A U-S District judge in Seattle ruled the federal government's attempts to deport people to Somalia illegal. The historic decision not only continues a ban on deportations to the East African country, it also certifies a nationwide class of Somali petitioners. This new class-action status allows all Somalis, not just the individual plaintiffs, to be represented in the deportation litigation. The Seattle ruling relied heavily on an order issued by a federal judge in Minneapolis last March that declared the United States cannot deport people to a country that has no government capable of receiving them. Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, and human rights advocates say those returned to the country face torture and death. Kevin Magnuson is an attorney on Minnesota's Somali deportation case. He says the decision to give Somalis class status is a major milestone.