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Eugene

(62,658 posts)
Wed Jul 17, 2019, 04:12 PM Jul 2019

Iraqi Christians facing deportation feel conned by Trump: 'You vowed to protect us'

Source: The Guardian

Iraqi Christians facing deportation feel conned by Trump: 'You vowed to protect us'

Trump administration wants to deport more than 1,400 Iraqi nationals, most of who are Chaldean – Iraqi Catholics who saw Trump as a ‘savior’ but now feel ‘betrayed’

Tom Perkins in Detroit
Wed 17 Jul 2019 07.00 BST
Last modified on Wed 17 Jul 2019 17.52 BST

Ten years ago, police caught the Iraqi Chaldean immigrant Rani Yousuf with a small amount of marijuana. He completed probation, paid fines, and the conviction was dropped from his record when he turned 21.

Still, earlier this year, Yousuf found his car surrounded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers who arrested him again over the charge. He sat for months in a Michigan county jail facing the prospect of deportation to Iraq, a country he left at four years old. He has no family there, doesn’t speak Arabic, and is part of a religious minority targeted by extremists.

“As a Catholic who has tattoos of crosses, and Iraq being a Muslim country – they probably would kill me,” he said.

Yousuf is one of over 1,400 Iraqi nationals who the Trump administration is attempting to deport. Most of those are Chaldean – Iraqi Catholics – living in metro Detroit, which holds the world’s largest Chaldean population outside of Iraq.

The administration’s deportation efforts are viewed by many Chaldeans as a shocking “betrayal”, not least because many in the community have been enthusiastic supporters of Trump and voted for him in large numbers in 2016.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/17/iraqi-christians-face-deportation-conned-trump
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Iraqi Christians facing deportation feel conned by Trump: 'You vowed to protect us' (Original Post) Eugene Jul 2019 OP
That was your mistake voting for trump. He got your votes and now wants to get rid of you. notdarkyet Jul 2019 #1
If he's deportable, Igel Jul 2019 #4
Give him enough time, he'll betray everyone that ever supported him. tanyev Jul 2019 #2
Trump lied? guillaumeb Jul 2019 #3
Bush and Cheney did the same dance. Wellstone ruled Jul 2019 #5

Igel

(36,087 posts)
4. If he's deportable,
Wed Jul 17, 2019, 04:44 PM
Jul 2019

he can't vote.

Plus Xians, even under persecution in Iraq, get no special perks. We had that particular preference battle and handily won it.

tanyev

(44,517 posts)
2. Give him enough time, he'll betray everyone that ever supported him.
Wed Jul 17, 2019, 04:17 PM
Jul 2019

I just don’t know if the country can survive that long.

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