Detroit judge puts freeze on deportation of Kurds, Chaldeans in US

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A federal judge has temporarily halted the deportation of over 1,400 Iraqi nationals, many of whom are Chaldean, Kurdish, and Yezidi (Ezidi) living in the US for many years. 

US District Judge Mark Goldsmith issued a stay of removal Monday night for the Iraqi nationals who were at risk of immediate deportation in early June as part of a deal between the US and the Iraqi government.

The stay will affect about 85 immigrants who were recently arrested and expected to be sent back to Baghdad this week.

“As a result of recent negotiations between the US and Iraq, Iraq has recently agreed to accept a number of Iraqi nationals subject to orders of removal,” Gillian Christensen, a spokeswoman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said at the time.

Acting on that arrangement, ICE arrested scores of Iraqis across the country, setting off protests in Iraqi immigrant communities, particularly among Detroit’s large Chaldean Christian population.

Immigration rights groups said federal authorities were ignoring the risks of deportation for some of those who might have previously faced persecution in Iraq.

Goldsmith granted a request by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last week to halt the deportation of 114 Iraqis swept up in the Detroit metropolitan area, many of them Chaldeans.

His decision Monday expands the stay to include all Iraqis with final orders of removal nationwide.

The verdict gives individuals and their families an additional two weeks to file requests to reopen their cases in immigration courts.

The ACLU said it had requested the court’s action on behalf of “all Iraqi nationals in the United States with final orders of removal, who have been, or will be, arrested and detained by ICE as a result of Iraq’s recent decision to issue travel documents to facilitate US removal.”

The immigration attorney argued Iraq was too dangerous and that serious safety concerns “entitle them to an opportunity to reopen their claims for asylum or protection under the Convention Against Torture, due to changed country circumstances.”

ICE pointed out the would-be deportees included men who were convicted of violent assault, drug charges, and other serious crimes.

However, it was previously highlighted some had already served their sentences.

Some of the arrests took place in Michigan’s Macomb County, which Trump won by 53.6 percent in the 2016 Presidential race, backed by many in the Iraqi Christian community.

Wisam Naoum, a Detroit attorney and Chaldean community leader, said they now had to find lawyers and file individual court motions, describing it “a race against time.”

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Supreme Court allowed a limited version of Trump’s ban on travelers from six mostly Muslim countries, not including Iraq, to take effect.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany