President Donald Trump's administration faces a new legal battle after an immigrant rights organization filed a lawsuit accusing the government of sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with authorities in Iran, a practice the complaint says could endanger the lives of dozens of people and their families.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., by the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund (IALDF), ABC News reported. The legal appeal requests to immediately stop the alleged exchange of data and review the files that would have already been delivered to the Iranian government.

They allege violations of asylum confidentiality

According to the complaint, many of the Iranian citizens who requested asylum in the United States are pro-democracy activists, members of religious minorities or members of the LGBTQ community, who fled their country for fear of suffering persecution.

The organization maintains that federal law prohibits sharing any information that would identify a person as an asylum seeker, as this could expose them to retaliation if they are deported.

“Revealing their confidential information to the Iranian Government violates the asylum seekers' right to confidentiality and exposes them to the risk of persecution, torture and death,” the lawsuit states.

According to the IALDF, more than 100 Iranian citizens have been deported during the Trump administration.

They denounce meetings between Iranian officials and detainees

The complaint also claims that officials linked to the Iranian Interests Section held meetings with dozens of Iranian citizens held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) centers.

According to the court document, several of the detainees stated that they never authorized these meetings and that the Iranian representatives already knew details of their immigration files, including their asylum applications.

The organization Public Citizen, which legally represents the IALDF, stated that this practice violates federal confidentiality rules and places both applicants and family members who remain in Iran at risk.

“Revealing their confidential information to the Iranian government violates federal regulations requiring confidentiality and exposes these individuals to the risk of persecution, torture and death,” Public Citizen said.

Until now, neither the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nor the State Department had issued an official response to the accusations.

The plaintiff organization asked the court to order the immediate cessation of the alleged exchange of information and to appoint an independent expert to review all files that had already been shared with Iranian authorities.