The deportation of a man who says he’s been held illegally at the Cumberland County Jail for eight months has been halted by a federal judge.
The ACLU of Maine filed a habeas corpus petition on behalf of 44-year-old Eyidi Ambila last week.
U.S. District Judge John Woodcock said Tuesday it’s not clear whether the Democratic Republic of Congo would accept Ambila, who’s considered stateless.
According to CBS 13 news, ACLU Staff Attorney Anahita Sotoohi says the country denied his return after he servied prison time for a previous felony charge in 2002 because there’s no documentation of his birth.
Ambila finished serving a sentence for two misdemeanor charges, including domestic violence assault, in September and was then immediately transferred to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the jail.
