The CEO of Gray Bull Rescue disputes the State Department’s claims of stranded Americans

The State Department’s account of its evacuation efforts contradicts public reports from independent rescue groups that helped evacuate US citizens from conflict zones during the opening days of the US-Iran conflict.

Bryan Stern, the founder and CEO of Gray Bull Rescue, a non-profit evacuation service, disputes allegations that the State Department has provided aid to every American who has asked for it, saying instead that thousands of American citizens have been left stranded by missiles, bombs and security threats that litter the region’s airspace.

“It’s not for lack of effort. Our partners at the State Department are great. But their process doesn’t work. And there’s no — there’s no specialty,” Stern told Fox News Digital, noting the lack of a dedicated government position to handle human trafficking.

The contrary assertion raises questions about the effectiveness of American rescue efforts while prompting calls from lawmakers for more information to evacuate US citizens from conflict zones in the future.

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Stern believes that the slow bureaucracy prevents the government from making the most of its rescue options.

As one data point, Stern pointed to a video posted to Fox News Digital showing an empty plane flying from Israel to Florida near the start of the conflict.

The source, who recorded the video, confirmed they were removed by Israel’s State Department from flight LY1017 from Tel Aviv to Miami, Florida, on March 8 – a point at which Stern said Gray Bull Rescue was inundated with hundreds of evacuation requests.

In response to questions about the video, State Department officials did not say why they reserved fewer seats. While the government sometimes buys individual tickets on commercial flights to evacuate people, it rarely buys the volume of the plane, sources familiar with the department’s evacuation procedures told Fox News Digital.

Apart from this incident, officials of the Department said that their assistance exceeded what was needed.

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Attorney Nancy Mace, left, RS.C. joined Gray Bull Rescue and its founder Bryan Stern, right, on the ground in Israel during the group’s evacuation efforts earlier this year. (Gray Bull Rescue)

“The State Department has reached out to every American who is interested in supporting us,” a State Department official said. “The majority of Americans who requested assistance declined seats when offered, choosing to stay in the country or book commercial flight options that offer more flexibility in terms of destination and baggage.”

Stern believes the answer is misleading.

“That answer is not entirely accurate,” Stern said.

“There’s a difference between a State Department contract plane full of Americans to evacuate and take them to a safe place. That’s an evacuation. That’s different from: ‘Hey, go book a commercial ticket. Good luck to you,'” Stern said.

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Attorney Nancy Mace, RS.C., who joined Gray Bull Rescue operations in Israel last month, applauded the government’s efforts but believes there is a need for reform.

“It really opened my eyes to some of the challenges we have, the management of the office we have,” said Mace.

“I will come back to Washington with some ideas on how we can move forward with what we have now and how we can make sure that we allocate resources to the State Department, so that [the Department of Homeland Security].”

Like Stern, Mace suggested that part of the problem stems from the lack of a single position in the State Department dealing with rescue efforts.

Attorney Nancy Mace, RS.C., said she went to the Middle East in March. 8, 2026, after hearing that a South Carolina family was stranded after the Iran conflict. (Nancy Mace’s Office)

Stern, whose team has worked on more than 800 operations to get Americans out of Afghanistan, Israel and Venezuela, believes the current operations have too many moving pieces.

He said his team’s efforts allow him to communicate directly with Americans who are asking for help.

“We know them, we talk to them 10 times a day. The current manifest we are working on right now has 338 people. We do a Zoom call once a day with all the families. Because of that kind of thing, the chain between the person and the plane is zero, because we are,” said Stern.

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“With [the Department of State] he drives to a center in West Virginia, talks to an illiterate reader; they send you to a website that goes to a data processor somewhere [put] in an Excel spreadsheet.”

More than 43,000 Americans have returned to the United States safely since late February, according to the State Department. Of those, government operations directly helped 30,000 Americans.