Today: Sam Malkandi's Trial

Prayers and good energy are requested for a former client of mine. Sam Malkandi was an Iraqi refugee who fled Sadam Hussein's army and eventually made his way to America. When I met him, he working three jobs -- at a sandwich shop, as a janitor and teaching American troops how to interact with Iraqi soldiers. In his own country, Sam was a successful theater professor. The US government hired him to set up and act out possible scenarios with soldiers before the went over to be in the current war.

When I joined the Refugee Resettlement Office in Seattle in 2003, Sam and his family had already purchased a house and were well on their way to taking ownership of the sandwich shop where Sam worked. On the morning of the business deal closing, he was arrested by the Feds. He is mentioned in the 911 Report for trying to help an al-Qaida operative into the country, which is a laugh because all he was doing was setting up a medical appointment for a friend of a friend who he had met in the mall one day.

[I'm not going to go into all of the details, but listen to this report for more information ...the NPR segment on Sam Malkandi.]

Sam has been held for the last three years without any charges against him. When Jenelle, my awesome boss at the RRO, helped to put media pressure on the case, Sam was put into solitary confinement.

Now they are trying to deport him -- not on charges related to criminal acts (because they have no evidence!) -- but because he lied on his immigration application. Having working in the refugee resettlement world for a while, I can safely say that in effect EVERYONE lies on their refugee application. They are coached to lie to make their situation sound worst that it really is. They are in a lying competition of sorts, as those who lie the best get to escape the horrors of life in war-torn countries. Heck, I would have lied too.

The government started this process, found nothing to prove him guilty and are now pushing hard to split up a family for small, crappy reasons. A lovely wonderful family.

Even though you may not know him personally or even if you don't really believe his story, please send some good energy to the Malkandi family that they will get through whatever is decided in court today. Thank you.