Iranians deported by the US cite aggression, threats and fear of arrest in Iran

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Dallaire, 34, says he was handcuffed and didn’t have a chance to change out of the clothes he was wearing in a U.S. Immigration Service prison. Once in Iran, he made his way from Tehran International Airport to his hometown, Mashhad. Before arriving, he used a borrowed phone to inform his relatives of his deportation.

He wrote to his mother: “Mother, come and get me.”

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In a phone interview, Dallaire admitted that he entered the United States illegally in April, but believed he had political asylum, citing his criticism of Islamic law. But I did not expect to be sent back to Iran.

“I feel like I’m in a nightmare,” he said.

On September 29, Donald Trump’s government deported a few dozen Iranians, including Dallaire, to Iran, after reaching an agreement with Tehran. The charter plane was new: until then, the deportees had traveled on commercial flights.

For decades, Iranians fleeing regime persecution have found protection in the United States. But Trump, on his first day in office, signed an executive order barring illegal immigrants from obtaining asylum. The measure was blocked in part by a federal court. Last month, the number of refugees allowed into the country fell to the lowest level in history, which is 7,500 people.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the 54 Iranians on the plane bound for Iran were subject to permanent removal or voluntary departure orders, and that they all received due process.

According to the spokeswoman, 23 of the deportees are linked to terrorism, seven are on the terrorist watch list, and five others are linked to human trafficking networks, in addition to two accused of committing document forgery crimes. According to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 400 of its citizens residing in the United States are at risk of deportation, and new flights are being planned.

McLaughlin stated that Dallaire and another deportee, who asked to be identified by the initials AA, had entered the United States illegally, and that they had the opportunity to make arguments to avoid expulsion from the country. But the requests “were not found to be valid, and final removal orders were issued for them,” McLaughlin said.

Dallaire’s journey as a refugee began in 2014, when he left Iran with his father and twin brothers for Türkiye. His father, Hassan Delir, was a teacher who claimed he was arrested and tortured for criticizing Islam and the government. His children were also activists, and were also threatened by state agents. Once in Türkiye, they registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to try to find a country where they could settle. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, they have been recognized as “protected persons.”

But a series of setbacks divided the family. The UNHCR nominated the father and twin brothers to move to the USA, but not Dallaire, without explaining why. The case was referred to the Turkish government, which rejected his asylum request and ordered him to leave the country.

The twin brothers have lived in North Carolina for two years, where they work in a department store. Dallaire’s father also got the green light to move, but new obstacles, such as a halt to new refugees entering the United States, prevented him from leaving Turkey, where he only has a temporary residence permit.

After being rejected by Türkiye, Dallaire fled to Greece but was arrested and sent back. It was then that he began looking at the southern border of the United States: He left Brazil and used a route crossing the Darien Forest, between Panama and Colombia, arriving in Mexico and entering the United States in April, where he surrendered to the Border Patrol in California. After numerous transfers between detention centres, his asylum application was rejected, and a deportation order was issued.

In May, he was transferred to Los Angeles, where he obtained a commercial flight ticket to Iran, but refused to board the plane and was detained again. In prison, he began a hunger strike, but stopped after a few days while his lawyers and relatives tried to re-analyze his asylum application. Republican Senator Thom Tillis even reached out to Dallaire’s brothers, telling them that he had contacted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and immigration authorities, to no avail.

Shortly before the deportation, he and other detainees received a visit from the Iranian diplomatic representative, Abolfazl Mehrabadi, who assured them that they would not face any problems upon their arrival in Tehran.

Mehrabadi said in an interview: – We worked with the Americans to facilitate the trip because our policy is not to allow any Iranian citizen to suffer in detention.

In what he described as a last desperate act, Dallaire said he cut his wrists hours before boarding the plane. The authorities noticed the bleeding, took him to the infirmary in the detention center, and placed him in isolation until the time he boarded the plane. McLaughlin says the episode didn’t happen.

At the airport, Dallaire screamed, cried and begged not to enter the plane, and some agents carried him down the stairs and placed him in a seat. It was just one scene in what he and other deportees described as a chaotic rise: Some clashed with immigration agents, while others asked to get rid of things like Bibles and documents linking them to the opposition in exile. McLaughlin denies reports of violence.

When A.A. arrived On another bus, he saw Dallaire being dragged onto the plane, and he also tried to resist: he and his other companions locked themselves in the bus and handcuffed them to the seats. Shortly thereafter, they were forcefully transferred to the plane.

“You have to kill me before you send me back,” shouted A.A., who is from one of the ethnic minorities in Iran.

The flight lasted about 50 hours, and stopped in Puerto Rico, Egypt and Qatar, where the deportees were transferred, handcuffed and handcuffed, to another plane that would transport them to Tehran. The Department of Homeland Security says this is a protocol for long-haul flights to ensure safe travel. In Doha, some Iranians tried to organize a protest against the new shipment, and were attacked by local security forces. The Qatari government did not comment on the incident, and said that it had not received asylum applications.

When they arrived in Iran, there were government officials and security forces waiting for the group. According to Dallaire, some of them said, “Welcome back,” a scene that was described as surreal. His passport (and the passports of three other men) was confiscated, and he was banned from leaving the country. Since then, he has avoided staying in the same place for a long time, and his mother receives constant calls asking him to come to the Revolutionary Guard office for investigation. Dallaire says he wants to leave Iran, but is tired of living on the run.

– Where should I go? he asked. – What country accepts me now?