Michigan House Democrats plan vigil for Iraqi man who died after deportation

Michigan Democratic Reps. Andy Levin and Brenda Lawrence will lead a vigil Thursday evening for a diabetic Michigan man who was deported to Iraq and died after he was unable to obtain insulin.

Jimmy Aldaoud, who spoke no Arabic and was brought to the U.S. as a toddler, reportedly was also diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was a Chaldean Christian, a persecuted minority in Iraq.

“Deporting a diabetic man to a country where he would not have reliable access to insulin made it almost certain that he would not survive,” Levin and Lawrence said in a statement. “The death of Jimmy Aldaoud was a direct, predictable and preventable result of his deportation.”{mosads}

The two Michigan Democrats will host the event at the Chaldean Community Foundation Thursday in the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights. “Tomorrow, the Chaldean community and mourners will come together to honor Jimmy’s life and demand that death by deportation never happens again,” the statement reads.

Levin and Lawrence were also two of 41 House Democrats who signed a letter to President Trump on Tuesday asking for an end to deportation of Iraqi nationals in the wake of Aldaoud’s death, noting that Levin and other representatives had previously written to both Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regarding their plight.

“Jimmy’s death was a direct and predictable result of his deportation, and we are horrified that this cruelty was perpetrated on our watch,” the letter stated.