Just a few miles from the U.S.-Mexican border, the descendants of one of the oldest Christian communities in the world wait to be delivered from purgatory -- and live in fear of being returned to hell.
Just a few miles from the U.S.-Mexican border, the descendants of one of the oldest Christian communities in the world wait to be delivered from purgatory.
They came from Iraq and say they only want to practice their faith, free from the threat of ISIS. But for several months, 28 Chaldean Christians have had to pray behind the barbed wire fences of San Diego’s Otay Detention Facility, captives of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and facing deportation. A dozen have already been ticketed for removal.
“In Iraq, they only had three choices: convert to Islam, death by the sword or leave the country,” said Mark Arabo, head of the Minority Humanitarian Foundation. “They’ve refused to convert, escaped slavery and death – only to be imprisoned by our broken immigration system.
“These aren’t people who woke up one day and said, ‘Let me walk to America.’ They were forced out of their homes because of our inaction in the region. Because of our troop withdrawal. These are people who were sentenced to death because of our involvement in the country.”
They escaped near-certain death, but not the U.S. court system.
“The disheartening thing is it seems that our border is open to anyone unless you’re a Christian fleeing genocide"
- Mark Arabo
Of the 28 Chaldeans currently in custody, 12 have been ordered removed by an immigration judge, according to ICE. The deportations have not yet occurred and the countries that would receive the 12 have not been publicly identified.
One of the 28 has been criminally charged in federal court with providing false information on an immigration application, ICE said. Reta Marrogi, also known as Zina Hornes Oraha Delli, was allegedly granted asylum in Germany, according to the criminal complaint, but said she had not received lawful status in any country on her official Application for Asylum.
“The disheartening thing is it seems that our border is open to anyone unless you’re a Christian fleeing genocide,” said Arabo, a self-described Democrat whose parents came to the U.S. from Iraq in 1979.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/06...der-in-asylum/