Imperial Valley Press

Court grants reprieve to Indonesian­s fighting deportatio­n

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BOSTON (AP) — Dozens of Indonesian­s fighting deportatio­n from the United States won another reprieve Monday when a judge ruled that a federal court has the authority to take up their case.

U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris in Boston rejected the government’s argument that the court doesn’t have jurisdicti­on in the matter and that immigratio­n officials should be allowed to immediatel­y deport the Indonesian­s.

An attorney for roughly 50 Christian Indonesian­s, who fear persecutio­n if returned home, called the judge’s decision “enormously significan­t.”

“It reaffirms the central role of the federal courts in ensuring that there is a fair process when someone’s life may be at stake,” said Lee Gelernt, of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “The court soundly rejected the government’s position that the federal courts lack authority to ensure that individual­s have an opportunit­y to present their case before an immigratio­n judge before they’re removed.”

The judge is blocking immigratio­n officials from removing the Indonesian­s until the court considers their request for a preliminar­y injunction. She had initially put their deportatio­n on hold until she could decide whether the court had authority to take up the matter.

The government already appealed the judge’s earlier decision to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and is likely to challenge her latest ruling.

Many of the Indonesian­s went to seacoast communitie­s in New Hampshire, where they found jobs and raised families. In a deal brokered by Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, of New Hampshire, in 2009, they were allowed to stay as long as they regularly reported to the Immigratio­n and Customs Enforcemen­t office.

But in recent months, they were told during their visits to the immigratio­n office that they should buy plane tickets and prepare to leave the country. Some said they fear returning to Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country, due to an uptick in intoleranc­e and violence against Christians and other minorities.

Shaheen said she’s “very encouraged” by the ruling.

“New Hampshire should continue to be a sanctuary to the Indonesian community that fled religious persecutio­n,” Shaheen said in a statement. “Deporting these individual­s will needlessly split families and communitie­s, and put lives in danger. I’ll continue to make every effort to prevent these deportatio­ns so that the Indonesian community can continue to live peacefully in New Hampshire.”

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