Politics

Detroit Judge Temporarily Blocks Iraqis' Deportation

June 22, 2017, 10:14 PM by  Allan Lengel

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U.S. District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith

A federal judge in Detroit on Thursday granted a temporary restraining order to block the deportation of more than 100 Iraqi nationals with criminal records who were arrested this month in Metro Detroit  by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which had requested the temporary restraining owner, had argued that the detainees should have the opportunity to prove their lives would be in danger if they were returned to Iraq. The majority are Chaldeans, who are Christians.

“The court took a life-saving action by blocking our clients from being immediately sent back to Iraq,” Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, says in a statement. “They should have a chance to show that their lives are in jeopardy if forced to return."

The restraining order, granted by U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith, is good for two weeks. After that, it would have to be extended. He must determine if the court has jurisdiction in the case. 

Michael Steinberg, legal director of the ACLU of Michigan, said in a statement:

“We are thankful and relieved that our clients will not be immediately sent to Iraq, where they face grave danger of persecution, torture or death. It would be unconstitutional and unconscionable to deport these individuals without giving them an opportunity to demonstrate the harm that awaits them in Iraq." 

Read court order.



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