Originally published by our partners at the Philadelphia Gay News on January 26, 2026.
Get ready for what may be one of the most outrageous, diabolical and carefully hidden secrets of the Trump administration.
Over the past few weeks, Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has left Americans stunned and asking the same question: What the hell is happening to our country? What many may not realize is that some of this chaos appears to be intentional, a calculated misdirection.
As the nation reels from images of masked military forces occupying American streets from Minneapolis to beyond and American citizens being brutalized and killed, our attention is being pulled inward, consumed by shock and confusion.
But while our eyes are fixed here, the story quietly shifts overseas.
Cut to Iran.
Yes, Iran. The same country Trump publicly threatened, claiming that if the Iranian government did not stop killing demonstrators in the streets, the United States would “take action.” The hypocrisy is staggering, given that his own administration was unleashing violence against demonstrators here at home. But beneath that hypocrisy lies something far more sinister.
Behind closed doors, while Trump was publicly posturing and tearing America apart in his pursuit of immigrants, a backroom deal was quietly unfolding between his administration and the Iranian government.
Trump agreed to deport up to 400 Iranian immigrants back to Iran and didn’t just approve the removals, but provided the planes to carry them out. So far, at least two flights have already taken place: one in September and another earlier this month during the very same period Trump was publicly threatening Iran. At least 175 Iranian immigrants have already been sent back.
Many of these individuals fled Iran for survival. Some for political reasons. Some simply because they are LGBTQ+ where being openly gay in Iran is not just dangerous, but a potential death sentence.
The Trump administration has refused to disclose how many LGBTQ+ people have already been deported to torture or death. Meanwhile, there are Iranian LGBTQ+ couples currently imprisoned in Arizona detention facilities after fleeing Iran and seeking asylum in the United States.
The American Immigration Council has alerted the Trump administration. There has been no response.
In at least one known case, two men escaped Iran after authorities discovered they were gay. The Trump administration has reportedly agreed to provide passenger names to the Iranian government — meaning these men are not just being deported, but delivered directly into the hands of those who intend to kill them.
This is not immigration policy.
This is not diplomacy.
This is state-sanctioned cruelty carried out in secrecy and while America was distracted, it was allowed to happen.