The American Civil Liberties Union and other human and civil rights organizations filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday against the Trump Administration for what it describes as the unconstitutional, indefinite detention of immigrants fleeing persecution and seeking asylum. And it's using a detainee in New Jersey to make its case.

The suit says a man identified only as N.J.J.R. was beaten in his native Venezuela because he opposed the government. He arrived in the United States in October seeking refuge, but after he declared asylum he was detained as his case was adjudicated. Though N.J.J.R. proved to asylum officers that he had a credible fear of persecution, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not release him on parole to a sponsor, who had offered to give him a place to stay. He is still being held at Essex County Jail.

In fact the ACLU said 100 percent of detained asylum seekers in New Jersey were denied parole from February to September of last year — a sharp departure from past practice. ACLU said the Newark field office of ICE is among the toughest in the nation in withholding parole. John Tsoukaris, director of the Newark field office, was named in the suit.

The ACLU alleged that ICE is following a "deterrence policy" — subjecting those waiting for asylum to harsh punishment in order to deter other immigrants from making similar journeys to the United States. The ACLU argues that asylum seekers should be released on parole while their cases are reviewed if they pose no danger nor flight risk, in accordance with Department of Homeland Security policy and the U.S. Constitution.

"The data suggests that, as a result of the Deterrence Policy, more than a thousand individuals in the last year have been unlawfully deprived of their liberty for nothing more than seeking refuge in a nation that has provided it to countless others since its founding," according to the suit.

In a statement, ICE indicated that its parole practices have not changed: "As a matter of policy, we do not comment on pending litigation. However, lack of comment should not be construed as agreement or stipulation with any of the allegations. In DHS's homeland security mission, our trained law enforcement professionals adhere to the Department's mission, uphold our laws while continuing to provide our nation with safety and security."

The ACLU teamed with Human Rights First, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies and Covington and Burling law firm in filing the suit.