Overview
- A small charter carrying at least nine Iranian detainees took off from Mesa, Arizona, on Tuesday then returned to the ICE facility after Pakistan declined to accept the group.
- U.S. officials and a relative of a detainee said Pakistan’s refusal forced the plane to turn back about 30 minutes after departure and the detainees were placed back in Arizona detention.
- The Department of Homeland Security said everyone on the flight had final orders of removal and that some had criminal records.
- The return follows lawsuits alleging U.S. officials shared confidential asylum information with Iranian authorities and court orders requiring advance notice before routed removals, which judges have used to tighten oversight.
- The episode underlines that Washington’s tactic of routing deportations through Pakistan to reach countries without formal U.S. ties faces diplomatic unpredictability and could delay or block further transfers of vulnerable people.