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A judge ruled that ICE and NARA must maintain records of detainee deaths and sexual assault.
Three watchdog groups sued NARA after it approved ICE s plan to destroy records.
The organizations won arguing that records had a historical value for research.
A federal judge on Friday ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the National Archives and Records Administration must preserve records relating to sexual assault, abuse, and detainee deaths because of their research value.
The legal publication Law & Crime first reported the court s ruling Friday. The ruling, from the Obama-appointed Judge Amit P. Mehta, offered his analysis of the Federal Records Act.