The arrest of dozens of Iraqi Christians in southeastern Michigan by U.S. immigration officials has prompted a protest at a detention center in Detroit.
Chaldean (KAL'-dee-uhn) Community Foundation President Martin Manna tells the Detroit Free Press that about 40 people have been arrested, mostly on Sunday.
Chaldeans are among Iraqi Christian denominations emerging in the faith's early days. Their population in Iraq has dwindled as hundreds of thousands flee war and violence.
MLive.com reports roughly 100 people protested Sunday at a Detroit detention center, some expressing concern for the arrestees' safety.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said in a statement that Iraq recently agreed to accept Iraqi nationals subject to removal from the U.S. ICE says all of those arrested had criminal convictions and were ordered deported by an immigration judge.
