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The Trump administration took a hit Tuesday when a federal judge in Detroit ordered the release of about 100 Iraqis who had been detained for more than 16 months.
In a written order, U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith said the federal government cannot indefinitely detain foreign nationals.
"Petitioners have unquestionably met their burden regarding irreparable harm," the judge wrote. "Detention has inflicted grave harm on numerous detainees for which there is no remedy at law. Families have been shattered."
"Petitioners have provided ample evidence showing that their removal is unlikely in the reasonably foreseeable future."
The case, Hamama vs. Adducci, was filed in June 2017 by the ACLU, which sought to end the detention of some 1,400 Iraqi nationals in the state, including about 100 in Metro Detroit, who had been rounded up by the federal government for deportation, The Detroit News reports.
The ACLU argued that detainees would face harm if they returned home. Some were detained after having had a drug conviction decades ago, and were separated from their families.
The judge ruled that the detainees be released with in 30 days.
"Families will miss Thanksgiving, but be back with their families in time for Christmas," Miriam Aukerman, ACLU senior attorney in the case, said, according to the News. "We don’t lock people up and throw away the key for no reason. They've already lost 2017, but we're glad they'll be starting 2019 with their families."
