(CNN) -- A federal judge temporarily blocked the deportation of any Iraqi nationals in the United States Monday, setting a two week stay on their deportation cases, according to the judge's order.
Last week, Judge Mark A. Goldsmith temporarily blocked the deportation of over 100 Iraqis in Michigan by granting a 14-day stay of removal. The ACLU filed an amended complaint Saturday asking the judge to protect Iraqi nationals nationwide, not just those under the jurisdiction of the Detroit ICE office.
The judge did so, citing harm to the petitioners in his order and noting "such harm far outweighs any interest the government may have in proceeding with the removals immediately." Of the 1,444 Iraqi nationals currently in the United States, 85 have been detained and face removal as early as Tuesday, the judge's order said.
The ACLU and some Iraqi nationals originally filed a petition on June 15 requesting a stay of removal for any Iraqi detained under the jurisdiction of the Detroit ICE office. Four days earlier, 100 Iraqi nationals had been detained.
ICE has arrested 199 Iraqi nationals since May; 114 of them from Detroit, according to its press secretary Gillian Christensen.
A 14-day temporary stay was granted last week for all Iraqi nationals under the jurisdiction of the Detroit ICE office.
