US ordered to release or grant bond hearings to Iraqi migrants
A US judge has ordered the government to release Iraqi immigrants it arrested last year or give them bond hearings.
Last year, the government detained hundreds of Iraqi immigrants who were to be deported years ago because of criminal convictions.
Iraq until recently had refused to take them back but struck a deal with the US in March to repatriate its citizens, which led to the immigration sweeps.
The Iraqis, many of whom are Christian, and civil rights groups representing them sued the government.
US district judge Mark Goldsmith, in Detroit, Michigan, had halted the deportation of the Iraqis, who argued they would face persecution if they were sent back.
In his ruling on Tuesday, Mr Goldsmith said that any of the Iraqis held for six months or longer must be released or granted a bond hearing before an immigration judge within 30 days.
“Our legal tradition rejects warehousing human beings while their legal rights are being determined,” he wrote.
The government has tried to deport the Iraqis in its push for stricter immigration enforcement and force countries to take back citizens awaiting deportation.
Since June, immigration officers have detained about 300 Iraqi nationals with final deportation orders, the Iraqis’ lawyers told the court. There are about 1,400 Iraqis in the US with the orders.
But Mr Goldsmith noted in his order that the US had no written agreement over the deal and that it is therefore unclear whether Iraq had agreed to take back all its nationals, and if so, under what conditions.
He said his ruling would apply to Iraqi detainees in similar circumstances nationwide, even if they were not involved in the litigation.
“He really just reaffirmed the principle that indefinite detention in this country is not acceptable,” said Kary Moss, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which is representing the Iraqis.
The department of justice, which is arguing on behalf of the government, did not comment.