Abdi Barut Bere, like Iman a Somali Bantu political refugee, reflects on his release from federal immigration custody after several months' detention for failure to apply for a legal alien resident card.
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azstarnet
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Two Somali Bantu political refugees were released from federal immigration detention over the weekend, after spending months in jail for their failure to apply for their legal alien resident card.
Abdullahi M. Iman reunited with his wife and their four children Friday night in their West Side apartment, and Abdi Barut Bere, joined his brother, Hussein Ali, who lives in the same apartment complex near West Speedway and North Silverbell Road.
"I feel 100 times better," Ramla Ali, wife of Iman, said Monday.
"I feel 100 times better," Ramla Ali, wife of Iman, said Monday.
The Arizona Daily Star first reported of their detention on Feb. 10. Political refugees are given work visas but are required to apply for a green card a year after their arrival. Both Iman and Bere, in separate interviews with translators Monday, said they had lost hope that they would be released from the Eloy Detention Center.
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"I was worried about my family," Iman said, with his wife sitting next to him and their 9-month-old daughter crawling about his feet. The two men were released for "urgent humanitarian reasons," according to a letter from the Phoenix office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Vincent M. Picard, spokesman for ICE of the Department of Homeland Security in Phoenix, said Monday that Iman and Bere were pardoned because their applications are in the process of being completed.
The letter said the men pose no security risk and that they will not abscond.
Bere said he did not want to talk about his arrest and detention. But he said he was very happy to be released.
The men were turned over to federal immigration agents after they were arrested by Tucson police on separate incidents.
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Abdullahi Iman, a Somali Bantu political refugee, sits with his daughter Dina Mohamed, 9 months; his wife, Ramla Ali, and with advocate Barbara Eiswerth in the family's apartment Monday.
greg bryan / arizona daily star |
Bere, 30, has been held in Eloy since Aug. 14. after his arrest for domestic violence involving his roommate, a Somali Bantu refugee. Iman, 35, was arrested on Sept. 3 for domestic violence at his apartment.
After their arrest, no charges were filed, but they remained in custody for failing to apply for their green cards.
Iman, who was working for a recycling firm, expects to return to his job. Bere was employed at Eurofresh Farms, a tomato-growing company in Willcox, before his arrest. He said he would like to return to his job.
Barbara Eiswerth, coordinator of the Iskashitaa Refugee Harvesting Network, an African refugee support organization in Tucson, said she is trying to help Bere find a job in Tucson.
The two refugees legally came to Tucson in 2004 as part of a large Somali refugee resettlement project undertaken by the U.S. government in 2003. The men and their families had been living in Kenyan refugee camps plagued by violence.
The U.S. government has declared the Somali Bantu as a persecuted minority in Somalia, in eastern Africa. The Bantu's cultural and ethnic roots are from neighboring countries outside of Somalia.
Contact reporter Ernesto Portillo, Jr. at 573-4242 or [email protected]
Source: azstarnet.com, Feb 26, 2008