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DETROIT (AP) — The Latest on Iraqi nationals whose deportations were suspended but remain in custody (all times local):
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3:25 p.m.
A federal judge in Detroit has heard arguments about whether to release hundreds of people whose deportations to Iraq were suspended but who remain in custody.
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith said at the end of Wednesday's hearing that he'll issue a written ruling, but he didn't say when.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocates argue that the detainees, including many Christians who fear being tortured or killed if deported, deserve to be with their families as their cases wend through the system. Government officials say most of the detainees have committed crimes in the U.S. and must be deported now that Iraq will accept them.
Goldsmith blocked the deportations of 1,400 people in July to allow time to challenge their removal. Roughly 300 are jailed or in detention centers.
He's also considering a government request to dismiss a lawsuit filed on the detainees' behalf and the detainees' motion to certify the lawsuit as a class-action.
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1 a.m.
A federal judge in Detroit is mulling whether to release hundreds of people whose deportations to Iraq were suspended but remain in custody.
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith, who'll hear arguments Wednesday, blocked the deportation of 1,400 people in July to allow time to challenge their removal in immigration court. About 275 are jailed or in detention centers in roughly two dozen states.
Government officials say the detainees have committed crimes in the U.S. and must be deported now that Iraq will accept them. Advocates say the detainees — many of whom are Christians who fear being tortured or killed if deported — deserve to be with their families as their cases wend through the system.
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