A federal judge has temporarily halted the imminent deportation of nearly 100 Somali immigrants, after a number of the detainees sued the federal government following an ICE Air flight from hell:
A class action lawsuit claimed the Somalis were bound and shackled on an airplane for nearly two days, some urinating on themselves, during a botched U.S. deportation attempt that began Dec. 7.
U.S. immigration agents “kicked, struck, choked and dragged detainees” during the journey, and some of the Somalis were put in straitjackets.
U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles issued a three-page order setting a hearing Jan. 2 to review jurisdictional issues and said his order would remain in effect until a minute before midnight that day.
After the botched flight returned to the U.S. and ICE began initiating plans to reattempt deporting the detainees, a number of them filed a class action lawsuit against the federal government. Judge Gayles halted their mass deportation just hours before they were again to be placed on ICE Air:
“The judge acted just in time,” Rebecca Sharpless, lead attorney on the lawsuit and director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law, said Wednesday. ”The government confirmed that our clients would have been on a flight to Somalia” Wednesday morning if not for the order issued late Tuesday following a hearing by phone.
The lawsuit alleged that the government both prevented the detainees from accessing lawyers and that their treatment at the hands of ICE “violates government policy that bars deportation to war-torn countries.” Simply put, “inhumane” doesn’t begin to describe the humiliating and cruel ordeal they were subjected to, including being shackled as the plane parked on a tarmac in Senegal for nearly an entire day:
"As the plane sat on the runway, the 92 detainees remained bound, their handcuffs secured to their waists, and their feet shackled together," the lawsuit reads. "When the plane’s toilets overfilled with human waste, some of the detainees were left to urinate into bottles or on themselves. ICE agents wrapped some who protested, or just stood up to ask a question, in full-body restraints. ICE agents kicked, struck, or dragged detainees down the aisle of the plane, and subjected some to verbal abuse and threats."
The lawsuit details multiple alleged incidents in which ICE officials beat and abused the Somalis. One of those who was beaten, an Iowa man, says an ICE agent poked him in the eye after he asked to use the restroom. He says he might permanently lose vision in his eye. Another detainee reported being dragged down the plane's aisle by his collar, while others repeatedly said ICE officials threatened to beat or kill them.
Additionally, “the Somali nationals maintain they will be subjected to violence back home. The country has been besieged by militants from the Al-Shabaab terror group—the detainees said in court that the group intentionally targets people with Western mannerisms”:
Attorneys for the Somalis claimed “immigration circumstances have changed based on the U.S. government’s failed attempt to repatriate them to Somalia and the resulting international news attention, which now makes their return to Somalia unsafe,” Gayles wrote in his order.
Based on the special circumstances, he said, “A short stay of removal is warranted.”
The judge also ordered access to “adequate medical treatment” and “reasonable access” to attorneys.
ICE hasn’t disputed that the detainees were kept shackled for two days, but has denied many of the other claims, instead pointing out that many of the detainees have criminal records, like that’s supposed to make it fine to treat human beings worse than dogs. Calling the allegations "profoundly disturbing," Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison has called for an investigation:
Ellison, a Democrat who represents Minnesota's 5th District, home to a large Somali-American community, said constituents contacted him "to express grave concern about alleged human rights abuses of 92 Somali nationals while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in transit through Dakar, Senegal" from Dec. 7 to Dec. 9.
“We weren't allowed to use the bathroom or get out of the plane,” said detainee Rahim Mohamed, a diabetic who has lived in the U.S. since 2002. “I was not given the medication I need. I peed into a bottle, and then I peed on myself. It was a horrible thing, man. I thought my life was pretty much over.”