A quiet deportation flight carrying 120 Iranians from the United States touched down in Tehran this week, with no cameras or statements marking their forced return. But for Maryland-based immigration attorney Ali Herischi, the silence surrounding the expulsions is deeply troubling.
Herischi, who represents two of the deported, said both his clients — one a political asylum seeker and another a Muslim convert — were flown back to Iran in handcuffs. Neither, he stressed, had requested Tehran as their deportation destination.
Beyond individual cases, the lawyer described a system marred by inconsistency and unfairness. Some families, he said, were split during deportation — with mothers and children allowed to remain in the US while fathers were suddenly expelled. If those relatives later succeed in gaining asylum, the deported parents would have qualified as well, he argued.
Iran has confirmed that around 400 nationals are slated for removal, most accused of entering the US illegally via Mexico. The New York Times described the deportation flights as a “rare moment of cooperation” between Washington and Tehran — two governments usually at odds.
But critics argue the arrangement sacrifices vulnerable migrants whose asylum applications were either denied, ignored, or left unresolved.
Rights groups have long warned the US against returning individuals to countries with poor human rights records. Iran, they note, has one of the worst — with ongoing crackdowns on political activists, ethnic and religious minorities, and LGBTQ people.
Many of the deportees belong to those very groups, which is why so many Iranians joined migrant routes through Central America seeking refuge in the United States.
For Herischi, the latest deportations highlight a policy driven more by political optics than humanitarian responsibility.
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