Attorneys for deportees on a Somalia-bound flight that returned to the United States after a Senegal layover gone awry this month have filed a federal lawsuit to prevent another attempt to deport them.

The suit on behalf of all 92 people on board, including more than a half-dozen from Minnesota, alleges “inhumane conditions and egregious abuse” aboard the flight, including beatings that resulted in injuries. It also argues that media attention to the flight’s uncommon return would make the deportees targets for the militant group Al-Shabab, which has lashed out against Somalis who have lived in the West.

The flight headed back to Florida after ICE said issues with a hotel in Dakar forced the aircraft to remain parked at the airport — with detainees and crew on board — to allow the relief crew time to rest.

The suit says the detainees on the botched flight experienced “extraordinary abuse” by ICE officers and contract guards, including being kicked, struck, dragged, choked and bound in straitjackets. Some suffered injuries to their heads, eyes, arms and legs.

They were shackled for more than 40 hours, including 23 hours on the tarmac in Dakar. They were denied access to the restroom and forced to urinate on themselves, the lawsuit claims. The suit includes sworn statements from seven detainees though it is unclear if any of them are from Minnesota. One of them, Farah Ibrahim, said that after waiting on the tarmac in Dakar for some time, he stood up and asked why they were still there.

“An officer grabbed me by the collar and I fell to the floor,” his statement said. “Officers began dragging me down the aisle and beating me.”

ICE said Tuesday it does not comment on pending litigation, but it has previously said allegations of mistreatment and injuries on board the flight are “categorically false.” It said all detainees were screened upon arrival in a Florida detention center by healthcare professionals, who noted no injuries. More than 60 of the detainees on board had criminal convictions, including homicide, rape and aggravated assault. The rest were ordered deported after unsuccessfully seeking asylum.

The University of Minnesota’s Center for New Americans, which declined to comment, filed the suit along with the University of Miami School of Law and two other Florida-based organizations.

“Ironically, it is ICE’s own botched deportation that landed the Plaintiffs/Petitioners on a tarmac in Senegal for 24 hours that has greatly increased the danger for these people,” the suit said in asking a judge to block the detainees’ deportations.

The flight’s return set off a scramble by attorneys locally to explore possibilities to leverage the opening and make fresh cases their clients should not be sent back to Somalia. On Friday, Judge Michael Davis temporarily blocked the removal of a local man who was on the flight, but only until a fellow judge in Minneapolis gives a full hearing to his case. The man — a legal permanent resident targeted for deportation after a string of felony and misdemeanor convictions — has asked the Board of Immigration Appeals to reopen his case.

Deportations to Somalia have increased steadily in recent years, jumping more markedly under the Trump administration. During the fiscal year that ended in September, the government deported 512 people to Somalia, compared with 198 the year before and about 30 five years earlier.

The increase triggered a letter by Minnesota’s DFL congressional delegation to the administration this past spring voicing concern about sending people back to a country racked by deadly terror attacks and drought. But some administration supporters have lauded its effort to pressure Somalia and other “recalcitrant” countries to accept more deportees, arguing the United States shouldn’t get stuck with deportees, including those with criminal records, until long-troubled countries regain an elusive sense of normalcy.

The new suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, highlights recent bombings in the capital Mogadishu, including one that killed more than 500 people, arguing that deteriorating security conditions there merit another look at the plaintiffs’ cases.

An earlier ICE statement said detainees received sufficient food and water and had access to bathrooms throughout.

“No one was injured during the flight, and there were no incidents or altercations that would have caused any injuries on the flight,” the statement said.