ACLU sues to stop deportation of Iraqis
The ACLU filed a class-action suit June 15 to immediately stop federal immigration officials from deporting over 100 Iraqi nationals rounded up in raids by federal agents the weekend of June 10-11, arguing it is illegal to deport the detainees without giving them an opportunity to prove they could face torture and even death if returned to Iraq.
“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,” said Kary Moss, Executive Director for ACLU of Michigan. “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 filed the complaint against Immigration and Customs Enforcement after ICE agents arrested more than 100 Iraqis—including many who’ve been in the US for decades—in raids throughout metropolitan Detroit. 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 had no further run-ins with the law.
Most of the 114 people arrested in Michigan are Chaldean Christians, however, Shiite Muslims and Christian converts are also among the detained, all of whom fear they will face violent retribution. Immigration agents during raids in other states also arrested dozens of Kurdish and Yezidi Iraqis. There is also concern that, because all of the detainees have lived in the U.S., they will be viewed as Americans rather than as Iraqis.
Most of the Iraqis are being held at a detention facility in Youngstown, Ohio, although some were taken to facilities in St. Clair and Calhoun counties in Michigan. There had been reports that the government could have deported them as soon as June 16.
The ACLU requested a hearing in June for the detainees in the Eastern District of US District Court, which the court agreed to hold June 21. The Justice Department argued that the detainees, including many who were recently rounded up after decades in the U.S., must go to immigration court to try to remain in the U.S., not U.S. District Court, but the ACLU countered that the detainees might be deported before an immigration judge can consider their requests to stay.
The ACLU, Arab American Civil Rights League and others have also sued to obtain documents related to the ban, including a memo by a commission established by Trump campaign advisor Rudolph Giuliani to find a legal basis for the Muslim ban.
The raids follow a series of stepped-up ICE raids that have targeted many Latinos in the US, with agents arresting residents at courthouses, their workplaces and other locations.
In addition to lawyers from the ACLU Michigan and National, the case is being litigated by the law firm of Miller Canfield, Michigan Law Professor Margo Schlanger, the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and other ACLU cooperating attorneys. Also see the article on page 2.
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