Somalia’s U.S ambassador has said that his office has learned of a plan to deport about 4,000 Somali immigrants from the USA.
“We learned through immigration sources that the total number of the Somalis that are in the books of [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to be removed are close to 4,000,” Ahmed Isse Awad told VOA’s Somali service Saturday. “Most of them are not in detention centers.” said the ambassador
According to the embassy, about 170 Somali’s have been deported due to various reasons including breaking the law or asylum application rejection. Many other Somali nationals who have had their asylum applications are in detention centers or prisons awaiting removal.
It is reported that ICE agents recently carried out a five-day operation around the U.S capital arresting a group of immigrants. Among those arrested was a 50-year-old man from Somalia. The man had been deported back in 1996 but re-entered the country under a different name in 1997. He was jailed for 11 months in 2014 for crimes related to forgery and drugs and has committed more felonies after that.
Immigration officials said that eight of those arrested during the recent March roundup had no known criminal record, but had either ignored orders to leave the country or stayed in the country with expired visas.
Most western countries have in the past been reluctant in deporting Somali immigrants to their home country because of safety concerns. Since 1991, an estimated 350,000 to 1,000,000 Somalis have died because of the civil war that has rocked the East African country.