BOSTON (AP) - A federal judge has ordered immigration officials to appear in court for a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s practice of targeting for deportation immigrants seeking to become legal U.S. citizens through marriage.

Judge Mark Wolf ordered officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be prepared to testify Thursday about their decision to continue to detain six people named in a 2018 class action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The civil rights group says federal regulations allow certain spouses of U.S. citizens to remain in the country while they try to obtain lawful immigration status. The ACLU said ICE released three people of the six people Thursday evening.

The immigrants named in the suit were arrested by ICE during marriage interviews required by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

An ICE spokesman didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC.