Iranian Women Facing Deportation to Central African Republic, Lawyers Warn

The Trump administration is set to deport nearly two dozen individuals to the Central African Republic on Thursday, including at least two Iranian women who previously sought refuge in the United States, according to their attorneys and a government official.

The flight, also expected to carry migrants from Afghanistan and Syria, would represent the inaugural deportation to the Central African Republic, a poverty‑stricken nation beset by ongoing conflict. The U.S. State Department warns that the country is so hazardous that it advises “do not travel for any reason.”

At least some of the migrants have obtained U.S. court orders barring their return to their home countries due to the risk of persecution or torture, their lawyers said. To secure withholding of removal, migrants must meet a higher evidentiary standard than is required for asylum eligibility.

The Trump administration is seeking ways to deport individuals despite the existing court orders. It is arranging agreements with other nations willing to accept them. The United States has pursued or concluded agreements with dozens of countries, such as Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and Eswatini.

The Iranian women slated for Thursday’s flight have no criminal record and have been granted judicial protection against deportation to Iran, according to immigration lawyer Sahar Jalili Pawelski. While the specifics of their cases are not yet clear, many Iranians with such protection fear persecution based on their political views or religious identity.

The women expressed serious disbelief upon learning they were scheduled for deportation to the Central African Republic, said Ali Rahmana of the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund, who recently met with them.

The Department of Homeland Security declined to confirm future deportations for security reasons. A U.S. official, speaking anonymously because the plans were not public, confirmed the planned deportations. A senior immigration official in the Central African Republic said he had no knowledge of any final agreement.

The migrants have no connections to the Central African Republic, and it is uncertain where they will reside or whether they might eventually be returned to Iran. The U.S. government has documented extensive human rights abuses in the Central African Republic, including unlawful killings, torture, and arbitrary arrests and detentions.

“It is one of the hardest places in the world to live, and the notion that it could be deemed a safe third country is absurd,” said Anjli Parrin, director of the Global Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School.

The existence of a deportation agreement with the Central African Republic was previously reported by Reuters.

Ms. Parrin, who has extensive experience in the country, said it lacks a functioning health care system and that violence remains a constant concern despite a tentative peace agreement between armed groups and the government.

Mr. Trump campaigned on a promise to curb immigration, and the White House is seeking to increase deportations to third countries to fulfill that pledge. Deporting Iranians would be another illustration of the policy extending to populations previously regarded as U.S. allies or aligned with its values.

The administration had been negotiating with the Democratic Republic of Congo to deport more than 1,000 Afghans who had assisted the U.S. war effort, instead of granting them U.S. immigration. After public criticism stalled the talks, the administration sought alternative solutions.

Margaret Stock, an Alaska‑based immigration attorney and member of the legal team representing an elderly Syrian man told to be on the flight to the Central African Republic, said he bears scars from torture in his home country. He fears returning to Syria because he is a Sufi Muslim, and a U.S. immigration judge found those fears credible.

He also suffers from diabetes — a serious risk in the Central African Republic, where medical care for even routine conditions is severely limited.

“He won’t be able to obtain his medication, and he will die,” Stock said. “They know that sending him there would lead to his death.”

Ms. Stock said the man, who has no criminal record, had been released from immigration detention but was later re‑detained after a traffic stop.

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