ICE appeals federal judge's ruling halting deportation of 1,400 Iraqis

Michigan Live ^ | September 21, 2017 | by Gus Burns

[Oldeconomybuyer]

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday appealed a judge's ruling that halted the abrupt deportation of 1,400 Iraqi nationals nationwide, including 114 from Metro Detroit.

Nearly all of the Iraqi nationals, who are now waiting to learn their fates in detention centers, have outstanding and, in many cases, long-dormant deportation orders stemming from prior criminal convictions.

"The criminal history of these aliens includes convictions for homicide, rape, aggravated assault, drug trafficking, sex assault and many other types of offenses," Acting ICE Director Thomas D. Homan said in a statement after the deportation sweeps.

Each of the detainees had been ordered deported years ago, according to ICE, but were allowed to stay in the country under ICE supervision because of the dangers they could face in Iraq, particularly for religious minorities.

The arrests came, according to ICE officials, as a result of a March deal between the U.S. and Iraq in which the war-torn Middle Eastern nation agreed begin taking back immigrants ordered removed from the U.S.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit to halt what they called "death deportations." The ACLU argued that Chaldean Christians in particular were likely to be persecuted if sent back to Iraq.

[libertylover]

How did we ever get so many stupid federal judges?