Trabelsi v. Crawford, et al. – Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Detention and Inhumane Treatment of Acquitted Man

In 2013, Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian national, was forcibly extradited from Belgium to face criminal charges in the United States, where he spent nearly 10 years in solitary confinement awaiting trial. In July 2023, he was cleared of all charges by a federal jury. Yet, instead of allowing Mr. Trabelsi to return to Belgium, the United States government transferred him to immigration detention, wrongly treating him as an ineligible applicant for admission and subject to deportation proceedings. Despite the Belgian government’s multiple formal diplomatic requests to facilitate his return to Belgium, in conformity with Belgian court orders, the federal government has made clear that it intends to deport Mr. Trabelsi to Tunisia, where he is likely to face torture. In an immigration proceeding in which the ACLU is not counsel, an immigration judge ruled that the government could not deport Mr. Trabelsi to Tunisia because he faced a high risk of torture there; the government has appealed that ruling to the Board of Immigration Affairs.

On August 28, 2024, the ACLU, with co-counsel from the ACLU of Virginia and the University of Chicago Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and complaint for injunctive relief on Mr. Trabelsi’s behalf. This lawsuit challenges the government’s authority to detain Mr. Trabelsi as an ineligible applicant for admission to the United States, arguing that the U.S. government must return Mr. Trabelsi to Belgium immediately. The lawsuit argues that his detention violates the U.S.-Belgium Extradition Treaty, U.S. immigration law, and the Constitution. It also seeks immediate improvements to Mr. Trabelsi’s detention conditions.

On December 2, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that the court does not have jurisdiction to decide whether the government can continue to detain Mr. Trabelsi. This ruling means that the United States will continue to hold him in immigration detention as it continues its attempt to deport him to Tunisia.