(CNN) A federal judge blocked the Trump administration Thursday from transferring to another country an American citizen who has been accused of fighting for ISIS and who has been held by US forces in Iraq for months.

The order, issued by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, says the Department of Defense is "hereby enjoined from transferring petitioner from US custody."

US government lawyers had entered a filing Tuesday, saying the government planned to transfer the detainee, identified in court documents only as John Doe, to the control of a foreign country, the name of which had been redacted.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the detained US citizen, opposed the transfer and requested that Chutkan block it.

The ACLU praised the judge's decision in a statement Thursday, saying the detainee's transfer would have denied "him the opportunity to win his freedom from a US court."

Read More</s>An American captured in Syria and suspected of working with ISIS forces there cannot be transferred out of U.S. custody, a federal judge in Washington ruled Thursday evening.

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a preliminary injunction blocking a U.S. plan to transfer the prisoner, currently being held by American forces in Iraq. The name of the country the detainee was facing transfer to was redacted from the public version of court filings, but he is known to be a U.S.-Saudi dual citizen, and it appears his likely destination was Saudi Arabia.

Chutkan's rationale for the injunction, issued following a court hearing this morning, was not immediately released.

However, the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the unnamed prisoner, hailed Chutkan's decision as vindication of the right of an American citizen not to be transferred to a foreign government against his will when no charges are pending against him.

“This ruling is a victory for the rule of law,” ACLU attorney Jonathan Hafetz said. “The court is rightly protecting this U.S. citizen’s constitutional rights and checking the Trump administration’s excessive claims of executive power. The government cannot do whatever it pleases with a U.S. citizen without judicial review and a basis in law. ... After over seven months of imprisonment, the government should either charge or release him. That’s how our justice system works.”

A Justice Department spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec, said officials are studying the judge's ruling.

"We are evaluating our options," Kupec said.

Justice Department lawyers argued that delaying or rejecting the transfer would damage the ability of U.S. officials to negotiate prisoner transfers in the future.

U.S. officials say the detainee was turned over last September by Syrian Democratic Forces. Initial reports called the prisoner an ISIS fighter, but later court submissions were short on evidence that the individual had actually fought with ISIS. There were indications that he'd explored military tactics and was aligned with ISIS philosophy.

However, he also claimed to be a journalist and was traveling with press credentials of dubious provenance.

Chutkan, who is an appointee of President Barack Obama, issued an order in January requiring the U.S. government to provide 72 hours notice before transferring the prisoner out of American custody. Justice Department lawyers filed such a notice Monday and were promptly confronted by a motion from the ACLU to block the transfer.</s>WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday blocked the government from transferring an American citizen accused of fighting with Islamic State militants to Saudi Arabia, meaning he will stay for now in a U.S. military detention facility in Iraq.

The Trump administration has been holding the unidentified citizen without charge since he surrendered on the Syrian battlefield more than seven months ago. The detainee’s legal quandary has become a test case for how the government should treat U.S. citizens picked up on the battlefield and accused of having ties to IS extremists battling America and its allies.

The man, who once lived in Louisiana, was being detained as an enemy combatant. Court documents filed by the government say that when he surrendered to U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, he was carrying thumb drives containing thousands of files. There were 10,000 or more photos — some depicting pages of military-style manuals. There also were files on how to make specific types of improvised explosive devices and bombs.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing him, claims he was in Syria to chronicle the conflict and was trying to flee the violence when he gave himself up in September. The ACLU claims the government has not provided any evidence that he took up arms against the United States and notes that he was imprisoned by the IS group. The detainee said he had press credentials to do freelance writing about the conflict in Syria, though the FBI says it hasn’t found any published articles or blogs he wrote.

The government notified the court this week that it wanted to transfer him to a third country. The government did not name the country, but a U.S. official told The Associated Press that he was slated to be transferred to Saudi Arabia, where he has dual citizenship. The official was not authorized to discuss the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The ruling was a victory for the ACLU. Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney for the group, argued that any transfer would violate the detainee’s constitutional and legal rights because the government has not charged him or proved that it legally detained him in the first place.

