Judge in Michigan blocks deportation of
100 Iraqis
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[June 23, 2017]
By Dan Levine
(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday
temporarily blocked the deportation of about 100 Iraqi nationals rounded
up in Michigan in recent weeks who argued that they could face
persecution or torture in Iraq because they are religious minorities.
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith in Michigan issued an order staying
the deportation of the Iraqis for at least two weeks as he decides
whether he has jurisdiction over the matter. Goldsmith said it was
unclear whether the Iraqis would ultimately succeed.
The arrests shocked the close-knit Iraqi community in Michigan. Six
Michigan lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives urged the
government to hold off on the removals until Congress can be given
assurances about the deportees' safety.
The Michigan arrests were part of a coordinated sweep in recent weeks by
immigration authorities who detained about 199 Iraqi immigrants around
the country. They had final deportation orders and convictions for
serious crimes.
The roundup followed Iraq's agreement to accept deportees as part of a
deal that removed the country from President Donald Trump's revised
temporary travel ban.
Some of those affected came to the United States as children and
committed their crimes decades ago, but they had been allowed to stay
because Iraq previously declined to issue travel documents for them.
That changed after the two governments came to the agreement in March.
A U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman could not immediately be
reached for comment on the ruling.
Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union
representing the Iraqis in Michigan, said: "The court's action today was
legally correct and may very well have saved numerous people from abuse
and possible death."
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Protesters rally outside the federal court just before a hearing to
consider a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of Iraqi nationals
facing deportation, in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., June 21, 2017.
REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
The U.S. government has argued that the district court does not have
jurisdiction over the case. Only immigration courts can decide
deportation issues, which can then only be reviewed by an appeals
court, it said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said that people with
convictions for murder, rape, assault, kidnapping, burglary and
drugs and weapons charges were among the Iraqis arrested nationwide.
The ACLU argued that many of those affected in Michigan are Chaldean
Catholics who are "widely recognized as targets of brutal
persecution in Iraq."
Some Kurdish Iraqis were also picked up in Nashville, Tennessee. In
a letter on Thursday, Tennessee Representative Jim Cooper, a
Democrat, asked the Iraqi ambassador whether Iraq would be able to
ensure safe passage for them if they were returned.
(Reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco and Eric Walsh in
Washington; Editing by David Alexander and Cynthia Osterman)
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