IMMIGRATION: “A federal judge in Detroit temporarily blocked the deportation of more than 1,400 Iraqi immigrants with criminal records who were detained by federal immigration agents last month.
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith granted a preliminary injunction sought by attorneys for a group of Iraqis until they can make their case in immigration courts that their deportation would be illegal.
Lawyers for the immigrants, many of whom are Christians, have argued that their return to Iraq would subject them to persecution, torture and possible death. Attorneys for the federal government had argued that the district court had no jurisdiction in the case.
In a 35-page ruling issued late Monday, Judge Goldsmith said the court’s involvement was warranted by the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ of the case, including that more than 1,400 people suddenly learned they were to be deported. Many of those people had been sent to facilities across the country, complicating their legal defense, the judge added.”
-Kris Maher, “Judge Blocks Deportation of More Than 1,400 Iraqi Immigrants,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 25, 2017 12:16pm