Immigration Judge Grants Asylum to Iraqi Refugee

An immigration judge granted political asylum Thursday to an Iraqi refugee who fled his homeland with the help of the CIA only to be thrown behind bars when he reached the United States.

After 15 months of captivity, Mohammed Jode Qaisar, 30, walked out of a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service detention center in San Pedro, a free man eager to join his wife and four children in Salt Lake City.

Qaisar, a student, was among 6,500 men, women and children airlifted to the United States after a failed uprising against Saddam Hussein in 1996. Many were members of two CIA-backed resistance groups, the Iraqi National Accord and the Iraqi National Congress.

Soon after their arrival, however, Qaisar and about 20 others were jailed, accused by the INS of “posing a danger to the security of the United States,” an allegation the agency refused to explain.

Attorneys said the detainees were falsely accused of being double agents for Saddam Hussein by feuding members of the splintered Iraqi opposition movement. Qaisar never had a chance to confront his accusers. Under existing law, the INS is permitted to use secret evidence to deport immigrants suspected of associating with terrorists.

In November, immigration Judge D.D. Sitgraves rejected government charges and ruled that Qaisar was not a security risk. Qaisar remained in custody, however, pending the outcome of Thursday’s asylum hearing before the same judge.

After questioning Qaisar in great detail for much of the day, Sitgraves concluded that the man’s life would be in grave danger if he were returned to Iraq. The judge granted the petition for political asylum.

Niels Frenzen, Qaisar’s attorney from Public Counsel, a public interest firm, said his client’s immediate concern was scraping together enough money to get to Salt Lake City for a reunion with his family.

Seven other Iraqi refugees, similarly accused, remain behind bars while awaiting hearings.