted
government → bring → government
During a heated two-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes blasted government lawyers after learning that Department of Homeland Security officials were working on removal logistics to send individuals back to Iran. asserted
officials → blast → Iran
"Your Honor, one of the questions that you had asked is whether there are any planned removals to Iran," said DOJ attorney Dimitar Georgiev. asserted
Georgiev → ask → Iran
Today that answer has changed and it is yes". asserted
it → change → ?
"I'm sorry, I just want to make sure I understand this correctly," Judge Reyes said. asserted
Reyes → want → this
"We are going to remove people in our custody to a country with which we are at war?" asserted
we → go → war
"We are at war with a country, where the president of the United States has said as recently as two or three days ago, if not yesterday, that it is essentially lawless ... and what you're telling me is that the United States of America is going to send individuals back to that region facing what you and I and everyone who would ever look at this would know would be at a minimum a serious threat of certain death? asserted
who → say → death
" Reyes said. asserted
Reyes → say → ?
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News. asserted
spokesperson → respond → News
The transcript shows the U.S. government has been holding talks and coordinating with representatives of the Iranian government to arrange removals. asserted
government → show → removals
According to court documents, the Iranian Interest Section in Washington, D.C., sent officials to U.S. detention centers to meet with detainees. uncertain
Section → accord → detainees
Iranian detainees in California and Arizona were offered meetings with officials, but they refused and no meetings took place, according to the transcript. uncertain
meetings → offer → transcript
During the hearing, Georgiev said the U.S. will "facilitate the travel" of the Iranian detainees to a third country and that the government of Iran will facilitate the travel from the third country into Iran. asserted
government → say → Iran
Judge Reyes ordered the government to provide at least five days' advance notice before any individual is "placed on a transport vehicle or plane bound for removal," and 24 hours' notice of any finalized removal plan. asserted
individual → order → plan
"If anything happens that violates either of those two orders, I will hold every single person associated with violating it. asserted
I → happen → it
I will start contempt proceedings," Reyes said. asserted
Reyes → start → proceedings
"We are talking about sending individuals in our care and custody to a country that we have bombed and we may continue bombing, and is a declared enemy of this country," the judge said. uncertain
judge → talk → country
"It is like saying we have individuals in 1942 in this country that we are going to send back to Nazi Germany. asserted
we → say → Germany
That is the equivalent of what you are telling me." asserted
you → tell → me
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