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from Immigration News Briefs
Vol. 9, No. 23
On June 14, federal judge John Gleeson of US District Court for
the Eastern District of New York, in Brooklyn, handed down a 99-
page ruling in Turkmen v. Ashcroft, a class-action lawsuit
against US government officials, brought by Muslim immigrants
detained after Sept. 11, 2001. Gleeson rejected the government’s
motion to dismiss claims concerning conditions of confinement,
and agreed that the plaintiffs can sue over their abusive and
unconstitutional treatment. That decision means top federal
officials, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft and
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Robert S. Mueller
III, will have to answer to those accusations under oath. Gleeson
rejected the government’s argument that the Sept. 11 terror
attacks justified extraordinary measures to detain noncitizens
who fell under suspicion, or that top officials needed special
immunity to be able to combat future threats without fear of
being sued.
However, Gleeson also ruled that the government has broad
discretion to enforce immigration laws selectively, based on a
person’s religion, race or national origin, and to detain
noncitizens indefinitely, for any reason, after an immigration
judge has ordered them removed–as long as their removal is
“reasonably forseeable.” Gleeson admitted that if such profiling
were “applied to citizens, our courts would be highly
suspicious.” The Center for Constitutional Rights represented the
detainees and plans to appeal. [New York Times 6/15/06; CCR
“Turkmen” Summary 6/16/06]
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