Nearly half of the 27 Iraqi Christians the Obama administration has been holding for the past six months at an ICE detention center in Otay Mesa, California, are set to be deported in coming weeks, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Monday.
An immigration judge ordered their removal in the last two weeks, ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack said. She declined to provide specific information about why the immigrants are being deported and where they will be taken.
Immigrants who face deportation are typically returned to the country where they were living before entering the United States. It’s likely that most of the Iraqis will be deported to such countries as Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, where many United Nations refugee camps are stationed.
If those nations send these Christians back to Iraq they will face almost certain death.
The 27 Iraqi Christians — also known as Chaldeans — have been detained in Otay for about six months as their immigration cases proceeded, activists and family members told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The Chaldeans were detained by immigration authorities after they attempted to cross the U.S.-Mexico border through the San Ysidro Port of Entry without documentation several months ago.
Iraq emptied of its ancient Christian community
Iraq is home to one of the most ancient Christian communities, evangelized by the Apostle Thomas not long after the time of Jesus. It was home to 1.5 million Christians under Saddam Hussein but after the U.S. invaded in 2003, al-Qaida started bombing churches and kidnapping prominent Christian leaders. The attacks became more fierce after al-Qaida in Iraq morphed into ISIS and the country has been virtually emptied of its Christian population since then.
Estimates now range from 200,000 to 300,000 Christians remaining in the country, mostly in Baghdad and in Kurdish-controlled areas to the northeast.
Many of Iraq’s historic churches, some dating back to the second and third century after Christ, have been destroyed or converted to mosques. Others sit empty.
Read more at https://www.wnd.com/2015/09/obama-set-to-deport12-iraqi-christian-refugees/#jv8qeHRhcBkxhKyy.99