A federal judge in Detroit has ordered the government to provide immigration files to Iraqis being detained while they fight deportation, the detainees have been held for months while they wait on their records.
The detainees need their files to get their cases re-opened in immigration court.
Miriam Aukerman is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. She says hundreds of detainees were being held with no end in sight while the federal government dragged its feet in providing the records.
“People are literally in jail because there’s a line at the photo-copier.”
She says the next step is to ask the judge to let the detainees return home while they fight to remain in the US.
“It’s already been three months that these individuals have been kept away from their children, unable to work, unable to go to their jobs, and there’s no reason why they can’t be doing all of those things while the legal process takes its time.”
She says the detainees were being held with no end in sight while the federal government held on to their immigration records.
“The judge has now put the government on a schedule to produce the documents that people need to fight their cases in immigration court, so that’s very important.”
The files must be turned over on a schedule that runs between October 16th and November 27th. The detainees will then have three months to ask immigration authorities to re-open their cases. The Iraqi Christians say they face persecution and torture if they are returned.
The ACLU says the next step is the ask the government to allow to detainees to return to their homes while they fight deportation.