“The government cannot do whatever it pleases with a U.S. citizen,” Hafetz said following the ruling. “After over seven months of imprisonment, the government should either charge or release him. That’s how our justice system works.”

The ACLU’s challenge to the legality of his detention is still pending in federal court. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that the government cannot transfer him without a subsequent order from the court.

In morning open and closed court sessions, it was clear that Chutkan was not embracing the government’s argument to transfer him.

She said the government was asking her to allow the U.S. to send an American citizen who has not been charged with a crime to another country. She said there was no indication as to when or if the receiving country would ever release him.

The government acknowledged that the receiving country could continue to hold the detainee for as long as it determined was necessary.

James Burnham, a lawyer representing the government, said that the receiving country has a strong interest in the detainee and that U.S. relations with the nation could be harmed if the transfer is not allowed to go through.

“It’s not release if you are just giving him to another jailer,” the judge said.

The government claims presidential authorities as well as congressionally approved war powers written after 9/11 provide the legal basis to hold the detainee as an enemy combatant linked to the IS group. The ACLU argues those war powers pertain to al-Qaida and the Taliban and don’t apply in the battle against IS.

In an earlier ruling, the judge ordered the government to provide 72 hours’ notice before transferring him. She issued her ruling Thursday about 15 minutes before the 72 hours was set to expire.</s>A federal judge blocked the Trump administration Thursday from transferring to another country an American citizen who has been accused of fighting for ISIS and who has been held by US forces in Iraq for months.

The order, issued by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, says the Department of Defense is "hereby enjoined from transferring petitioner from US custody."

US government lawyers had entered a filing Tuesday, saying the government planned to transfer the detainee, identified in court documents only as John Doe, to the control of a foreign country, the name of which had been redacted.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the detained US citizen, opposed the transfer and requested that Chutkan block it.

The ACLU praised the judge's decision in a statement Thursday, saying the detainee's transfer would have denied "him the opportunity to win his freedom from a US court."

"The ruling is a victory for the rule of law," ACLU attorney Jonathan Hafetz said. Following the order, Justice Department spokesperson Kerri Kupec told CNN, "We are evaluating our options." A spokesperson for the Pentagon referred questions about the case to the Department of Justice. in the government's Tuesday filing, a deputy assistant secretary at the State Department argued that an order from the court prohibiting or delaying the transfer "would undermine the United States' credibility with an important foreign partner that has agreed to this request regarding [redacted], including as a demonstration of its commitment to and value of [redacted] bilateral relations with the United States." in the government's Tuesday filing, a deputy assistant secretary at the State Department argued that an order from the court prohibiting or delaying the transfer "would undermine the United States' credibility with an important foreign partner that has agreed to this request regarding [redacted], including as a demonstration of its commitment to and value of [redacted] bilateral relations with the United States." In a sworn statement included in the government's Tuesday filing, a deputy assistant secretary at the State Department argued that an order from the court prohibiting or delaying the transfer "would undermine the United States' credibility with an important foreign partner that has agreed to this request regarding [redacted], including as a demonstration of its commitment to and value of [redacted] bilateral relations with the United States." The detainee is a dual US-Saudi citizen and has been held as an enemy combatant in Iraq since September, when he was turned over to American forces by a US-backed militia fighting ISIS in Syria. US-backed fighters in Syria have captured hundreds of foreign fighters during their battle against ISIS. However the detention of US citizens has proven rare. Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, which oversees US forces in the region, told Congress last month that the Syrian Democratic Forces currently hold approximately 400 foreign terrorist fighters. On Thursday the Pentagon told CNN that one of those captured fighters was Mohammed Haydar Zammar, a Syrian-born German national linked to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.</s>NEW YORK—The Pentagon has decided to transfer an American being held as an enemy combatant to a foreign country after months of detention in a secret military facility in Iraq, according to a partly redacted court document made public on Tuesday.

