Michigan man with diabetes dies in Iraq after ICE deported him
This video is of Jimmy taken in Baghdad two weeks after his deportation. I’m sharing with permission from Jimmy’s lawyers. Jimmy has been in the US since he was 6mo old—he was born in a refugee camp in Greece to Iraqi Christian parents. RIP#JimmyAldaoud https://t.co/1182x6GRAY pic.twitter.com/KF8RUOtKiH
— Mari Manoogian (@MariManoogian) August 8, 2019
Forty years ago, Jimmy Al-Daoud, 41, came from Greece to the U.S. legally as a 6-month-old baby, along with his Iraqi Christian parents, who were refugees.
The Hazel Park resident struggled with mental illness, homelessness and was convicted 20 times of crimes such as stealing power tools, assault and marijuana possession. In 2005 and 2018, an immigration judge ordered him removed from the U.S. despite the fact he had lived in the U.S. almost his entire life.
On June 2, agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported him to Iraq after a federal appeals court decision in April opened the door for Iraqi deportations.
This week, Al-Daoud died in Iraq after struggling as a homeless man on the streets of Najaf and Baghdad to find insulin he needed for his diabetic condition, according to friends, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Michigan.
For the past two years, Iraqi-American Christian leaders in Michigan have said that deporting Chaldeans back to Iraq would be a virtual death sentence. Al-Daoud’s death on Tuesday has confirmed their fears, say advocates. [Continue reading…]