Thread: 'US Gov't Targeted Me for Helping Christians Escape Iraq'

'US Gov't Targeted Me for Helping Christians Escape Iraq'

A lawyer for refugees has been found guilty of helping clients lie on their applications. He says the gov't pressured his clients to testify against him.

Thu, May 19, 2016

A lawyer who helped Assyrian Christians escape persecution in Iraq and reach asylum in the U.S. has claimed he is being targeted by an administration that prioritizes Muslim asylum seekers over Christian ones. He faces up to 35 years imprisonment.

DeKelaita is from Kirkuk himself and came to the U.S. at age 11. Over the past decade, he has focused on helping Assyrian Christians in Iraq escape growing persecution from Islamist extremists.

“The decline of the Christian community is something that didn’t only start in 2003,” DeKelaita told FoxNews.com. “This annoyed a lot of judges, a lot of people. But I refused to ever give up on cases, because I understood what was going on in

Iraq, unlike a lot of officials who only went by policy.”

He was found guilty of helping asylum seekers falsify their applications in order to gain entry to the US. The court found he had coached clients to exaggerate the extent of the persecution they faced and make up stories in order to gain access to the US.

“Evidence at trial revealed that from approximately 2000 to 2011, DeKelaita prepared and submitted asylum applications that contained material lies, including tales of rape, murder, torture, kidnappings, bombings and other forms of religious oppression in the Middle East,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Zachary Fardon said in a statement. “As a result, several of DeKelaita’s clients were granted asylum and eventually permanent residency and citizenship status.”

The prosecution’s testimony relied on nine former clients of DeKelaita who told the court he helped them lie to gain asylum.

DeKelaita says his former clients were pressured into testifying against him and did so because they feared they would be deported. He said the case against him began after he lodged a complaint against immigration officials for favoring Muslim over Christian asylum seekers.

Within the Assyrian community, he is regarded as a hero.

“We are infuriated that one of our leaders was targeted for helping people escape the horrors of Iraq and Syria,” Ramon Michael, a board member of the nonprofit Assyria Foundation told FoxNews.com. “The Assyrian community worldwide has been watching this case. What do you think our opinion of the U.S. government will be if they insist on ruining a man who has earned the utmost respect and gratitude of his people worldwide?”

Ramsin Benjamin, executive director of the Assyrian American Chamber of Commerce concurred. “For many, Robert was the light at the end of a dark tunnel. He fought valiantly and advocated for the Assyrian community both in and outside of the courtroom.

“To pick on a group like Assyrian Christians that have not committed any acts of terror – but for the most part are rather law-abiding, peaceful contributors to American society – is absurd.”

A campaign in support of Robert DeKelaita has been set up with a website and Facebook page and is running a campaign to try and secure his release.

“The Assyrian community urges the Department of Justice to reconsider the charges against Mr. DeKelaita” a petition on the sitereads. “It is indisputable that the Assyrians in Iraq have endured seemingly endless violence as a result of Islamic extremism. Drawing the legitimacy of an Assyrian Christian’s asylum claim into question is not only wrong—it is insulting.”

'US Gov't Targeted Me for Helping Christians Escape Iraq'

This man deserves whatever punishment he gets. I'm a Christian too, but I can't tolerate a liar. Regardless of his reasoning and purpose, there is no excuse for a lawyer to act in an unethical manner. This is the kind of man that gives folks a negative image of the law profession.

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Suburban attorney indicted for falsifying asylum requests

Sep 23, 2014


Immigration attorney Robert DeKelaita (right) leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after being indicted on charges of falsifying requests for asylum for several clients. (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune)



Jason Meisner and Dan Hinkel Contact Reporters Tribune reporters

In a bid to win asylum, indicted atty. Robert DeKelaita would falsify names, birthdays, and family histories



A north suburban immigration lawyer known for advocating on behalf of Iraqi Christians now faces federal fraud charges alleging he falsified more than a dozen asylum requests, some of which detailed phony claims of religious persecution by Islamic extremists in Iraq.

On Tuesday, Robert DeKelaita, 51, and an interpreter who has worked with him, Adam Benjamin, 61, were arrested and federal agents raided the attorney's Morton Grove office, authorities said. The two appeared in Chicago federal court later in the day and pleaded not guilty before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly ordered them freed on recognizance bonds.

The indictment alleges that between 2000 and 2011, DeKelaita, of Glenview, and Benjamin, of Skokie, charged fees to submit false information on behalf of clients who were foreign nationals and coached them on how to lie during interviews with Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Seeking to win asylum for clients, DeKelaita used false applicant names, religions, dates of entry into the U.S., birthdays and family histories and wrote up phony accounts of rape, murder and other religious persecution at the hands of Islamic extremists in Iraq, prosecutors said.

DeKelaita, himself a Christian born in Iraq, has won asylum for hundreds of Iraqi Christians facing potential deportation, according to a 2008 Los Angeles Times story. He's been a prominent local advocate for Christians in Iraq, speaking publicly and writing articles posted online about their persecution.

Prosecutors allege the interpreter, Benjamin, intentionally mistranslated answers given by clients and added testimony they had not given in an effort to secure asylum on their behalf.

Once granted asylum, the clients could seek lawful permanent residence and naturalization, according to the charges.

Both men are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit immigration and naturalization fraud. Benjamin is also charged with two counts of both immigration fraud and suborning perjury; DeKelaita is charged with three counts of both of those charges.

Neither DeKelaita nor Benjamin spoke at their court hearing except to acknowledge they understood the charges against them.
DeKelaita, an attorney since 1997, was reprimanded following a 2005 complaint for abandoning an appeal filed with the federal appeals court in Chicago involving an asylum case, Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission records show.

Martin Manna, who has done advocacy work with DeKelaita, said the newly charged attorney is held in high regard among Christians of Iraqi descent. Manna said he found it difficult to believe DeKelaita would commit fraud.

“Robert is one of the finest people I have ever known, He has the highest integrity of the friends that I keep, and he's probably one of the most educated and intelligent immigration attorneys that I know in the country,” he said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburb...923-story.html

Feds: Immigration lawyer told clients to lie about persecution | Chicago ...

chicago.suntimes.com/.../feds-immigration-lawyer-told-clients-to-lie-about-persecutio...

Apr 19, 2016 - The prosecutor said Robert Dekelaita's clients came from all over the world, but to Dekelaita “they all became persecuted Christian minorities.” . . .