US judge halts deportation of more than 1,400 Iraqi nationals

NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 19: People take part in a rally called ‘I Am A Muslim Too’ in a show of solidarity with American Muslims at Times Square on February 19, 2017 in New York City. A new version of a Trump administration travel ban will not stop green card holders or travelers already on planes from entering the United States, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said. ( Volkan Furuncu – Anadolu Agency )

A federal judge in Michigan on Monday halted the deportation of more than 1,400 Iraqi nationals detained during immigration sweeps across the United States last month, the latest legal victory for the detainees in a closely watched case.

US District Judge Mark Goldsmith granted a preliminary injunction requested by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, who argued the immigrants would face persecution in Iraq because they are considered ethnic and religious minorities there.

Read:US judge halts deportation of Iraqi immigrants

Goldsmith said the injunction provides detainees time to challenge their removal in federal courts. He said many of them faced “a feverish search for legal assistance” after their deportation orders were unexpectedly resurrected by the US government after several years.

#MuslimBan

Goldsmith said the extra time assures “that those who might be subjected to grave harm and possible death are not cast out of this country before having their day in court,” Goldsmith wrote in his 34-page opinion and order.

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.