The ACLU was in a Detroit courtroom Monday seeking an order to protect a group of Iraqi detainees from threats and coercion from immigration agents. Capital Bureau Chief Rick Pluta has more.
The government and the ACLU agreed immigration officers should not threaten detainees with prosecution unless they sign a statement that could make it easier to deport them.
The statement says an Iraqi native is voluntarily seeking to return. The ACLU wants the detainees to be informed they can refuse to sign the statement without fear of prosecution. It also wants to the chance to ask 33 detainees who’ve signed statements if they were threatened or coerced into doing so.
The ACLU says many of the detainees are Christians who face persecution if they are returned.