The unnamed man, who was captured in September by Syrian opposition fighters and transferred to U.S. custody, is a dual U.S.-Saudi citizen. Court documents didn’t indicate whether the prisoner will be moved to Saudi Arabia or another country as part of the plan.</s>Federal Judge Blocks U.S. From Transferring Citizen Held In Iraq To Another Country

A federal judge has blocked the U.S. government from transferring to another country an American citizen who has been held without charge by the U.S. military in Iraq for more than seven months.

U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan issued the preliminary injunction Thursday evening, minutes before an 8 p.m. deadline to stop the transfer. The government had provided 72-hour notice, as required by the court, earlier this week that it planned to send the man, whose name has not been made public, to a third country.

The detainee is a dual U.S.-Saudi citizen who surrendered in September of last year to a Syrian militia backed by the United States. The militia handed him off to the American military, which has held him as an enemy combatant at a U.S. military facility in Iraq since then.

The government suspects the man of being a member of the Islamic State.

In court papers, the government says that the man was carrying more than $4,000 when he was taken into custody, as well as a GPS device and two thumb drives that held more than 10,000 photos, including ones depicting military-style handbooks and files on how to make roadside bombs.

The government also says the U.S. military obtained a thumb drive found by allies in Syria that contained information on foreign fighters in ISIS's ranks. That data included a document for a man who registered as a fighter with the terrorist group in July 2014. That individual's personal details match the detainee's, according to the government.

But the government has struggled to gather evidence that would be admissible in court and allow prosecutors to charge the man. Reluctant to release him, the U.S. has instead sought to transfer him to a third country, possibly Saudi Arabia.

In a court filing earlier this week, a senior State Department official said the U.S. had negotiated an agreement to hand over the man to a "receiving country." The country is a U.S. ally but its name was redacted.

The official argued that blocking the transfer "could cause harm to our ongoing bilateral cooperation, including on future detainee transfers."

But the detainee has made clear through his lawyers that he does not want to be transferred.

At a court hearing Thursday, attorney Jonathan Hafetz from the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the man, urged the judge to block the transfer, saying transferring the detainee against his will to another country would violate his constitutional right to challenge his detention.

"When it comes to the rights of a citizen, it's not 'let's make a deal,'" he said.

In her ruling late Thursday, Judge Chutkan did not immediately provide the reasoning for her decision. But at the morning hearing, she said she's mindful of the government's concern about the detainee, referred to as John Doe, saying the concern is "a real one, and not one I take lightly."

But, she added, "as serious as that may be, John Doe is a citizen."</s>WASHINGTON — The Latest on the fate of a U.S. citizen accused of working with Islamic State militants(all times local):

A federal judge is blocking the government from transferring an American citizen accused of fighting with Islamic State militants to Saudi Arabia until he can fully challenge his detention in court.

The U.S. military has held the unidentified citizen without charge in Iraq since he surrendered in Syria more than seven months ago.

The judge sided with the American Civil Liberties Union, which argued that the transfer would violate the detainee's rights and that the government has yet to prove that it is detaining him legally.

The U.S. says he was collaborating with the IS group. The ACLU says he was in Syria to chronicle the conflict.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled Thursday before a required 72 hours' advance notice of the transfer was set to expire.

A federal judge is weighing the fate of a U.S. citizen who has been accused of working with Islamic State militants in Syria, but never charged.

The U.S. military has held the unidentified citizen in Iraq since he surrendered on the Syrian battlefield about seven months ago.

The Trump administration wants to transfer him to a third country — presumably Saudi Arabia where he has dual citizenship.

But the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents him, wants the judge to block the transfer, saying the government hasn't proved that he was legally detained in the first place.

The court ordered the government to give 72 hours' advance notice of its intent to transfer him.

