'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'