(MPRN-Lansing) Families of detained Iraqis facing deportation are waiting on word from a federal judge in Detroit. They’re hoping the detainees will be released while they wait for their immigration cases to be re-opened.
The roughly 300 Iraqi Christian detainees face deportation orders for criminal convictions, often many years old. They would like their cases re-considered because they say they face persecution if they are returned to Iraq.
Miriam Aukerman is an ACLU attorney. She says the families are hoping for a Christmas gift from the judge.
“He has the power to give these children what they so desperately want, to have their lives back, to have their families back, to have their dads put them to bed at night.”
The ACLU says it’s unconstitutional to hold the detainees indefinitely for immigration cases that could drag on for years unless the government can prove they pose a flight risk.
