Engraved on the Statue of Liberty are the words, "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free." America is supposed to be a beacon of hope for its people, and this extends to refugees fleeing their homes from persecution. But the previous Trump administration was adamant about flipping this narrative and making Muslim refugees the villains.
And this political agenda caused refugees like Omar Ameen and his family, who are Sacramento residents, to be caught in these political crosshairs. But for Omar Ameen, it could mean life or death.
In 2018, Omar Ameen and his family resided in an apartment at Arden-Arcade. Their life took an unimaginable turn when Ameen awoke to the sound of pounding on his apartment door, only for his son to see dozens of armed men and cars with flashing lights.
Omar Ameen was wrongfully accused of being an ISIS Commander who murdered an Iraqi police officer four years earlier. The fact that Mr. Ameen was in Turkey during the murder and that the eyewitnesses were faulty didn't seem to matter. Upon hearing about Mr. Ameen's case, the Trump administration used it to their advantage to limit the number of refugees entering the country.
Mr. Ameen spent almost three years of solitary confinement in the Sacramento County Main Jail fighting an extradition case filed by the U.S Justice Department to return Omar to Iraq under a treaty with the nation. Instead, his return to Iraq was likely to mean a swift execution.
In April 2021, a federal court in Sacramento found that Mr. Ameen was innocent because how could he have possibly murdered in Iraq when he was in Turkey, as his cell phone records show? However, it took public defender Rachelle Barbour over two years to obtain the Turkish phone records that proved his innocence.
This should have been the end of Mr. Ameen's wrongful detainment in the hands of the U.S Government. He should have gone home to his family. But instead, Omar Ameen was transferred to an ICE facility. He awaits his deportation hearing at the end of July 2021 and possibly a death sentence if he is sent back to Iraq. Keep in mind it is our tax dollars that go into prosecuting and detaining an innocent man.
Omar Ameen is an innocent man and deserves to be released and be with his family, upholding American values. For ways to help, please visit FREE OMAR (freeomarameen.com) or watch the video below.
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