OPINION — Editorial

In harm's way

In May, Vice President Mike Pence reaffirmed the Trump administration's commitment to protecting religious minorities in the Middle East. Just over a month later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are poised to send nearly 200 Iraqis back to a country where they could face extreme harassment and religious persecution.

This alone should give ICE and the Trump administration pause.

The removals not only are morally reprehensible but also run afoul of international law. The UN Convention Against Torture, to which the United States is a signatory, prohibits the return of a person to a country where patterns of mass human rights violations provide substantial grounds for believing they may be tortured. The gamut of atrocities committed by the Islamic State and other extremist groups in Iraq should be grounds enough.

When questioned about the arrests, ICE pointed out that most of the detainees have previous criminal convictions. But some of these convictions are more than 20 years old. Others involve minor drug offenses and misdemeanors.

The potential harm is real enough at least to warrant a case-by-case review.

Editorial on 06/24/2017

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