ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The US has decided to deport around 400 Iranian nationals amid US President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration policies, with 120 set to arrive in Tehran in the coming days.

“The US Immigration Administration had decided to deport about 400 Iranians currently residing in the US, most of whom entered America illegally,” Hossein Nooshabadi, an Iranian foreign ministry official, told the IRGC-affiliated Tansim news agency, noting that 120 of the immigrants are scheduled to “enter the country within the next one to two days.”

The foreign ministry official added that the measure is in line with the “new approach of the US government, which has an anti-immigration stance.”

Successive US administrations' clampdowns on illigal immmigrants have led to millions being deported in recent years, with a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report last week boasting the deportation of over 400,000 "illegal aliens," in just 250 days. 

The DHS report further adds that 1.6 million more have voluntarily elected to leave the country during the same time period, adding up to two million immigrants who have left the the US. 

The New York Times reported earlier in the day, that Washington is deporting a "planeload" of some 100 Iranians after a deal with Tehran, citing informed officials from both countries.

The plane reportedly took off from Louisiana on Monday night, and is scheduled to arrive in Iran sometime on Tuesday by way of Qatar, said the US-based outlet.

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It is estimated that almost 400,000 Iranian immigrants reside in the US, making up less than 1 percent of the US population, according to 2019 data revealed by the Migration Policy Institute.

Many Iranian immigrants seek Asylum in foreign countries, citing political and religious discrimination claims, raising concern that deportation may equate to facing prosecution in Iran.

The deportations have sparked mass demonstrations across the country, calling for the abolition of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its facilities and the halt of mass deportations.