U.S. Continues to Lock up and Attempt to Deport Iraqi Christians

In 1993, Jony Jarjiss entered the United States on a temporary visa for fiancés of U.S. citizens. The relationship fell apart, and in 1994, an immigration judge ordered his removal for overstaying his visa. Iraq refused to accept him back, and so for 23 years, Jarjiss has checked in with immigration authorities. Then, due to a new deal with Iraq, the Trump administration arrested him in July 2017 and is now attempting to deport him. He is “terrified” of the persecution that he may face as a Christian upon his return and is attempting to reopen his immigration case. The government is trying to remove him before he has that opportunity.

During the campaign, President Trump promised Iraqi and Syrian Christians protection in the United States, and they rewarded him with their votes. Yet in March, the United States struck a bargain with the government of Iraq: President Trump would leave Iraq off his travel ban executive order in exchange for Iraq accepting 1,400 Iraqis subject to deportation orders.

The deal was strange considering the president argued letting in any Iraqis could let “dangerous people” enter. But in any case, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began rounding up Iraqis in June and has arrested 279 so far, about half of whom were ordered removed from the United States at least a decade ago. Most are Chaldean Christians like Jarjiss.

As their lawyers scrambled to find them legal representation to challenge their removals in immigration courts, the United States government began shipping them from Michigan across the country to 26 different states, obfuscating their efforts to obtain lawyers, and pressuring them to sign away their rights to challenge. ICE prison guards harassed Iraqis in what the ACLU alleges was a concerted effort to intimidate them. Jarjiss was shipped to Ohio.

Finally, in July, a federal district court judge temporarily blocked the removals in the case of Hamama v. Adducci. The judge’s order explains that the Iraqis’ efforts have “been significantly impeded by the Government’s successive transfers of many detainees across the country, separating them from their lawyers and the families and communities who can assist in those legal efforts,” and that these people are “confronting the grisly fate Petitioners face if deported to Iraq.” The order allowed Iraqis to file motions to reopen their removal cases in immigration courts.

Since July, immigration courts have granted 87 percent of all of these motions. In the 10 cases where judges have ruled on the merits, all received the right to remain the United States. Yet ICE continues to detain all of the others. In more difficult cases, it could take years for judges to reach the merits of the case, but ICE refuses to consider applications for release from Iraqis.

The ACLU is now challenging their continued detention. Under Supreme Court precedent, ICE cannot detain immigrants indefinitely. Their removal must be “reasonably foreseeable,” and the ACLU is demanding evidence that the removal would meet that standard. They also assert that prolonged detention requires an “individualized hearing before an impartial adjudicator.”

Most of these Iraqis were legal permanent residents, and they have already gone through immigration court proceedings at some point. Half received orders of removal at least decade ago. They lost their cases at that time. Some lost because they could not credibly claim a fear of persecution at that time; others because they lacked attorneys to represent them in court; others because they failed to apply for asylum in the time limit; and still others because they committed crimes that bar them from relief.

Until this year, the Iraqi government would only accept deportees with unexpired Iraqi passports, and it refused to issue new passports to those who the United States attempted to deport. The government has portrayed all of these people as serious criminal threats who need to be removed, but about 75 percent committed only nonviolent crimes years or decades ago. Even those barred from asylum still may have claims under the Convention against Torture. Some simply overstayed a temporary visa.

Moayad Jalal Barash who came to the United States when he was a young child served time for a drug conviction when he was 17. He is now 47 and has grandchildren in the United States. Another man served 2 years for a drug charge in 1987. Najah Konja has lived in the United States for 40 years and served time for a drug convictions decades ago. Jihan Asker paid $150 fine for a misdemeanor in 2003 and has not been arrested in 14 years since. Some like Jarjiss have no criminal history at all.

Regardless of the specifics, the U.S. government should not be attempting to thwart the legal rights of people. In 2017, the U.S. State Department described a “genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims” in areas of Iraq controlled by ISIS. Other credible reports of persecution by Shia militia against Muslims have surfaced. The United States should not deport nonviolent people to places where they could be killed.