A U.S. judge on Thursday halted the deportation of 114 Iraqi immigrants arrested in Michigan over the past few weeks, saying they could face persecution or torture if they were sent back to their home country.

U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith said the Iraqis, arrested this month as the Trump administration works to increase immigration enforcement, would be allowed to stay in the country for at least another two weeks as he determines if the courts have jurisdiction over the deportations. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action petition on behalf of the detainees last week to urge the courts to halt the deportations, calling them illegal and saying they would put the Iraqis in extreme danger. The ACLUs petition notes many of those arrested are Chaldean Christians who would face brutal persecution in Iraq.

While Goldsmith has yet to fully rule on the petition, his temporary stay cited the potential for loss of life should the deportations go forward without an orderly court process.

Irreparable harm is made out by the significant chance of loss of life and lesser forms of persecution that Petitioners have substantiated, Goldsmith wrote in his ruling Thursday. The public interest is also better served by an orderly court process that assures that Petitioners invocation of federal court relief is considered before the removal process continues.