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Trump Admin Faces Scrutiny on Deporting Gay Iranians, “This Could Be a Death Sentence”

President Trump

Jennifer Griffin, Chief National Security Correspondent for Fox News, reported this week on social media that “the Trump Administration sent a deportation flight of nearly 40 Iranians from the US to Iran on Sunday.”

Griffin revealed that “according to the American Immigration Council, which represents some of the Iranians slated for deportation, this is the 3rd ICE deportation flight to Iran since September.” The Trump administration characterizes the Iran flights as “part of its broader mass deportation strategy,” Griffin reported, noting that “human rights groups say this could be a death sentence for these Iranians.”

CNN correspondent Jennifer Hansler also reported: “It was the first known deportation flight since the sweeping anti-government protests and brutal crackdowns on protesters [in Iran].”

[Note: President Donald Trump has vocally supported the current citizen uprising in Iran, telling those in the streets to “keep protesting…take over your institutions…help is on its way.” Trump also vowed that the U.S. will take “very strong action” against Iran if it executes protesters. A high death toll attributed to Iranian riot police activity during the country’s nationwide protests has already been reported.]

Reporting on Sunday’s deportation flight, Hansler added that a “lawyer for two Iranians who were told they would [be on] the flight said they were NOT on it & they instead had been put in quarantine because of a measles outbreak It is likely only a temporary reprieve for the two, who are gay and face execution if returned.”

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[NOTE: In January, the Trump administration announced it would indefinitely suspend immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 countries, including Iran, beginning January 21.]

Immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council, reported: “My org represents those two gay men. They had been arrested on charges of sodomy by Iranian moral police, and fled the country seeking asylum. They face the death penalty if returned, yet the Trump admin denied their asylum claims in a kangaroo court. They are terrified.”

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a lobbying group in Washington, D.C., responded to the White House’s decision in a statement (the bold is theirs): “We are deeply concerned that the Trump administration proceeded with the deportation of 14 Iranians to Iran in the wake of a brutal crackdown.

“At a moment like this, the United States should be opening its doors to Iranians with credible fears of retaliation if they are returned.

“We are relieved that some individuals avoided deportation for now, but future flights are reportedly planned and asylum has still not been granted. ICE and the Trump administration must be transparent about this process and disclose all details surrounding their deportation agreement, including who is being forced onto these flights.”


Note: After President Trump promised Iranians that “help is on the way” earlier this month, the President’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Richard Grenell, who is gay, wrote on social media: “I help sneak gays and lesbians out of Iran. And for the first time EVER, someone has said ‘I want to wait just a bit’. There is real hope coming from the inside. I don’t think you can stop this now.”

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