The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled 2-1 Thursday that the district court lacked jurisdiction over the removal and detention claims raised to prevent the deportation of Iraqi nationals.

This decision affects the deportation of Iraqi nationals who committed criminal offenses while in the US. Prior to 2017, Iraq did not facilitate repatriation efforts, leaving these individuals under the supervision of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Since then, eight Iraqi nationals have been deported and arrangements made for 200 more deportees. The arrest of these 200 individuals by Immigration and Customs officials in preparation of deportation initiated the case before the district court in Michigan.

The majority in the appeals court argued that not only was the district court acting out of its scope of jurisdiction when it halted the removal of Iraqi nationals, but case law “unambiguously strips federal courts of jurisdiction to enter class-wide injunctive relief for … detention-based claims.”

In a dissent by Circuit Judge Helene White, she explained that the District Court rightfully exercised its jurisdiction as “protection against the executive action of removal is within the recognized scope of habeas.” Furthermore, the Iraqi nationals are seeking an exercise of their statutory rights to reopen their cases based on “claim[s] that [Iraq’s] conditions have changed since those orders were entered and that they face persecution, torture, and possibly death if removed to Iraq.”

Various human rights organizations are opposed to the decision.