U.S. Steps Up Deportations To Iraq, Despite Worsening Violence There

National Public Radio ^ | December 28, 2019 | Jane Arraf

[Zhang Fei]

The apartment in Baghdad where Jimmy Aldaoud lived — and died, just two months after being deported from the U.S. — has been cleaned and emptied. But on the windowsill in the bedroom, there's a remnant of the fear he felt about being sent to a country where he'd never been: two plastic toy pistols with orange foam tips and bright pink suction-cup darts.

"He would sleep with these in his hands," says Samir Kada, another deportee from the U.S. who lives next door and looked out for him. "He said, 'If anybody comes, I'm going to pull it on them. I swear to God.' "

Like Samir Kada and other deportees, Shimary has visible tattoos, uncommon in Iraq. He says mosques refuse to let him in.

"They tell me I'm not welcome because tattoos signify bad character," he says.

He loves his pet dog, but that's caused trouble for him too. People in his neighborhood tell him dogs are religiously unclean and he fears she will be poisoned. "She is all the friends and family I have here," he says.

Shimary, who used to play chess with Jimmy Aldaoud back in the U.S. while they were both in ICE detention, is a U.S.-certified mechanic. But he has struggled to find work in the south and is afraid to take a job in Baghdad or farther north, areas he thinks would be even more dangerous.

Back in the U.S., he had an auto body shop. His partner and son, who recently turned 5, are still there. The two visited him in Baghdad last year, but Shimary believes it's too dangerous in Iraq for them to return. He's hoping to find a way to resettle in another country with his family. For now, he relies on video calls to his son

[Williams]

I guess we deport people for no reason. Not.

[JBW1949]

So????

They were NOT deported for no reason....

[Drango]

Can we just defund NPR?

Answer is no. The GOP dominated Senate just gave “Public Broadcasting” a $20 million RAISE! ie an INCREASE in funding.

[NobleFree]

Committing the felonies Americans won’t commit:

Aldaoud [...] served time for convictions in a series of criminal charges over the course of two decades.

Shimary [...] was convicted of an assault on his brother-in-law in Michigan. He spent three years in prison.

[DIRTYSECRET]

I liked the criminal diabetic who had no access to insulin in the old country. He’s gone.

[shanover]

NPR can suck it.

[JudyinCanada]

In 2017, the Trump administration ordered stepped-up deportations of Iraqis convicted of felonies who were in the U.S. legally but had not become citizens.

Those darn felonies. They’ll get you every time. Imagine how lovely and safe it is in sanctuary cities.

[aquila48]

We are doing them a favor getting them out of this Islamophobic, racist country. NPR should be rejoicing.

[Cold Heart]

Retired president of NPR said that NPR was a liberal echo chamber.

[Zhang Fei]

[Committing the felonies Americans won’t commit:

Aldaoud [...] served time for convictions in a series of criminal charges over the course of two decades.

Shimary [...] was convicted of an assault on his brother-in-law in Michigan. He spent three years in prison.]

---

Basically, their parents were asleep at the wheel. They should have gotten naturalized, upon which their kids would automatically have been naturalized. Alternatively, if the parents really did not want to become US citizens, they should have ensured that their kids, who had grown up stateside, were naturalized when they reached 18 years of age. Neither event occurred. Inattentive parents coupled with delinquent kids. Article on the diabetic who died:

https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/04/10/homeless-man-arrested-for-stealing-power-tools-from-garage/

[Terry L Smith]

Good! They do not belong here.

[decal]

I’d rather “despite” were “because.”

[Crucial]

Is violence getting worse in Iraq? I haven’t heard that.

[Vehmgericht]

The tears I shed fell on my keyboard causing a shortage. This caused a fire in which three infants upstairs were burned to death.

[Zhang Fei]

[Is violence getting worse in Iraq? I haven’t heard that.]

---

Demonstrations are ramping up, and ~500 demonstrators have been killed, with ~15,000 injured. This might be the prelude to a coup and/or civil war. That’s the nature of regime transitions - things remain unsettled for a good long while, as various power players duke it out to the point of exhaustion, followed by decades of peace. Afghanistan may start looking better than Iraq soon.

[tomkat]

If you’re here legally, you don’t get deported.

So, no actual problem .. just more National Public Ripoff agitprop.

[Sacajaweau]

So go to Iran....

[Crucial]

I also read there were air strikes against a civilian contractor, American troops and Iraqi security forces. Then I read a comment about Iranians taking over security of our embassy in Iraq per the outgoing Iraqi PM??

[rawcatslyentist]

Boo Hoo! All mohomicidals should be deported from all civilized nations!