US To Deport 400 Iranians

ILLUSTRATION OF UNSPLASH/Janne Simoes

JAKARTA - The United States plans to deport about 400 Iranians, most of whom entered the country illegally.

This decision is part of US President Donald Trump's broader crackdown on immigration.

"In the first step, they decided to deport 120 Iranians who entered the US illegally, mostly through Mexico," Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General Hossein Noushabadi told the Tasnim semi-official news agency.

The deportation is an example of rare cooperation between the two countries, taking place after months of negotiations, according to the New York Times, which first reported the move.

Noushabadi said the US "plans to deport about 400 Iranians, most of whom entered the country illegally, in line with the US government's new anti-immigrant approach."

The first group of 120 people will reach Iran in the next one or two days, he said.

The New York Times reported US chartered flights took off from Louisiana on Monday and is scheduled to arrive in Iran via Qatar on Tuesday.

Several Iranians have volunteered to leave after being at the detention center for months, and some have not, the newspaper said.

Noushabadi urged Washington to respect the rights of Iranian migrants in the United States.

"Some (re-migrants) have residence permits, but for reasons declared by the US immigration office, they are included in the list. Of course, their own approval has been obtained for their return," he said.

The White House and the US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Trump plans to deport a large number of people living in the US without legal status, after what he describes as high illegal border crossings under his predecessor of the Democratic Party, Joe Biden.

However, its government has struggled to increase the level of deportation, although it has created a new path to sending migrants to countries other than their home countries.

In February, the US deported 119 people from various countries, including Iran, to Panama as part of an agreement between the two countries.