Albanese government in the dark over US threat to deport Iranian to Australia

3 months ago 15

Washington: The Trump administration has taken the Albanese government by surprise after saying that an Iranian man arrested by US immigration agents as he walked his dog in Maryland could be sent to Australia.

Reza Zavvar came to the US in 1985 on a student visa and was later granted asylum and a green card. But his immigration status was jeopardised when he was aged in his 20s after two misdemeanours for possession of marijuana. One charge is more than 30 years old, and recreational cannabis is now legal in the state.

Reza Zavvar, 52, was arrested by US immigration agents while walking his dog near his home in Maryland.

Since 2007, Zavvar has been able to remain in the US under a “withholding of removal order” that said it was not safe for him to return to Iran. However, President Donald Trump came to power promising to conduct the largest mass deportation in US history, which has so far included a limited number of removals of immigration detainees to third countries.

Zavvar, 52, was arrested in late June near his home in Gaithersburg, Maryland – a short drive from Washington. He was later moved to a prison in Ohio. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has told Zavvar it intends to remove him to either Australia or Romania.

The Washington Post published images of the removal notices and Zavvar’s lawyer, Ava Benach, confirmed her client received the threats, despite having no ties to either country.

“I strongly suspect that DHS [the Department of Homeland Security] was shooting first and asking questions later,” she told this masthead. “I think they went out and did a shock and awe effort to get Iranians and round them up, and then they justified it later.”

A spokesperson indicated the Albanese government had no prior knowledge that the Trump administration had threatened to deport someone from the US to Australia, though it would consider any visa application.

“We consider any application for a visa on its merits. We have not been contacted by the US government about this matter,” the government spokesperson said.

Asked about any agreement with the US to accept deportees, the spokesperson said: “There have been no new agreements made with the Trump administration on immigration.”

An old agreement struck in 2016 between former leaders Malcolm Turnbull and Barack Obama, and reluctantly honoured by the first Trump administration, committed Australia to accept refugees from Costa Rica in return for the US resettling asylum seekers from Manus Island and Nauru. There is no indication the threat to deport Zavvar is connected to that deal.

Firouzeh Firouzabadi said her son was taken into custody while walking his dog.

Zavvar is challenging the deportation order. Court documents seen by this masthead show US district judge Theodore Chuang has blocked the administration from deporting Zavvar while the case is under way.

Benach said she was not surprised the Australian government knew nothing about the threats to her client.

“I didn’t buy for a second that they [ICE] did anything more than fill in ‘Australia’ in a blank spot on a form and hand it to my client,” she said. “I would be very surprised if the Australians agreed to be a place for deportees that have no ties there.”

Zavvar’s sister, Maryam, told Nine News Australia she did not know what would happen to her beloved brother.

“It’s absolutely frustrating – it’s heartbreaking for all of us,” she told the network. “He is not a criminal – he is the nicest guy you can possibly imagine. Our society, our community, is not benefiting from what’s happening to our family and to Reza.”

The US State Department declined to comment, and ICE and the DHS did not respond to requests for comment. However, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told The Washington Post Zavvar was “a criminal illegal alien from Iran”, and that in Trump’s America “if you break the law, you will face the consequences”.

Since returning to power, Trump has deported small numbers of people to the African nations of South Sudan and Eswatini, and Rwanda has just agreed to take up to 250 deportees, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday.

The administration has reportedly been seeking additional resettlement deals with other African countries.

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