Thread: Mayor to ICE: Stop Undermining MNPD

Mayor to ICE: Stop Undermining MNPD


Barry pens letter to immigration officials in wake of reported deportation sweeps with ICE officers using vests labeled "POLICE"


Stephen Elliott June 14, 2017




Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials question a Kurdish American resident off Nolensville Pike on June 8.PHOTO BY NASHVILLE COMMUNITY DEFENSE


Nashville Mayor Megan Barry on Tuesday sent a letter to federal immigration officials questioning recent contacts between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and members of the city’s Kurdish community.
“Over the past few days, we have heard disturbing reports of members of our community being stopped, questioned, and even harassed as part of an increased effort to enforce deportation orders for individuals who had previously been convicted of criminal activity,” Barry wrote in the letter to Joshua Jack, a New Orleans-based community relations officer for ICE.


Barry cites a video recorded by the Nashville Community Defense group, reportedly of a Kurdish-American citizen being questioned by ICE agents last week “for no apparent reason.” Of particular concern to the mayor: the ICE officials’ choice of dress.


As seen in the video, the agents’ vests are labeled “POLICE,” which, Barry says, causes community members to assume the officers are with the Metro Nashville Police Department.

“Our Metro Nashville Police Department has gone to great lengths in building relationships with our New American community in order to promote public safety,” she writes. “This effort can be undermined when ICE agents act aggressively toward our citizens without properly identifying themselves as agents of the federal government rather than local law enforcement. We would ask that any ICE agents operating within Davidson County do so in a way that does not impede the job of local law enforcement to keep all Nashvillians safe.”


After Donald Trump’s November victory, Barry issued a statement reiterating her stance that MNPD officers “are not immigration police, they do not ask about immigration status during stops or conversations with the public, nor do they intend to start now.”


The Metro Council is currently considering legislation that would restrict local officials’ cooperation with federal immigration efforts.


An ICE spokesperson could not be reached for further comment Wednesday.


The ICE enforcement contacts began last Monday and have continued into this week according to Drost Kokoye, a board member of the American Muslim Advisory Council.


The enforcement sweep has affected attendance at prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, she says, “because people are worried to leave their house. They’re worried every time they see the police.”


Sean Braisted, a spokesman for the mayor, says the office has been in contact with Rep. Jim Cooper, the Office of New Americans and members of the Iraqi and Kurdish community.


“Mayor Barry remains committed to doing what she can to ensure that Nashville remains a warm and welcoming city for all,” Braisted adds.

Cooper was in Washington for scheduled votes this week, but will be meeting with members of Nashville’s Kurdish community early next week, according to a spokesperson.

The Tennessean reported one of the Kurdish residents detained by ICE was charged more than a decade ago with selling alcohol to a minor. An ICE spokesperson told the newspaper each of the community members detained for deportation had criminal convictions.

The ICE official also confirmed negotiations between the United States and the Iraqi government resulted in the latter agreeing “to accept a number of Iraqi nationals subject to orders of removal.” For more than a decade, Iraq has refused.

Iraq was among the seven Muslim-majority nations included on President Donald Trump’s initial travel ban, though it was dropped in the later, revised travel ban, which remains tied up in court and is likely to be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The bottom line here is that many of these people who have been picked up and have been hunted by [ICE] are looking at a death sentence if they’re returned,” says Andrew Free, a Nashville immigration attorney representing some of the detainees. “This is having a ripple effect throughout the Kurdish community.”

Free adds a number of the Nashville detainees are being held at ICE’s LaSalle Detention Facility in Louisiana, which is run by private prison company GEO Group.

The mayor concludes her letter with an appeal to the federal agency.

“I would implore you to work more closely with our immigrant and refugee community and local stakeholders to ensure that the broader community is not negatively impacted by what is purported to be targeted enforcement against those who have committed serious crimes in the United States,” Barry writes.

http://www.nashvillescene.com/news/p...dermining-mnpd

ICE targets some Nashville Kurds for deportation after U.S. deal with Iraq



Ariana Maia Sawyer


June 13, 2017


Bayan Taro thought the 6 a.m. knock was a neighbor asking her or her husband to move their car.
Had she known who was actually at the door, she wouldn't have sent her husband to open it.


