The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine is asking a court to release a Maine resident they say is being held unlawfully by ICE at the Cumberland County Jail.
Eyidi Ambila, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been in ICE custody since September, after completing a sentence for two misdemeanor charges.
Carol Garvan, with the ACLU, said ICE has stopped communicating with Ambila about his case, violating his due process rights.
“There’s been no movement to either remove him to his home country or another country, or release him. He is stuck in limbo in this indefinite detention,” Garvan said. “If due process means anything, it means that a government can’t imprison you indefinitely.”
According to court records, Ambila was ordered deported in 2007 following a felony conviction, but was not removed because the DRC has no record of his birth and has denied him travel documents.
The ACLU said that makes him effectively stateless.
