Concern U.S. may deport Iranians held by ICE back home to a warzone

Two gay Iranian men seeking asylum in the United States over fear they could be executed in Iran are facing an uncertain future, with U.S. officials offering no clarity about whether they could be deported amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran if their asylum cases are unsuccessful.

Ali and Adel, who are using assumed names to protect their identities, entered the U.S. from Mexico in 2025, just before President Trump took office for his second term. They were facing charges at home over their sexuality, Rebekah Wolf, director of the Immigration Justice campaign at the American Immigration Council, told CBS News.

In Iran, "they were charged with a crime that is punishable by execution, by hanging, in fact," Wolf said. "In many cases, it is not so stark or obvious what an asylum seeker is facing. I think this is by far the clearest case of why our asylum system exists. They are facing execution by a regime that we believe should not be in power. That, we've demonstrated through our own actions … in United States foreign policy."

The couple initially fled from Iran to Turkey and "stayed there for a number of years" before traveling through South and then Central America to reach the U.S., Wolf told CBS News.

"Turkey is not particularly friendly to the LGBT community either, but also … they don't have laws that allow you to seek permanent asylum there," Wolf said. "The question of whether or not there were other places that they could have stayed, there's sort of two answers to that. One is that many of those countries themselves are not friendly to LGBTQ communities."

The other reason, she said, was that at least some of the countries they traversed "have policies about certain nationalities and they, you know, saw significantly higher barriers to being able to resettle in one of those countries" as Iranian nationals, she said. 

Since arriving in the U.S. and being detained on the southern border in January 2025, Wolf said Ali and Adel have been held in poor detention conditions and faced mistreatment by guards.

"They are experiencing a sense of impunity by guards and ICE officials who don't have any kind of repercussions for small things like calling them names, outing them to other individuals in detention, things of that nature that we did not see in previous administrations," Wolf said.

Adel said he was hurt in an attack in Mexico before he and Ali crossed the border into the U.S., and Wolf said his injuries, which haven't been properly treated, left him wheelchair-bound.

The two men were unable to retain lawyers for their initial immigration hearings, because counsel in such cases is not assigned for free, Wolf said. Both had asylum applications rejected for reasons Wolf and the American Immigration Council said could have been prevented if they'd had legal representation. They are both appealing the earlier decisions in their cases.

"They can't be removed while a case is ongoing, but we have not received any assurances that, if those stays are lifted for whatever reason, that they would not be removed," Wolf told CBS News.

Deportations to an Iranian warzone?

Ali and Adel have almost been deported to Iran three times already, Wolf told CBS News, all before the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran.

"They have been moved to a detention facility in what's called a staging — so being prepared, being told they're going to be sent back to Iran — and then getting all the way up to the date of a deportation," Wolf said. "The mental stress of constantly being in fear of being removed to a place that wants to execute them, combined with the conditions of detention, are really, really difficult for them."

She said she believes there has been a pause in deportations from the U.S. to Iran since the war began, though she said the American Immigration Council had not been told anything officially.

"In order to deport people to any country, including Iran, you have to have agreement from the receiving country. You have to have a negotiation with that country," she said.

CBS News asked the White House several times whether there has been a pause in deportations to Iran amid the war and was told the administration does not comment on specific cases. The White House referred CBS News to the Department of Homeland Security.

DHS did not answer questions about the poor conditions that Wolf said Ali and Adel have been held in, nor about whether there has been a pause in deportations to Iran. The agency told CBS News on Wednesday that the two men were detained by border patrol agents on Jan. 5, 2025.

"All of their claims were heard by a judge and found not to be valid," DHS said, adding that Ali and Adel had received final orders of removal about one year ago.

"They received full due process. They are currently in ICE detention where they will remain pending their removal," the agency told CBS News.

Meanwhile, Wolf told CBS News the two men's continued presence in the U.S. during the war could make the situation they face if they're deported to Iran worse.

"We know that in times of conflict, in countries like Iran, anyone who is seen as at all connected to the 'enemy' is seen with suspicion, and that, often, in and of itself, is a basis for punishment or execution," she said.