This is a resource page for Iraqi nationals facing deportation, their families, and attorneys who want to be part of the national effort to help them. This page was last updated 4/8/2019.
It is imperative that all Iraqi nationals with final orders of removal receive representation in immigration court and get individualized advice about their eligibility for immigration relief, based on current law and country conditions.
Hamama Case Background:
The Trump Administration has been making aggressive efforts to deport Iraqi nationals from the United States. This began in the spring of 2017 (with mass arrests on June 11, 2017). Since then, over 350 Iraqis with longstanding removal orders have been detained.
In a federal case in Detroit, Hamama v. Adducci, 912 F.3d 869 (6th Cir. 2018), reh’g denied 4/2/2019, [originally filed as Hamama v. Adducci, 2:17-cv-11910 (E.D. Mich.)], on July 24, 2017, the District Court granted a preliminary injunction against the deportation of any Iraqi nationals in the United States with final orders of removal as of June 24, 2017, and who have been or will be detained for removal by ICE, in order to allow time for such individuals to seek relief from removal by filing Motions to Reopen in their individual cases. This decision was reversed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 20, 2018. The petition for a rehearing was denied on April 2, 2019. The result is that there is no longer a stay of removal in effect; Iraqis with final removal orders face the possibility of immediate deportation. (Documents related to the Hamama litigation can be accessed at https://www.clearinghouse.net/detail.php?id=15895.) Attorneys representing Iraqi nationals with final orders of removal should immediately file a motion to reopen the case and a motion to stay removal.
Note: In a separate preliminary injunction, the District Court released all class members who had spent 6 months or more in immigration detention, holding that the government had not established that they were significantly likely to be removed in the reasonably foreseeable future. This order remains in effect.
For additional information on the status of the litigation, please visit the website of the ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/cases/hamama-v-adducci
For Iraqi nationals facing removal and their families who need legal assistance:
- Please fill out this form to help us coordinate representation.
For attorneys willing to help resist removal efforts or those already working on cases:
- Please fill out this form. If you’re already working on some of these cases, fill out the form and explain that, too; we’ll make sure to keep you updated on developments.
- Below is an embedded document with information for immigration counsel regarding Iraqi deportations; here is a link for a full-screen version.