IRC Files Petition to Release Client from Immigration Custody

Petition filed seeking release of Omar Ameen from immigration custody

Eric Escalante
January 10, 2022 ABC 10

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Advocates are continuing calls for the release of an Iraqi refugee at risking of being deported from the United States.

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Omar Ameen, a refugee living in Sacramento, has been held by the government for more than three years. Earlier this year, he was accused of terrorism and of the murder of an Iraq police officer, but those allegations were ultimately rejected by the courts.

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Advocates say Ameen is fighting for his freedom and to stay in the U.S.

“The government seems to think that it can do whatever it wants as long as it invokes the word ‘terrorism,’” said Nicole Hallett, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School, “Rather than admit it was wrong about Omar, the government will go to extraordinary measures to keep him locked up. We are asking the federal court to put a stop to this abuse of power.”