The arrests of Iraqi Christians in south-eastern Michigan by US immigration officials turned out to be one of the first roundups of people from Iraq who have long faced deportation.
Last Monday a federal judge stopped the upcoming deportation of 1,400 Iraqis, defending people from both immigration authorities and prosecutors in their native country. The US district judge Mark Goldsmith’s solutions provides the Iraqis time to appeal their deportation cases in court with temporarily block on the deportation effort.
Many of detained immigrants are members of the Chaldean Christian minority and compared coming back to Iraq would be a “death sentence” because Islamic State have targeted religious and ethnic minorities as well as Iraqis considered as “western interests”.
In March 2016, there was proclaimed a genocide in Iraq against Christians and other minorities.
“Each petitioner faces the risk of torture or death on the basis of residence in America and publicized criminal records,” Goldsmith said. “Many will also face persecution as a result of a particular religious affiliation.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has said the district court should not have jurisdiction over the cases and that appeals should be settled in immigration courts. On the other hand, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) do not support this block, stating on district court should not have jurisdiction over such issues and they should be settled in immigration courts.
In respond, The US district judge Mark Goldsmith wrote that this position was incoherent with constitutional defense and “ignores the compelling confluence of extraordinary circumstances presented”.
“While cost and efficiency in administering the immigration system are not illegitimate governmental concerns, such interests pale to the point of evaporation when weighed against the potential lethal harm petitioners may suffer,” the judge said.
