Deported from Detroit to Die Homeless in Iraq: Jimmy Aldaoud's Story Sparks Anger

*Update August 8, 2019: According to Michigan court records, Jimmy Aldaoud had a criminal conviction for disorderly conduct and served 17 months for a home invasion.

American and Middle East Twitter have been widely circulating a video of Jimmy Aldaoud, an Iraqi man who died on Wednesday in Iraq after he was deported from the US in June, where he lived for decades.

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The 41-year-old Jimmy has fallen victim of the US immigration enforcement efforts that led to his deportation to Iraq, a country where he did not speak its language and was unable to find access to insulin... leaving him homeless, until he died.

Attention to Jimmy’s story was brought by a post shared by Edward Bajoka, an immigration attorney who described himself as close to Aldaoud’s family.

According to Bajoka’s Facebook announcement, Jimmy was found dead in Iraq on August 7, 2019, and the likely cause of death was not being able to get his insulin as he is a diabetic. On top of this, Jimmy was forcefully deported. He had also highlighted Jimmy’s mental health was the reason behind his legal issues in the US. Yet, he was sent to Iraq.

A few hours later, Mari Manoogian, a member at the Michigan House of Representatives, has shared a video on Twitter upon permission from Aldaoud’s family.

The video taken two weeks after Jimmy’s arrival to Iraq, showed him explaining what he had gone through before deportation in the US and the fact he expressed his fears to the immigration authorities and how he did not speak the language of Iraq or know anyone, yet, they forced him to leave.

The story of Jimmy who was born in Greece in a refugee camp before moving to the US has highlighted what migrants and refugees face in the US under President Donald Trump’s administration who intensified immigration enforcement laws.

Prompting a conversation on the complications faced by the immigrants to the US in Trump’s era, Jimmy’s tragic story made the rounds on the internet.

On another aspect of the story, Jimmy is believed to be deported as part of the US administration's plan to target Chaldean Catholics in the Detroit metro area, of which Aldaoud was one. This group face threats of being killed or tortured by ISIS militants.