More than 100 people marched to the Cedar Rapids federal building Oct. 7 in a rally to support Fatou Traore.
By Dan Russo
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — Despite a letter by Bishop Dennis Walsh to the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security advocating for the release of an immigrant from the Ivory Coast who was detained in September, she was deported Oct. 13.
“I am deeply saddened by the action of federal authorities in the deportation of Fatou Traore,” said the bishop after hearing the news. “There appears to have been no lawful basis for her deportation. It is troubling that pleas from public, community, and religious leaders from Eastern Iowa have been ignored. (I offer) my continued prayers for Fatou’s family, especially her young children.”
Traore’s eldest son, Esoumaila Diallo, got a call from his mother from Sierra Leone that day informing him she was removed.
“We’re going to do our best to get her back in the United States,” said Diallo. “The only thing I want is my mom back.”
In an Oct. 2 letter, the leader of the Davenport Diocese urged Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who oversees the federal department that includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to intervene.
“Ms. Traore has lived in our community for over twenty years and has resided here legally since 2011 under a withholding of removal order,” wrote Bishop Walsh. “She has raised her family here, lived peacefully, and has no criminal history. Her removal to Sierra Leone — a country with which she has no connection and where violence and human rights violations remain serious concerns — would place her at grave risk and cause profound harm to her family.”
The Immigrant Welcome Network of Johnson County (IWNJC) and Escucha Mi Voz, immigrant advocacy groups in Iowa City, have been assisting the family and have been a part of shows of support for Traore, such a rally held Sept. 30 at First United Methodist Church in Iowa City.
“We are going to try to work hard to get her back,” said Mazahir Salih, IWNJC executive director. “We’re assembling a legal team.”
ICE responded to an inquiry from The Catholic Messenger about the case.
“ICE officers arrested Fatou Traore, 43, an illegal alien from the Ivory Coast, during a targeted enforcement operation Sept. 24, in Iowa City, Iowa,” wrote agency representatives in a statement. “Traore has a final removal order from 2011 and admitted to using a fake birth certificate and fake passport to enter the U.S. at an unknown time and location. ICE is applying the law as written. If a judge finds an illegal alien has no right to be in this country, we are going to remove them. Period.”
Traore’s deportation to a country that is not her native one comes at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether a practice sometimes called “third country” deportations is legal. The court issued a temporary order Sept. 29 allowing this policy to continue for now, but is scheduled to hear arguments in December in the case known as Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D., which may lead to a ruling on the practice. ICE officials addressed the “third country” issue in their statement.
“Third-country agreements, which ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution, are essential to the safety of our homeland and the American people,” ICE stated. “We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $3,000 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”
Elected officials and church leaders joined Bishop Walsh in calling for Traore’s release prior to her deportation. The bishop wrote to several civil leaders asking them to intervene.
Lutheran Bishop Amy Current of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Southeastern Iowa Synod, and United Methodist Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai also released statements in support of Traore.
On Sept. 30, Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks sent a letter and made a call to Mullin asking for a stay of deportation.
“Deporting Fatou would deprive a young family of their mother and would violate the withholding of removal order, which allows Fatou to work and reside in the United States legally,” she wrote.
Bishop Walsh told Mullin in his letter that “public servants are entrusted with applying the law in ways that uphold human dignity and protect the vulnerable.”
“In his case, removal would constitute a grave injustice. I respectfully ask that you stay Ms. Traore’s deportation …Your intervention would prevent serious harm and uphold the principles of justice and compassion to which all of us are bound as citizens and persons created in the image and likeness of God,” the bishop wrote.
The full text of Bishop Walsh’s letter is on Page 7 of this week’s issue.
