Deportation flight carrying Iranian immigrants canceled after being 'ready for takeoff,' group says
Trump admin disclosed plans to deport Iranians last month, documents show.
A flight carrying Iranians was canceled Sunday as it sat on a tarmac in Arizona "ready for takeoff" and the detainees were moved back to detention, an attorney for the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund told ABC News.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said it "does not comment on prospective removal operations, including flight schedules, passenger manifests, destinations, or individual case details."
The cancelation comes after the IALDF said in court filings overnight that it had been told that 11 Iranian nationals -- 10 men and one woman -- were scheduled to be deported from the U.S. on Sunday.
According to the group, an Iranian government official reportedly met with a detained Iranian immigrant on Friday to inform them of a scheduled deportation flight set for Sunday.
It also comes just weeks after a federal judge blasted the administration for planning to send people back to Iran during the ongoing war there -- a "declared enemy."
The Department of Justice said during a court hearing last month 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.
The hearing was part of a lawsuit brought by the IALDF alleging that the government is sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government.
During a heated two-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes blasted government lawyers after learning that DHS officials were working on removal logistics to send individuals back to 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. "The answer in August was no. Today that answer has changed and it is yes."
"I'm sorry, I just want to make sure I understand this correctly," Judge Reyes said. "We are going to remove people in our custody to a country with which we are at 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?" Reyes said.
The transcript shows the U.S. government has been holding talks and coordinating with representatives of the Iranian government to arrange removals.
According to court documents, the Iranian Interest Section in Washington, D.C., the consular representation of Iran, sent officials to U.S. detention centers to meet with detainees. Iranian detainees in California and Arizona were offered meetings with officials, but they refused and no meetings took place, according to the 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.
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.
"If anything happens that violates either of those two orders, I will hold every single person associated with violating it. I will start contempt proceedings," Reyes said.
"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. "It is like saying we have individuals in 1942 in this country that we are going to send back to Nazi Germany. That is the equivalent of what you are telling me."
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