Iraqis in US sue to prevent their deportations | Daily News

Iraqis in US sue to prevent their deportations

A group of women react as they talk about family members seized on Sunday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a rally outside the Mother of God Catholic Chaldean church in Southfield, Michigan, US on Monday.
A group of women react as they talk about family members seized on Sunday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a rally outside the Mother of God Catholic Chaldean church in Southfield, Michigan, US on Monday.

US: Iraqi immigrants sued the US government Thursday to avoid deportation following raids last weekend in the Detroit area, saying they feared religious persecution if sent home.

The raids targeted more than 100 people -- mostly Chaldean Christians, but also Shiite Muslims and Christian converts, advocates said.

Most have lived in the US for decades and fear being targeted by extremists should they be sent back to Iraq.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the immigrants targeted in the weekend raids all had criminal records.

Seven of the detainees participated in the class action lawsuit asking a federal court in Michigan to halt the deportation process for all of those arrested.

“Not only is it immoral to send people to a country where they are likely to be violently persecuted, it expressly violates United States and international law and treaties,” said Kary Moss, head of the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit on the detainees' behalf. The weekend raids sent chills through the sizeable community of Chaldean Christians in the Detroit area, who comprised the majority of those arrested.

“We have seen a number of families who are completely shaken up, in particular kids who are missing a parent,” Nathan Kalasho, a Chaldean Christian who operates a charter school in the Detroit area, told AFP prior to the lawsuit being filed. - AFP

 


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