Is there an emerging trend here?
Living as a Christian in many parts of Iraq or Syria has become impossible – a one-way ticket to martyrdom at the hands of ISIS – yet it remains a near-impossible feat for these persecuted religious minorities to find refuge in America.
But if you can get to America and get your case in the hands of Robert DeKelaita, your chances are greatly improved.
As it turns out, this high-powered Chicago attorney may have been a little too successful. He’s gained asylum for thousands of persecuted Christian from Iraq, Syria and Egypt, and that caught the attention of the Obama Justice Department, which is known to be no friend of Middle Eastern Christians.
DeKelaita, 52, grew up in Kirkuk in the heart of Assyria, a portion of northern Iraq that is home to one of the world’s most ancient Christian communities. Legend has it that the Apostle Thomas evangelized the long-pagan area shortly after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. The Christians there still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus.
After Saddam Hussein took power, DeKelaita’s family emigrated to the U.S. in 1973 and settled in the Chicago area. He was just shy of 11 years old at the time. He excelled in school, became a lawyer and vowed to use his legal skills to help his people escape religious persecution by the majority Muslims.
He’s helped reunite hundreds of families in the U.S., most of them since 2003 when the U.S. invasion and overthrow of Saddam unleashed a wave of Islamic terror against Christians that far exceeded anything that was seen under the secular Baathist regime.
The Obama administration moved against DeKelaita in September 2014, raiding his office and scooping up whatever “evidence” they could find against him. He was indicted on charges of falsifying the asylum applications of 12 clients over a 10-year period, allegedly concocting “phony claims” of religious persecution. The government has delayed his trial twice while it seeks to firm up witnesses who will testify against him.
Each count of immigration fraud carries a maximum of 10 years prison and a $250,000 fine.
DeKelaita has been a pillar in the Assyrian Christian community in Chicago, founding the Ashurbanipal Library and donating to projects that celebrate Assyrian art and culture.
“Robert has been a very successful immigration lawyer for our people,” said Ramon Michael, a fellow Assyrian Christian whose family came to the U.S. about the same time as DeKelaita’s.
“I’ve known him since high school,” Michael said. “He has a passion for what he does.”
Some find it ironic that the Obama administration is going after a lawyer who helps persecuted Iraqi Christians gain asylum while it welcomed and granted cart blanch asylum for more than 68,000 unaccompanied alien children from Central America last summer.
At the same time Central Americans are being greeted with a “catch and release” policy at the border, a group of 27 Assyrian Christians who made it to the border earlier this year are being detained indefinitely.
More than a few of the “lucky ones” say they owe their lives to Robert DeKelaita.
“My sister and her three young children are among the Assyrian hostages in Syria. We don’t even know if they’re still alive,” said Mimi Odicho of Chicago. “Instead of trying to help save them – save these innocent people – the U.S. government is trying to take down a man who has been our people’s only hope for years. Robert is our hero. I don’t think anyone could possibly understand what he means to us.”
“I think our community finds hope in Robert,” added Narsai Oshana, also of Chicago, “because he is an attorney that is not foreign to our part of the world, to our plight and our history. He knows exactly what we have endured, because he’s lived it himself. He represented me in my asylum claim when I didn’t have any way to pay him except with thanks. That was enough for him. I will never forget that. To me, like many, Robert was light at the end of a very long, horrid tunnel. His name is known everywhere. I am forever indebted to him.”
While it detains Iraq Christian asylum seekers, the Obama administration has been welcoming thousands of Muslim refugees from jihadist hotbeds in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, despite warnings from House Homeland Security Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, that some of these refugee programs may become a “jihadist pipeline” into the U.S.
DeKelaita, after his indictment, learned that the FBI had been investigating him since 2008, soon after Obama took office.
“It seems like they have more leeway and power to do what they want and so they can,” his old high school friend, Michael, said.
He points to the Obama administration’s attempt earlier this year to block an Iraqi nun from entering the country to testify before Congress on the issue of Christian persecution in the Middle East. After coverage by WND and dozens of other news outlets created a public outcry, Obama relented and issued the visa to Sister Diana Momeka.
WND also reported on Aug. 3 that the Obama-led Department of Homeland Security has detained 27 Iraqi Christian asylum seekers in California for six months, despite the fact that most of them have family who are U.S. citizens living in San Diego.
“Dangerous people are allowed to come in across our borders and these people, I’d let these people babysit my kids, that’s how much I fear these people,” Michael said. “Something is up. I don’t know what, but it seems to be very anti-Christian to me.”
