International Refugee Assistance Project et al v. Trump et al

Filing 91

MOTION for Temporary Restraining Order and/or Preliminary Injunction by HIAS, Inc., Allan Hakky, International Refugee Assistance Project, Jane Doe 1, John Doe 1-4, Samaneh Takaloo (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit IRAP Declaration, # 2 Exhibit HIAS Declaration, # 3 Exhibit MESA Declaration, # 4 Exhibit John Doe 1 Declaration, # 5 Exhibit John Doe 3 Declaration, # 6 Exhibit Mateab Declaration, # 7 Exhibit Jane Doe 2 Declaration, # 8 Exhibit Mohomed Declaration, # 9 Exhibit Harrison Declaration, # 10 Exhibit Hausman Declaration Pt. 1, # 11 Exhibit Hausman Declaration Pt. 2, # 12 Exhibit Hausman Declaration Pt. 3)(Jadwat, Omar)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
SOUTHERN DIVISION

INTERNATIONALREFUGEE
ASSISTANCE PROJECT, et al.,
Civil Action No.: 8:17-CV-00361-TDC
Plaintiffs,
v.
DONALD TRUMP, et al,
Defendants.

DECLARATION OF MOHAMMED METEAB
I, Mohammed Meteab, upon my personal knowledge, hereby submit this
declaration pursuant 28 U.S.C. § 1746 and declare as follows:
1.

I am a lawful permanent resident of Iraqi origin, and I live in Springfield,

Massachusetts.
2.

I came to the United States in 2015 as a refugee, along with my wife and two

children. All of us are now lawful permanent residents. My third child, who was born in the
United States, is a U.S. citizen.
3.

I am one of five brothers. We lived together with our families in Iraq. During and

after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, my brothers and I all cooperated with the U.S. military, helping
to establish the transitional government in the wake of the conflict in Najaf, Iraq.
4.

Because of our cooperation with the U.S. government, we received threats and

were shot at by armed militia groups in Iraq. In 2013, my brother Abdullateef found a note for us
from the League of the Righteous milita saying we had to leave Najaf or be killed.

5.

I am a Sunni Muslim, as are my brothers. We lived in a Shi’a neighborhood in

Najaf, Iraq.
6.

In 2013, my family received death threats because we were Sunni. We were

warned by neighbors and members of the community that we would be killed if we stayed. A
few days after receiving death threats, my nephew was shot in the leg. On December 25, 2013,
my older brother Shareef, his children, and two of our nephews (Abdullateef’s sons, Walid and
Mosad, who was shot, and their wives), fled to Jordan.
7.

Eleven days later, on January 5, 2014, I fled to Jordan with my wife and our two

children. My three other brothers, Ahmed, Abdullateef, and Ali, joined us in Jordan in 2014.
Like my wife, children and I, my brothers applied for refugee status soon after arriving in Jordan.
8.

My wife, two children, and I were approved as refugees in March 2014.

9.

On August 20, 2015, my wife, children, and I came to the United States as

refugees. My nephew Walid and his wife were also approved and came to the U.S. as a refugee
in July 2015. My older brother Shareef and his children also came to the United States as
refugees in August 2015. Shareef’s daughter and her husband, Mosad (who had been shot in
Iraq) came to the United States in December 2015.
10.

My remaining three brothers, Ahmed, Abdullateef, and Ali, had also applied for

refugee status in 2014. Ahmed and Ali were approved for resettlement in the United States in
2016. In April 2015, Abdullateef was approved for resettlement in Canada. He is still in Jordan,
awaiting final clearance to go to Canada.
11.

In November 2016, Ahmed and Ali, who were still in Jordan, were informed by

the International Organization for Migration that while their refugee applications had been

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approved, my brothers and their families still did not have travel documents to come to the
United States. Jewish Family Services gave me this update at the same time.
12.

I expected that my brothers and their families would arrive in the United States in

early 2017. However, when I learned from the news about the Executive Order in January, I
realized my brothers would not be able to join us in the United States.
13.

My brothers are living as refugees in Jordan. Like me, they fled threats to their

lives in Iraq and were looking forward to starting a new life and sending their children to school
here in the United States. Because of the January and now the updated Executive Order, they
continue to live in insecurity as refugees awaiting resettlement.
14.

Because of the Executive Order and official anti-Muslim sentiment motivating it,

I have felt isolated and disparaged in my community. It is causing me and my wife a lot of
mental stress. Particularly when my wife, who wears a hijab, and I are in public, I sense a lot of
hostility from people around me. For example, at crosswalks, people refuse to stop their cars for
us, and I see people staring at us. My wife doesn’t not want to go outside the house except for
doctors’ appointments. My nieces, who wear hijab to school, say that people make mean
comments and stare at them for being Muslim. One day, a student pulled the hijab off of my
niece’s head in class. On another occasion, as my niece was getting off the school bus, an older
woman came up to her and pushed her to the ground.

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