The ACLU wants the transfer blocked before the 72 hours expires at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday.</s>Federal Judge Blocks Transfer Of American Being Held In Syria

The U.S. is holding a dual American-Saudi citizen who was captured in Syria and is suspected of being a member of ISIS. The man has been held overseas for more than seven months without charge. The ACLU is challenging his detention in court.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday weighed the fate of a U.S. citizen who has been accused of working with Islamic State militants in Syria, but never charged.

The Trump administration has been holding the unidentified citizen at a U.S. military facility in Iraq since he surrendered on the Syrian battlefield more than seven months ago. The man, who once lived in Louisiana, is being held as an enemy combatant and the government now wants to transfer him to a third country — presumably Saudi Arabia, where he has dual citizenship.

Court documents filed by the government say that when he surrendered to U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, he was carrying thumb drives containing thousands of files. There were 10,000 or more photos — some depicting pages of military-style manuals. There also were files on how to make specific types of improvised explosive devices and bombs.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing him, claims he was in Syria to chronicle the conflict and was trying to flee the violence when he gave himself up in September 2017. The ACLU claims the government has not provided any evidence that he took up arms against the United States and notes that he was imprisoned by IS. The detainee said he had press credentials to do freelance writing about the conflict in Syria, although the FBI hasn't found any published articles or blogs he authored.

ACLU attorney Jonathan Hafetz has argued that any transfer violates the detainee's constitutional and legal rights because the government hasn't proved that it legally detained him in the first place.

"When it comes to the rights of an American citizen, it's not 'Let's Make a Deal,'" Hafetz told the court.

As required by the court, the government gave 72 hours' advance notice of its intent to transfer the detainee to a third country. The detainee could be moved to Saudi Arabia, where he has dual citizenship, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the issue and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

The ACLU wants the judge to block the transfer and hopes she will rule before the 72 hours expires at 8:06 p.m. Thursday.

Before the court adjourned to a closed session, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan appeared to side with the ACLU.

She said the government was asking her to allow the U.S. to transfer an American citizen, who has not been charged with a crime, to another country. She said there was no indication as to when or if the receiving country would ever release him.

"That's just more indefinite detention," she said.

"It's not release if you are just giving him to another jailer," the judge said.

The government acknowledged that the receiving country could continue to hold the detainee for as long as it determined was necessary. James Burnham, a lawyer representing the government, said the receiving country has a strong interest in the detainee and that U.S. relations with the nation could be harmed if the transfer is not allowed to go through.

The detainee's legal quandary has become a test case for how the government should treat U.S. citizens picked up on the battlefield and accused of fighting with IS militants.

"Given this individual's dual Saudi citizenship, and provided the U.S. has obtained appropriate humanitarian assurances, the judge may find a legal basis for the transfer," said Nate Jones, a former staff member of the National Security Council and founder of Culper Partners consulting group.

The government claims presidential authorities as well as congressionally approved war powers written after 9/11 provide the legal basis to hold the detainee as an enemy combatant linked to IS. The ACLU argues those war powers, known as the Authorization for Military Force, pertain to al-Qaida and the Taliban and don't apply in the battle against IS.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>WASHINGTON — A federal judge is weighing the fate of a U.S. citizen who has been accused of working with Islamic State militants in Syria, but never charged.

The U.S. military has held the unidentified citizen in Iraq since he surrendered on the Syrian battlefield about seven months ago.

The Trump administration wants to transfer him to a third country — presumably Saudi Arabia where he has dual citizenship.

But the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents him, wants the judge to block the transfer, saying the government hasn’t proved that he was legally detained in the first place.

The court ordered the government to give 72 hours’ advance notice of its intent to transfer him.

The ACLU wants the transfer blocked before the 72 hours expires at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
A US federal judge rules the Department of Defence cannot transfer an unidentified ISIS suspect with US-Saudi dual citizenship to an unnamed foreign country.