The Washington Post offers a chilling story about the Trump administration moving forward with deportations of Detroit area Chaldeans – Iraqi Christians – who have lived in the U.S. for decades but committed crimes when they were young.
The new policy has sent shock waves through the Chaldean community, particularly in the suburb of Sterling Heights, as some contemplate going into hiding to dodge ICE officers.
The Post reports that on April 19 eight Iraqis were sent back to their native land by federal authorities and more deportations are in the works.
Those who were flown to Baghdad included people convicted of robbery, assault, smuggling and other drug offenses, according to ICE.
The Iraqis who face deportation do not have visas to live in the United States, many of them having lost their green cards because they were convicted of crimes. They fall into a cohort of people President Trump has targeted for removal from the country, regardless of their nationality.
Many Chaldeans, it appears, have been living in the United States for years since first receiving a deportation order. Martin Manna, one of the most prominent Iraqis in metropolitan Detroit and president of the Chaldean Community Foundation, said many of those without legal status have lived respectable lives for many years while keeping their circumstances quiet.
Among the estimated 350 Chaldeans at risk of deportation, Manna said, is a 46-year-old local businessman and Little League baseball coach.
Abigail Hauslohner of the Post points to the deep sense of irony that arises from the Chaldeans’ anxiety.
The community supported Donald Trump by large numbers in the November election and they applauded his proposed Muslim travel ban. Now, they’re distraught over the administration’s enforcement actions at the same time that they find themselves sharing their fears with Iraqi Muslims, who mostly live in the Dearborn area.
Divisions between Christian and Muslim Iraqis have simmered for years in the tri-county area as the minority Chaldeans point to a long history of violent persecution their people have faced at hands of Islamists in the homeland.
When a mosque planned for Sterling Heights last year was blocked by the city – though later allowed by a court settlement – Chaldeans emerged among the loudest opponents at a series of demonstrations and public hearings.
With ICE moving forward aggressively with deportations, local Shiite Iraqis who fled Saddam Hussein’s murderous regime offer personal stories with similarities to the Chaldean’s dismay. For both groups, there is no going back.
A 30-year-old Shiite whose family fled Iraq when he was 2 told the Post his longstanding deportation order stems from a marijuana-possession conviction at age 17.
“You’re sending me to another country,” he said. “. . . I don’t speak like them, I don’t dress like them. I have nobody in Iraq.”
Photo: Chaldean Community Foundation
