A federal judge on Monday ordered the U.S. government not to deport an Iranian immigrant who was arrested by ICE officers late last month on his way to a gym from his Yamhill County home.
U.S. District Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai of Eugene found the government’s June 24 arrest occurred “without a rational explanation.”
The man, identified in court records only as S.F., has been in the United States since August 1999, arriving on a visitor’s visa, and was under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement supervision.
He was scheduled for a regular check-in with ICE officials on July 7 when federal officers arrested him around 7 a.m. as he was driving to a fitness center without prior notice, according to his lawyer, Michael Purcell.
S.F. had faced removal proceedings in the early 2000s and sought relief by seeking asylum, according to court records. On Aug. 14, 2002, he was denied asylum but filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals. His appeal was dismissed on Jan. 2, 2004, and he became the subject of a final removal order, according to his lawyer.
For the past two decades, however, the government hasn’t followed through on the removal order.
He was detained in December 2005 in Tacoma, but ICE was unable to obtain a travel document to Iran for him and released him on supervision in April 2006, deportation officer Mihaela Hammer wrote in a court filing.
During his time in the United States, he married a U.S. citizen, has two U.S-born children and has been active in his local church, the judge said.
ICE officials said in court records that they arrested S.F. because he was a danger to the community, citing a 2023 first-degree theft conviction.
“The government’s purported reason for concluding he’s a danger lacks merit and credibility,” Kasubhai found.
He found no evidence that ICE acted to arrest S.F. or seek his removal from the United States before last month, almost two years after the theft conviction.
S.F. also would face irreparable harm if he were to be deported to Iran because he was raised as a Muslim but converted to Christianity in the United States and could face torture or execution for his religious choice if returned to Iran, Kasubhai said.
The State Department also has warned of the danger of travel to Iran by anyone with connections to the United States due to the risk of “terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, arbitrary arrest … and wrongful detention,” according to a travel advisory it issued this year.
Iran would be an “incredibly hostile and dangerous place for somebody in SF’s situation,” Kasubhai said.
“The public has an interest in protecting religious freedoms, preventing torture and unlawful executions in violation of the Convention Against Torture, maintaining family relations and ensuring due process,” Kasubhai ruled.
While Kasubhai granted a preliminary injunction and ordered the government not to remove S.F. from the United States, he did not order S.F.’s release from detention in Tacoma.
He said he plans to hold an evidentiary hearing next month on whether to grant S.F. ‘s full habeas petition seeking release from ICE custody.
In a hearing last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin T. Hickman argued that S.F. violated the conditions of his supervision by committing a crime.
Hickman also argued that S.F could have filed a motion with the Board of Immigration Appeals to reopen a challenge of his asylum denial but hadn’t done so. The appeals board, Hickman said, could consider a future motion “even if he was moved to Iran.”
But Kasubhai said that’s just not realistic.
If removed to Iran, “he won’t be coming back,” the judge said.
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