Univ. of Minnesota, others, file lawsuit to block
deportation of Somalis on aborted ICE flight, by Ann Corcoran 12/22/17
Remember the news we reported here, here and here about that flight filled with Somalis being deported from
the US.
Well, they are back on US
soil and a large cadre of lawyers are working overtime to see that they don’t
get deported anytime soon.
(CNN) – A Florida judge has issued a temporary stay of deportation for
92 Somali immigrants who, according to a class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday,
were subjected to “inhumane conditions and egregious abuse” during a failed
deportation effort by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
U. of Miami law professor Rebecca
Sharpless contends that Somalia is too violent to send them back. Then please
tell us why so many Somalis (who are supposed to be refugees here) travel back
and forth to Somalia regularly? Sharpless bio is here: http://www.law.miami.edu/faculty/rebecca-sharpless
The order signed Wednesday by District Judge Darrin Gayles prohibits
the Somalis involved in the case from being deported and requires ICE to
provide medical treatment for any injuries they might have sustained.
In their lawsuit filing, the seven
plaintiffs representing the Somalis allege deplorable conditions during their
nearly two-day deportation journey earlier this month.
The deportees boarded an
ICE-chartered plane in Louisiana bound for Somalia on December 7. However, the
plane made it only as far as Dakar, Senegal, where it then sat on the runway
for almost a day before returning to the US.
In a statement at the time, ICE said
the plane returned to the US because of logistical issues and the flight would
be rescheduled.
“The aircraft, including the
detainees and crew on board, remained parked at the airport to allow the relief
crew time to rest. During this time, the aircraft maintained power and air
conditioning, and was stocked with sufficient food and water,” the statement
reads.
The lawsuit alleges that the
plaintiffs were shackled “at their wrists, waist and legs” for the entire trip.
The suit was filed jointly by the University of Minnesota Law School,
the University of Miami School of Law, Legal Aid Service of Broward County and
Americans for Immigrant Justice. It
asks the court to reopen the immigrants’ removal cases, arguing that deporting
them to Somalia would endanger their lives. It also asks the court to prevent
their deportation until they are able to seek treatment for injuries sustained
during the December 7 flight and to ensure that abuses will not take place on
another flight.
Rebecca Sharpless, a professor at the University of Miami School of Law
who is director of the school’s immigration clinic, said that due to the
escalation of violence in Somalia by the group al-Shabaab, as well as
far-reaching news stories about the deportation flight, the individuals would
be in danger if they returned.
More here. A hearing is scheduled for January 2nd.
I have a hard time believing that
ICE agents acted in the way they are portrayed in the lawsuit. And, there is
something very strange about the decision to fly back to the US. Where did they
get a rested flight crew for that trip?
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