An immigration judge ordered the deportation of 22 Iraqi Christians, or Chaldeans, who were at an Otay Mesa detention facility, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
Seven of those have already been removed. They’re among 27 Chaldeans who had been in immigration custody for the past six months at the Otay Mesa facility.
Five of the 27 face criminal charges for providing false information on their immigration applications. ICE officials transferred them into the custody of U.S. Marshals.
In June, local Chaldean activists organized a protest calling for the release of these Iraqi Christians, saying they had been detained for too long in their quest for political asylum in the U.S. The Chaldeans are an Iraqi Christian minority fleeing from the self-proclaimed Islamic State.
Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said fraudulent claims tie up the agency’s resources and add to the backlog of immigration cases.
“Investigating the fraudulent claims takes a long time, and ties up resources that would otherwise be used to assist in the processing of legitimate claims,” she said. “This adds to an already backed-up system.”
Four of the five Chaldeans facing criminal charges are among those with deportation orders, and will be removed from the country after their criminal cases resolve.
The false information they provided in their immigration applications includes aliases, lies about lawful status in other countries and more, according to the criminal complaints.
