Decisions

D.D.C. October 20, 2026 Third country: None named in the minute order. The plaintiff’s pre-hearing submissions of 8 October 2026 record that the court had asked at the hearing of 5 August 2026 “whether Iranians are being removed to third countries” (ECF No. 40, p. 2).

Disposition Motion for a preliminary injunction and a stay under 5 U.S.C. § 705 denied, for the reasons stated on the record at the hearing of 15 October 2026. Emergency motion for discovery denied without prejudice. The government ordered to provide meeting notes for in camera review on or before 29 October 2026.

The plaintiff, an organisation, brought this action under the Administrative Procedure Act “seeking vacatur of Defendants’ policy of providing the Iranian government information about Iranian asylum seekers that is protected by 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.6 and 236.1(e)” and moved for a stay and a preliminary injunction (ECF No. 40, p. 1). According to the plaintiff, the defendants “denied that the policy exists based solely on a single ICE official’s declaration that DHS does not have an agreement with the government of Iran to provide it with protected information” (ECF No. 40, p. 2). After a hearing on 5 August 2026 the court took the motion under advisement and directed the parties to schedule an evidentiary hearing. In a notice of 1 September 2026 the plaintiff told the court that the United States had planned to remove at least eight Iranians to the Central African Republic and that “Six of the Iranian chosen for removal were removed to CAR, and two were returned to detention in Adams County, Mississippi, due to Immigration and Customs Enforcement logistical delays” (ECF No. 36). The minute entry for the evidentiary hearing and pre-motion conference of 15 October 2026 records: “Motion 9 for Preliminary Injunction, heard and denied.” The minute order of 20 October 2026 reads, apart from its signature line: “MINUTE ORDER. For the reasons stated on the record at last week's hearing, the Court DENIES Plaintiff's 9 Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Section 705 Stay. The Court also DENIES without prejudice Plaintiff's 31 Emergency Motion for Discovery. The Court further ORDERS the Government to provide, on or before October 29, 2026, Mr. Edwards's meeting notes for in camera review. Any forthcoming motion to dismiss shall state whether the Court may consider the evidence from last week's hearing in resolving the motion.”

Confidentiality of asylum records Disclosure to a foreign government Administrative Procedure Act Preliminary injunction Section 705 stay Discovery

Caution A minute order entered on the docket, with no separate document. It gives no reasons; they were stated orally at the hearing of 15 October 2026, whose transcript the court unsealed on 5 November 2026. The denial of preliminary relief is not a ruling on the merits. The case continued: the docket records a sealed ex parte order signed on 27 October 2026, a briefing schedule on 2 November 2026 and a sealed document on 3 November 2026. On 15 October 2026 the court ordered the government to notify it within 24 hours of the finalization of any plan to remove Iranians to Iran, “including any plan to remove Iranians present in the United States to third countries where Iran, or any official acting on behalf of Iran, will later coordinate the individuals’ travel to Iran,” and to give five business days’ written notice before any such removal (ECF No. 45). On 23 October 2026 the government told the court that ICE had “finalized a plan to remove certain Iranian nationals subject to a final order of removal” (ECF No. 47). On 4 November 2026 it moved to dissolve the notice order (ECF No. 51) and withdrew its request that the transcript stay sealed, asking only that a notice filed on 3 November remain sealed (ECF No. 52). On 5 November 2026 the court unsealed the order, the motion and the transcript. Because a minute order has no document of its own, the link above is to the docket on CourtListener. The docket text was read from the copy of the RECAP docket kept by the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, last updated 4 November 2026. The minute order refers to “Mr. Edwards's meeting notes”. The hearing transcript names the defendants’ witnesses as Noah Adams and Gerald Edwards, Jr.; the minute entry for 15 October 2026 spells the second name “Evans”.