Dear John,
The news is worrying: according to reports [[link removed]] , the U.S. has chartered a plane to deport over 100 Iranian nationals to Iran, with hundreds more slated for deportation in the months to come.
These deportations come on the heels of the June war, when ICE touted the arrest of 130 Iranian nationals in the initial weeks. Some of those who were detained have described to us the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in these facilities, and the pain of being cut off from their families with no end in sight. Now, many are being forced to choose between indefinite confinement in U.S. detention centers, deportation to “third countries” where they do not speak the language, or return to Iran - where some fear imprisonment or worse.
As NIAC President Jamal Abdi said in our full statement [[link removed]] :
"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 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. They should have had a choice to stay in America.”
This moment is frightening, but it is not hopeless. NIAC is here and we are fighting. Through our Travel Ban and Immigrant Justice Resource Center [[link removed]] , we are connecting Iranian families with legal resources, litigation opportunities, and advocacy tools to challenge these abuses.
[link removed] [[link removed]]
Recently, we partnered with the Asian Law Caucus and the New York Civil Liberties Union for a 2025 Deportation Defense Training [[link removed]] , equipping our community with tools to respond to unjust detentions and deportations. You can find the full recording and slides with key information from the event here [[link removed]] .
We have done this before, when the travel ban was first imposed, and we are building the same infrastructure now to confront deportations and other discriminatory executive actions.
But we need your support urgently. This fall, we must hit our fundraising goal [[link removed]] to ensure NIAC has the resources to defend our community in moments like this, when families risk being torn apart and our rights are threatened. Can you help protect our community by making a donation today [[link removed]] ?
Donate to NIAC this Fall [[link removed]]Together we will fight to ensure that the most vulnerable among us is not abandoned, that our community has a voice, and that America lives up to its promise as a place of refuge and justice.
In Solidarity,
Team NIAC
unsubscribe: [link removed]