Iraqi Christians targeted for deportation face ‘death sentence’ in Iraq, lawyers say

“US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more than 200 Iraqi nationals who have been the subject of deportation orders following criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.

Iraqis are being swept up in immigration raids across the US and targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, in a crackdown attorneys and advocates described as a “death sentence” for members of Iraq’s Christian minority.

One hundred and fourteen people were detained in Detroit alone, most of whom are members of Iraq’s Chaldean minority – which, like other Christian groups, has been targeted for persecution by Islamic State and other jihadist groups.

Najah Konja, 55, who was arrested in Detroit on Sunday morning, immigrated to the US with his family in 1977. No other relatives remain in Iraq, according to his brother, Shoki “Steve” Konja.

“What is he going to do there?” Steve Konja, a US citizen, told the Guardian. “Basically, they are sentencing him to death.””

To read the full article on The Guardian, click here.