A federal court judge has ruled that at least some of the Iraqi detainees held in custody by Immigration officials should be awarded bond hearings that could lead to their release.
US District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith issued his ruling in the Eastern District of Michigan on Tuesday.
Goldsmith wrote that the court is "establishing a process of individual bond hearings for all detainees entitled to them."
The ruling potentially applies to hundreds of people being held in federal custody, many of who were arrested in a sweep by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in June 2017.
They argue that, as Chaldean Christians, they face persecution, torture and possibility death if they are deported back to Iraq. Many of those being held are set to be deported because of criminal convictions in the past. Many even had orders in place for the deportation.
In his ruling, Goldsmith sites the lack of a repatriation agreement with Iraq as a reason for granting the bond hearings. He ruled that, because no official agreement exists for this class of defendants, the government cannot make the case that their return will be accepted by Iraq.
Goldsmith also writes that as some of the people affected by the order have been held for more than 6 months, the government cannot argue that they will quickly be returned to their country of origin.
