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Iranian activist deported to Central African Republic despite court protection from removal to Iran

Sep 1, 2026·Location: LA

Country of origin: Iran

Iranian activist deported to Central African Republic despite court protection from removal to Iran
Photo via independent.co.uk

An Iranian woman in her early thirties, a pro-democracy activist who said she had been threatened by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, fled Iran, crossed the Darién Gap, and arrived in the U.S. at the end of 2024, where a judge granted her legal protection from being deported back to Iran after finding she had credible fear of persecution. Despite that protection, she was deported on June 12, 2026, from Louisiana to the Central African Republic on a flight carrying roughly two dozen migrants from countries including Jordan, Armenia, Turkey, Georgia, and Afghanistan, under the Trump administration's third-country deportation agreements. Her attorney, Emily Trostle, said she was left in a country where she has no status, no connection, and no support network. She now lives in isolation, afraid to leave her apartment, and says local police have extorted her for cash. Her family said she could be killed if ever returned to Iran, and she fears execution if her situation changes once her temporary visa expires. Two other Iranian women originally scheduled for the same flight, whose asylum claims had been denied under a transit rule later vacated by a California federal court, received emergency court orders temporarily halting their removal.

Timeline

Sep 1, 2026—Reports emerged that she lives in isolation in the Central African Republic, fearing extortion by police and possible future removal to Iran
Jun 12, 2026—Deported from Louisiana to the Central African Republic despite a court order protecting her from removal to Iran
Dec 31, 2024—Iranian activist arrived in the U.S. after fleeing Iran and crossing the Darién Gap
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