By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A federal judge in Colorado on Wednesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting the wife and five children of the suspect in a fire-bomb attack in Boulder, Colorado.
U.S. District Court Judge Gordon Gallagher said in an order that deporting the family without adequate process could cause “irreparable harm.”
Lawyers representing the family of the Egyptian national charged with tossing gasoline bombs at a pro-Israeli rally in Colorado on Sunday sued the U.S. government on Wednesday, seeking to win the family members’ release from custody and block their deportation, according to court documents.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Colorado, said that Hayam El Gamal, the wife of the suspect in the attack, “was shocked to learn that her husband (Mohamed Sabry Soliman) was arrested for having committed a violent act against a peaceful gathering of individuals commemorating Israeli hostages.” The suit called for the family to be released while they seek asylum in the U.S.
“…It is patently unlawful to punish individuals for the crimes of their relatives. Such methods of collective or family punishment violates the very foundations of a democratic justice system,” a filing said.
While the White House said the family would be deported through a fast-track process known as expedited removal, the lawsuit stated the family would not be subject to that process because they have resided in the U.S. for more than two years.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson; Additional reporting by Ryan Jones and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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