Iraqis in Michigan facing deportation reach possible agreement with Justice Department

In the summer of 2017, federal immigration agents swept across Michigan and other states to arrest hundreds of Iraqi immigrants with plans to deport them. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said at the time the detentions were of immigrants with criminal records who needed to be removed from the U.S. while some Iraqi Americans and civil rights advocates said the crackdown was an example of overzealous immigration enforcement during the presidency of Donald Trump.

Now, a possible agreement has been reached that could bring to an end the seven-year dispute involving about 1,400 Iraqi immigrants that drew national attention amid a fiery debate over immigration. Attorneys with the ACLU Michigan, which filed a lawsuit in 2017 against federal agencies over the detentions and deportations, said last week they have reached a tentative agreement with Justice Department attorneys representing ICE and the Department of Homeland Security. A hearing for the settlement is set for July 31 before U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith of the Eastern District of Michigan.

On Tuesday, a proposed class action notice was filed with the federal court in Detroit that explains who qualifies for the settlement. The notice said the settlement will apply to Iraqi nationals in the U.S. who had a final order of removal from the U.S. government between March 1, 2017 and June 24, 2017. There were about 1,400 Iraqi nationals in the U.S. with final orders of removal whom ICE was trying to deport. There are a number of details in the agreement that explain the various terms.

The proposed settlement would not halt deportations of Iraqi nationals, but puts restrictions on their detention, which could help keep them free as their cases are adjudicated.

"The settlement limits why, when and for how long Iraqi nationals in the class (of plaintiffs) can be detained during and after removal proceedings," the ACLU Michigan said on its website explaining the proposed agreement. "The settlement also provides other protections, like limiting what counts as a violation of an order of supervision."

However, the proposed "settlement does NOT affect your individual immigration case, or your ability to challenge removal," the ACLU said. "The settlement also does NOT limit the government’s ability to remove you to Iraq if you lose your immigration case."

Miriam Aukerman, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Michigan, told the Free Press "the settlement will give people notice in most cases before the government can detain them for removal, which will allow them time to file motions to reopen. But it does not restrict removal itself. The settlement also limits when and how long people can be detained."

Many of the Iraq immigrants detained are still in custody while others have been freed, and some were deported. In one of the cases that drew outrage, Jimmy Al-Daoud, 41, who had lived in the United States since he was a 6-month-old baby, was deported and then died on the streets of Iraq as a homeless man who didn't know Arabic and the customs of a country he never lived in. Al-Daoud had struggled with mental illness, diabetes and being homeless in Michigan. He had been convicted 20 times of crimes such as stealing power tools, assault and marijuana possession, which is why he was deported.

But ICE officials defended their actions, saying the people arrested "all ... had criminal convictions for crimes including homicide, rape, aggravated assault, kidnapping, burglary, drug trafficking, robbery, sex assault, weapons violations and other offenses."

ICE said the detentions came about after the U.S. government had reached an agreement in 2017 with Iraq's government to remove the Iraqi nationals.

Usama (Sam) Hamama, 60, of West Bloomfield, was the lead plaintiff in the ACLU's case against ICE. Hamama served a couple of years in prison after being found guilty of threatening someone with a gun during a road rage incident in 1988. In 2018, then Gov. Rick Snyder pardoned Hamama and four other Iraqi immigrants the U.S. wanted to deport. Hamama became a U.S. citizen in 2020.

The married father of four said he supports the proposed settlement.

“It is time to close this case and provide our immigrant population with a clear and fair process for staying in this country,” Hamama said in a statement from the ACLU . “Everyone deserves a chance to live out their American Dream."

The ACLU won initially at the district court level, but then lost on appeal a couple of times after the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of ICE in December 2018 and in 2020, saying the Iraqis could be deported and detained.

The case at times became a political issue given that many of those detained were part of the Chaldean, Iraqi Catholic, were supportive of Trump. In January 2020, Trump suggested at a campaign stop in Warren he would try to help those facing deportation.

To read the full agreement, click here and to read the ACLU's explanation of the agreement, click here. Those needing more information can contact their attorney or email the ACLU: hamama@aclumich.org.

Those plaintiffs who object to the proposed settlement have until July 17th to file a complaint with the court.

Contact: Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@freepress.com or X @nwarikoo

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Iraqis in Michigan facing deportation reach possible agreement