Judge Ann Donnelly on Saturday night granted a request from the American Civil Liberties Union to stop deportations of those who were on their way to the US as Trump’s order took effect.

The 100 to 200 detainees, including at least 10 at Kennedy Airport, will not be released immediately. But for now, they also will not be sent back to where they came from.

Donnelly issued her order after ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt stated that at least one person at JFK was being put on a flight back to Syria as the hearing commenced.

That led the judge to ask aloud if the Trump administration could assure that the people about to be deported would not suffer irreperable harm.

Susan Riley, a civil lawyer who works in the Brooklyn US Attorney’s office, couldn’t answer the judge’s question.

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"This has unfolded with such speed that we haven’t had any opportunity to address any of the issues, the legal issues of the status of anyone who may be at the airport,” Riley said.

"If they had come in two days ago we wouldn’t be here. Am I right?” Donnelly asked.

The judge noted that the government did not argue that the detainees posed any risk.

The government hasn’t shared the names of those detained and won’t let ACLU lawyers see all the detainees, ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said.

The ACLU insisted the detainees posed no risk. "It’s not as if these people weren’t vetted, they were just caught in transit. They were in a horrible position,” said Gelernt..

Donnelly’s decision came in a class action lawsuit filed in Brooklyn federal court earlier Saturday. Hundreds of people gathered outside the courthouse in downtown Brooklyn, and a few filtered in to the courtroom to attend the hearing.

The detainees may find themselves in government detention for several weeks at least. Further proceedings in the case are set for next month.