- Title: Adrift in Iraq: Deportees from U.S. describe fear and isolation
- Date: 25th September 2019
- Summary: BASRA, IRAQ (RECENT) (REUTERS) PASSPORT OF RETURNEE, HANI AL-BAZONI, READING (English/Arabic): "Invalid return passport" BAZONI HOLDING SOME PAPERS BAZONI TALKING TO REPORTER VARIOUS OF BAZONI'S UNITED STATES' IDENTIFICATION CARDS BAZONI'S ARMS SHOWING TATTOOS (SOUNDBITE) (English) IRAQI DEPORTEE, HANI AL-BAZONI, SAYING: "I was living in the United States for a long time, I get deported to Iraq and I don't know anybody over here, only I have couple of sisters and one brother, but everybody has own his life." BAZONI DRINKING WATER BAZONI'S SHOES AND BRIEFCASE SEEN ON FLOOR BAZONI SHOWING DEPORTATION ORDER BAZONI'S DEPORTATION ORDER (SOUNDBITE) (English) IRAQI DEPORTEE, HANI AL-BAZONI, SAYING: "I am afraid from a lot of people, they have militias here, they're against (you know) they know I come from the United States, whatever, maybe I will get targeted over here, you know what I mean?" TATTOOS ON BAZONI'S ARMS VARIOUS OF BAZONI SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (English) IRAQI DEPORTEE, HANI AL-BAZONI, SAYING: "I lost my kids, I lost my wife, I lost my freedom, I lost my work, I lost everything, all my life." VARIOUS OF BAZONI AND BROTHER AT HOUSE BAZONI AT HOME
- Embargoed: 9th October 2019 13:05
- Keywords: Iraq USA Deportations Travel Ban Deportees
- Location: BASRA, IRAQ / DEARBORN, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES
- City: BASRA, IRAQ / DEARBORN, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AY5P5CL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Since being deported from the United States in January, Hani al-Bazoni has spent most of the past eight months in a small room in the Iraqi city of Basra, waiting for his sister's daily visits.
Some days, he says, he struggles to get up from his mattress on the floor. On others, he looks at pictures of his wife and seven children, all U.S. citizens: his eldest is a cadet in the U.S. Marines, his youngest is three.
"I was living in the United States for a long time, I get deported to Iraq and I don't know anybody here," Bazoni said.
"I have couple of sisters and one brother, but everybody has own his life."
Bazoni is one of dozens of people of Iraqi origin deported from the United States since 2017, when Iraq agreed to take back its citizens with criminal convictions as part of a deal to remove itself from President Donald Trump's travel ban targeting people from several Muslim-majority countries.
U.S. congressmen, lawyers and human rights activists say Iraq, still riven by sectarian divisions 16 years after the U.S.-led invasion, remains unsafe for such returnees.
As a refugee in the 1990s, Bazoni moved to the United States, where he spent time in jail on assault charges. He also worked as a translator for the military. That job leaves him vulnerable in Iraq, where influential Iranian-backed militias oppose the presence of U.S. troops.
His family won't let him go outside, scared that paramilitaries might round him up.
Prior to 2017, Baghdad had refused to allow such repatriations, citing political, logistical and human rights concerns.
"I am afraid from a lot of people, they have militias here, they're against (you know) they know I come from the US, whatever, maybe I'll get targeted over here," Bazoni said.
Following the 2017 deal, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested hundreds of the 1,400 Iraqis eligible for deportation because they had criminal convictions, which would have prevented them from gaining U.S. citizenship.
It said at the time it was arresting people with convictions for violations from homicide to drug charges who had been ordered removed by an immigration judge.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued on their behalf. Though initially successful in stalling deportations, the case was overturned after appeals, and deportations picked up in April.
ICE said 61 Iraqis were deported in the year to Sept. 30, 2017, and 48 in the following 12 months. The ACLU said it had been told by ICE that 30 Iraqis have been deported so far in 2019. Many of the more than 370 arrested since 2017 now await deportation.
Neither the authorities in Baghdad nor the White House responded to requests for comment for this story. The State Department referred questions to the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS and ICE did not respond to requests for comment.
(Production: Mohamed Atti, Maher Nazeh, Mohamed Katfan) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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