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Arguing that they could face torture and possible death back home, the American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday filed a class-action lawsuit in Detroit federal court to block authorities from deporting more than 100 Iraqi nationals from Metro Detroit rounded up last weekend.
“Not only is it immoral to send people to a country where they are likely to be violently persecuted, it expressly violates United States and international law and treaties,” Kary Moss, executive director for the Michigan chapter, says in a statement.
“We are hoping that the courts will recognize the extreme danger that deportation to Iraq would pose for these individuals. Our immigration policy shouldn’t amount to a death sentence for anyone.”
The ACLU names Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the class action case that also addresses immigrants rounded up in northern Ohio. The group seeks a Friday hearing.
The lawsuit contends that it is illegal to deport the detainees without giving them opportunity to prove they could face torture and even death if they return to Iraq.
An ICE statement earlier in the week says Iraqis arrested had criminal records. The majority arrested are Chaldean Christians, and some are Muslim.
An ACLU release says that although "many of the detainees were picked up for minor offenses in years past, the vast majority have been fully compliant with their conditions of supervision and have had no further run-ins with the law."
Most of the Iraqis are being held at a detention facility in Youngstown, Ohio. Others are at Michigan facilities in St. Clair and Calhoun counties.
