No. of Recommendations: 4
Were these people not detained and imprisoned before they were deported? If they weren't at least detained, how were they kept between the time they were picked up (presumably by ICE) and the time they were forced to board a plane to a destination they may or may not have known? If they weren't detained, they would be free to leave, right?
Or am I just using the wrong term?
It's not the relevant term. Habeas corpus is used to challenge the legality of your detention, but there does not appear to be any dispute over whether these folks were lawfully detained. At least for Garcia Abrego, he had already been adjudicated to be in the country unlawfully. He wasn't supposed to be deported without a removal order, but he was always subject to being detained.
If you're here illegally - or even if you've lawfully applied for asylum - the government can always choose to detain you until the completion of your immigration hearings. They don't, because that would be a phenomenal waste of resources. But they could.