DeKelaita said his business has suffered since the indictment was brought against him almost a year ago, but he has no plans to quit fighting.
“I think it’s disturbing to me that a people so persecuted as the Assyrian Christians have come under such scrutiny, and especially when our involvement in Iraq bolstered the environment in which these people came under persecution from Islamic extremists,” he said.
There were 1.5 million Christians in Iraq in 2003. Little more than 200,000 remain.
There were 1.5 million Christians in Iraq in 2003. Little more than 200,000 remain.
“Then they come here to escape the slaughter and we have to track them down and harass them, when they aren’t any threat to anyone,” DeKelaita said. “These are often old men, old ladies who are escaping persecution. Its’ terrible. As an American I want my government to be involved in actions that protect the security of the United States, and there are priorities, as opposed to tracking down old ladies and decent hard-working people.”
A few days after his indictment, thousands turned out for a rally to show their support. An online petition at StandWithRobert.com has accumulated 1,874 signatures.
“These are decent hard-working people,” he said. “In Detroit our community is a model of wealth and prosperity, in Chicago they’re very hard working people and uphold Christian values and uphold their churches and their communities and are proud Americans, and I’m proud of that. And no matter how my case turns out I will also be proud of my work. I think it can be vouched for by my clients.”
His Grace Bishop Mar Gewargis Younan of the diocese of Chicago Ancient Church of the East, said DeKelaita represents the very best of the American dream.
“He escaped persecution as a child, and resettled in the United States. He had every reason to fail, but instead he went on to graduate from the prestigious University of Chicago and ultimately was considered the best attorney for Middle Eastern Christians,” the Bishop said.
“His entire career has been aimed at giving back – to his church, to his heritage, to his people,” the bishop continued. “He is a role model for members of our community, both American-born and immigrants. I can say with confidence that every parishioner in our church has either themselves been represented by Mr. DeKelaita, or has a relative that was represented by him. When the charges were filed, the community was in outrage and disbelief, and rightfully so. There is not a single Assyrian family anywhere in Iraq or Syria that has not been directly impacted by religious persecution. The manner in which Mr. DeKelaita’s case has been approached seemingly moves to challenge this truth. We are proud of Mr. DeKelaita’s achievements, and will continue to support him during this time.”
Obama's $500 million plan to combat Bashar Al-Assad and ISIS forces in Syria created an elite force called "Regiment-30." While Fox News revealed the program only gained 54 applicants, new evidence reveals that there were "thousands of outside forces" who joined Regiment-30, who are now also joining Al-Nusra terror front in Syria. The U.S-appointed Regiment-30's main leader, as ironclad evidence reveals, is one code-named Abu Iskandar, and he has now sent out an official appeal, including airing an explosive T.V interview, confirming they joined the notorious terrorist Al-Nusra Front, which carried out massacres against Christians in Adra and Maaloula in Syria. Here is how the story goes:
As soon as the U.S-backed Regiment-30 was dispatched, their commander, Nadim Al Hassan, and his deputy, Farhan Al Jassem, along with 18 others (this would be third of the U.S. trained regiment), were "abducted" and re-educated by the terrorist organization Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda's official affiliate in Syria. Al-Nusra was designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization and is known for massacring Christians.
The Pentagon denied the claim of the abduction of a third of this U.S.-appointed regiment. This complete lie by the Pentagon was not only flatly refuted by Reuters [1], but one official document, including an interview with the main leader of the U.S.-backed Regimen-30, First Lieutenant Abu Iskandar, reveals receiving the best of training and declares his appeal to Al-Nusra, reminding the group of its unity agreement with Al-Nusra to join forces:
The pertinent part of the plea states:
"The leadership in Regiment-30 is calling upon (and for the second time) our brothers in Al-Nusra to stop these exercises [abducting Regiment 30 operatives] and stop the bloodshed and to keep our unity [agreement] intact."
Jenan then asks about the detail for the collaboration and arrangements between Regiment-30 and the terrorist group Al-Nusra Front (begin at 4:17). Abu Iskandarreplies:
"We are forced to make arrangements with all other fighting groups [including Al-Nusra] and we say that before we came here a week ago that we met with Al-Nusra, and four months ago we met Al-Nusra, which in turn expressed admiration for the [U.S.-led Regiment 30] program. In fact they welcomed us … our arrangements with Al-Nusra is to collaborate militarily. We are not only 54, we are thousands … We were then shocked why they kidnapped Nadim, our leader … we are not 54, we are thousands, we have ground troops on land helping us."
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