Judge: Nonprofit legal groups can keep helping immigrants

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SEATTLE (AP) — A federal judge in Seattle says nonprofit legal groups around the country can keep assisting immigrants facing deportation, after a Justice Department decision threatened to curtail much of that work.

In April, the Justice Department told the Seattle-based Northwest Immigrant Rights Project that it cannot provide certain legal assistance to immigrants unless it undertakes formal representation of them in court. The organization and similar groups around the U.S. said the order would force them to give up preparing motions and other documents on behalf of immigrants who represent themselves.

U.S. District Judge Richard Jones issued a temporary order blocking the Justice Department’s restrictions in May. On Monday, he issued a more formal preliminary injunction, saying the restrictions would violate the groups’ rights under the First Amendment of the Constitution.