Immigrant Activist Ravi Ragbir Can Stay in U.S. Until Court Decides on His Appeal

A panel of three federal appeals court judges in Manhattan granted Ragbir a stay of deportation. This followed arguments from both sides on Monday.

The unanimous decision is a good sign for Ragbir because the judges had to consider the likelihood he would prevail on the merits of his main case. This stay is just until they decide on that matter and it's not known when they'll make their ruling.

Ragbir is appealing a decision earlier this year by a federal judge, who dismissed his claim that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tried to deport him in January because of his activism. 

On Monday, his attorney argued the First Amendment protects non-citizens from retaliatory deportation. But the government said ICE wants to deport him because of a felony conviction for wire fraud. 

Ragbir claims if that was true, he would have been removed a long time ago. His conviction was almost 18 years ago and he was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Afterwards, he was allowed to remain in the U.S. by checking in periodically with ICE. 

In January, Ragbir was detained when he went to a check-in at the Federal Building in Lower Manhattan. A federal judge in Manhattan later found ICE didn't give him enough notification and ordered his release.

Neither the government nor Ragbir's attorneys had any immediate reaction to Thursday's court decision granting the stay. In August, Ragbir sought a preliminary injunction that would have protected him from deportation until his entire First Amendment case played out, but a different panel of appeals court judges denied that request.

Ragbir has a separate case in a New Jersey federal court, where he's seeking to vacate his conviction for wire fraud. He cannot be deported, under a separate stay, while that case is pending. It's not known when a decision will come in that case.