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Dear John,
In recent months, ICE arrests of Iranians have surged, and reporting has revealed the agency has mass-deported Iranian asylum seekers, Christian converts, ethnic minorities, and political dissidents back into Iran. Many were forced onto planes against their will; some were interrogated by Iranian intelligence after landing, and most had absolutely no criminal convictions. All of this is happening with our tax payer dollars under a shroud of darkness – creating an atmosphere of fear for ordinary people and impunity for an unaccountable government.
That's why NIAC is suing ICE.
Last month, NIAC filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to demand answers on the shadowy campaign targeting our neighbors, community members, and loved ones: how many Iranians are detained, where are they being held, how are these deportations being conducted, and who approved of chartered flights to deport vulnerable people back to Iran. Some of this information we have been able to obtain through our support of impacted individuals and limited public reporting, which we have shared in our ICE Tracker, but much of what is going on is happening in the shadows.
Under the law, ICE was obligated to produce documents within 20 business days. Unsurprisingly, they failed to do so. So we sued.
While it may take a bit of time to force ICE to bring these documents to light, we are confident that the court will rule in our favor and we will get answers.
ICE has created a climate of fear for Iranian Americans and many immigrant communities. They have deported Iranians into the hands of a government known to torture dissidents, and then tried to hide how and why they did it. When secrecy puts lives at risk, when government agencies intimidate people into silence, when rule of law is treated as an afterthought – someone must stand up and fight. If ICE won’t tell the truth voluntarily, we will force it into the light.
Read our full statement here [[link removed]] .
We won’t stop until we get answers – but we need resources to fight this. Support our work to protect the rights of our community, our loved ones, and our neighbors by making a donation today:
DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR LAWSUIT [[link removed]]
In Solidarity,
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Jamal Abdi
President, NIAC
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