For years, Saddam’s thugs tortured Sami Alkarim, an Iraqi artist because he was considered subversive. Now thanks to the Patriot Act and other ridiculous laws passed after 9/11 our government is denying Mr. Alkarim permanent residency in the land of the free and the home of the brave. He’s considered a terrorist by the Department of Homeland Security. Why? Read for yourself (via McClatchy)
WASHINGTON — Almost every day for three years, prison guards at one of Saddam Hussein’s most notorious prisons tortured Sami Alkarim.
Now, in a cruel twist of fate, the accomplished Iraqi artist is being treated like a terrorist by the U.S., the country where he sought refuge.
U.S. officials have told him they can’t give him permanent residency in Denver because of messenger work he did as a teenager for the same political party that counts the current prime minister of Iraq as a member. […]
The broad language of the Patriot Act and other laws bars refugees and asylum seekers from living and working in the U.S. if they supported or were members of an armed group in their homelands. They’re considered terrorists or supporters of terrorists even if they opposed dictators or helped the U.S. government. […]
Previously, immigrants who were denied a green card after being given asylum were told they wouldn’t be deported. Officials said their cases would eventually be resolved.
However, the DHS began recently sending some immigrants letters informing them that the agency intends to revoke their asylum. As a result, they’d be deported. […]
Some of the most startling stories involve Iraqis — some of whom have worked for the U.S. government under threat of death and now could have even more to fear as U.S. troops are redeployed.
In one recent case, a middle-aged Iraqi mother of two teenagers was deemed a terrorist and barred refuge in the U.S. despite her work for the State Department as an economic development adviser.
Anna, as she is known by her American colleagues, is seen as a supporter of terrorism because of her work for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, a mainstream Iraqi political party that the current president of Iraq belongs to. She’s no longer active in the party.
Anonymous callers have warned her that they’d take revenge for her work for the U.S. government.
Mr. President, you have it in your power to stop these travesties of justice. We should not be deporting brave men and women who helped us back to the very same countries they fled to save their lives, and which may very well condemn them to a virtual death sentence upon their return, merely based on laws that were sloppily drafted and shamefully passed by Congress at the height of the panic following September 11. “Anna” and Sami Alkarim are just two examples from Iraq. There are thousands of others, from dictatorial African regimes such as the ones in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia to Asian countries like Nepal and Burma. That these people are considered terrorists under the arcane and frankly over broad legalese of Bush era anti-terrorism laws is ridiculous, and would be laughable were the consequences these individuals face not so deadly serious.
Please, I beg of you, Mr. Obama, do not deport these people. Do not let the DHS bureaucracy created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks label innocent people, many of them, like “Anna,” who provided aid and assistance to the US government, terrorists. Give all of them a fair chance to prove they are entitled to waivers, waivers you have the power to grant, so that they can remain in America and not risk death by deportation.
And Congress must also amend these laws so that these travesties of justice can be halted and future ones prevented. Do you hear me Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid? Sure, there are lots of things on Congress’ plate, but this isn’t a controversial matter. It shouldn’t be a bipartisan issue. It ought to be something that both republicans and democrats can agree upon. A famous artist like Salim Alkarim who was imprisoned by Saddam Hussein for his “subversive artworks” shouldn’t have to bear the burden of being named a terrorist merely because he was once acted as a messenger for a political party of which the current Iraqi Prime Minister is a member.
As Lt. Colonel Army Dennis Chapman, an Army officer who headed up a military transition team in Kurdish Iraq, and worked with Anna said about Anna being labeled a “terrorist” under US law:
“It deprives the word ‘terrorism’ of any meaning.”
Yes it does, sir, yes it does.
