SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A U.S. Immigration Judge ruled that an Iraqi refugee living in the Sacramento area may be removed from the country after being accused of committing immigration fraud.
This comes after Omar Ameen was cleared of terrorism charges earlier this year. Ameen spent two and half years in jail after he was accused of killing a police officer in his hometown of Rawah, Iraq.
Federal Judge Edmund Brennan wrote that evidence supports Ameen never left Turkey in June 2014. Even the victim's parents believed that Ameen was innocent, according to the judge's ruling.
ICE detained Ameen days before he was scheduled to be freed.
On Tuesday, a judge ruled that Ameen was eligible to be removed to Iraq or Turkey. The judge did not find that Ameen supported and engaged in terrorism but found that he lied on his refugee application to secure a visa, which included concealing interactions with his cousin, who was part of an armed terrorist group. Ameen was also accused of misrepresenting that his father was shot to death and that his brother was kidnapped by masked men. The judge said the FBI met its burden to provide clear and convincing evidence.
The case now moves into a merits hearing on Jan. 31. Ameen's attorney is seeking a review, and a new protective asylum status. His lawyers have maintained that Ameen would face certain death if he was returned to Iraq for a crime he did not commit.