Sarkaut Taro, a 53-year-old Nashville filmmaker, padded out in his pajamas, his wife said in an interview on Monday. After a few moments, he called out for his wife.
When she came to the door, she said she saw her husband in handcuffs surrounded by unidentified men and unmarked vehicles.




He was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — just one of at least 12 Iraqi nationals who've been taken into custody over the past week.




The arrests are the result of a deal the U.S. brokered with Iraq, a spokesman with Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Monday.


As a result of recent negotiations between the U.S. and Iraq, Iraq has recently agreed to accept a number of Iraqi nationals subject to orders of removal," ICE spokesman Thomas Byrd said.
Nashville has the largest population of Kurdish residents in the United States, many of whom came to the country as refugees fleeing war and genocide.


The Taros sought asylum in the U.S. in 2002 when forces loyal to Saddam Hussein killed Sarkaut Taro's three brothers and burned his house down, Bayan Taro said.


Immigration attorney Charla Haas said that when Sarkaut Taro lost his asylum case in 2004, a judge issued a final order of removal. Haas, who represents the Taros, said the judge ruled that way because Hussein had by that time fallen from power.


She said they will be requesting to reopen his deportation case based on changed circumstances.


Kay Gerdi, a family friend, said the actor and director has used his films to be critical of human trafficking and religion but that one short film was particularly critical of the Islamic State, making the Taros a target in Iraq.


"If they deport him, especially to Baghdad, he's not going to survive," Gerdi said.


More than a dozen friends and colleagues, mostly from the Nashville film and arts community, have written letters to ICE on behalf of the filmmaker. Many of the letters plead for his release, while others aim to explain what sort of person he is. They described him as a kind and generous man.

Sarkaut Taro is currently being transported to an immigration detention center in Louisiana, Haas said. ICE did not immediately return a request for comment on his case.




According to Andrew Free, a Nashville immigration attorney representing some of those arrested, 12 Iraqis were being detained as of Monday morning. He said an additional 16 people had been targeted and that while most are Kurdish, some are Arab.


Byrd said all of those arrested for deportation had criminal convictions, including various violent crimes, though it was not clear what portion had committed such crimes.
Iraq was dropped from President Donald Trump's revised travel ban after the Iraqi government agreed to accept Iraqi nationals who have been ordered deported from the U.S., among other concessions.


The second travel ban has been tied up in court since it was issued in March, with opponents arguing it unconstitutionally discriminates against Muslims.


Byrd called the arrests an effort "to process the backlog of these individuals."


"Each of these individuals received full and fair immigration proceedings, after which a federal immigration judge found them ineligible for any form of relief under U.S. law and ordered them removed," he said.


Haas said her client has been checking in yearly with ICE for the past several years.


And his wife said the two have always been in the country legally, consistently paying taxes and responding to any requests from the government to provide documents or have meetings.


He told them, 'If you send me a letter, I'm coming. Why are you coming to arrest me?'" Bayan Taro said.
Sarkaut Taro was charged nearly 15 years ago with selling alcohol to a minor from when he was working at a convenience store shortly after he arrived in the U.S. His wife said he had to pay a fine and take a class to learn more about U.S. law.
Court records show that case is closed, and his attorney said it had no bearing on his immigration status.
So long as Iraq has refused to repatriate citizens, they have continued to live in Nashville with legal work permits. In some cases, they have been checking in with ICE for decades-old crimes.


A similar operation has been underway in the Detroit area, where dozens of Chaldean Christians have been detained by immigration authorities.


Many of them came to the United States after being persecuted in Iraq and said they are worried the deportations will put their lives in danger again.
Sitting at her friend's house Monday evening, Bayan Taro was nearly in tears. She said the scene was strikingly familiar.


In 1998, officers came to their home in Kirkuk, Iraq, one early morning to arrest Sarkaut Taro's brother, she said.
"It's the same thing," she said. "I'm not going to see my husband again."


In Nashville's Kurdish community, Drost Kokoye, of the American Muslim Advisory Council , said officers have been knocking on doors and asking questions without warrants, surrounding people with vehicles and going to their workplaces.
"(They are) just harassing our community," said Kokoye, who noted that the Kurdish community in Nashville traces back its roots decades.
When this is over, Bayan Taro said she isn't sure she'll remain in Nashville.
"When I left my country, I thought here was safe," she said. "There's not anywhere safe in the world."



http://www.tennessean.com/story/news...raq/379582001/