LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- The government cannot threaten Iraqi detainees with indefinite detention or prosecution to get them to sign a document saying they want to leave the US.
That’s according to a federal judge in Detroit. The government is trying to deport the Iraqis, who say they face persecution or death if they return to Iraq.
ACLU attorney Miriam Aukerman says the detainees are being denied legal assistance.
“If you were going to be asked to sign a document that could take you away from your family forever, that could take you to a country where you are in grave danger, if you are being told you need to sign that document, you would want to have a lawyer look at it first.”
The order also says the ACLU can ask 33 Iraqis who have signed whether they did so under duress. If so, the ACLU would use that to fight their deportation.
A total of about 130 detainees are being held at jails and detention centers across the country.