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Hurricane Helene charges toward Florida's Gulf Coast, expected to strike late today as a dangerous storm; Millions of Illinois' convenient voting method gains popularity; House task force holds first hearing today to investigate near assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania; New report finds Muslim students in New York face high levels of discrimination in school.

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Biden says all-out-war is threatening in the Middle East, as tensions rise. Congress averts a government shutdown, sending stopgap funding to the president's desk and an election expert calls Georgia's latest election rule a really bad idea.

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The presidential election is imminent and young rural voters say they still feel ignored, it's leaf peeping season in New England but some fear climate change could mute fall colors, and Minnesota's mental health advocates want more options for troubled youth.

TN Kurdish Community Gets Relief from Deportations

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Thursday, June 29, 2017   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Kurds and other Iraqi nationals living in parts of Tennessee have at least a brief reprieve this week from the threat of deportation.

A federal court in Michigan blocked the immediate deportation of Iraqi individuals – many of whom have been here for more than a decade because of threats in their home country.

Thomas Castelli, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, says the abrupt order to send them back to Iraq is turning lives upside down.

"Many of them have been living in the United States under supervision by the federal government for decades,” he states. “A lot of them have spouses that are U.S. citizens, children that are U.S. citizens, they have businesses. These families are kind of being torn apart by deportations."

According to reports, at least 15 community members in the Nashville area have been sent back to Iraq, but there is no official report from immigration officials.

Nationwide, 200 have been deported, and advocates are concerned many of them will face threats to their lives in their home country.

Earlier this month, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to stop posing as police when they enter into the Kurdish community to collect people for deportation.

Castelli says for many, Tennessee is the only home they've ever known and where they pay taxes and contribute to the community.

"These are people who have been in these communities,” he stresses. “They've been under these orders of supervision for years. They’ve been complying with them. They've built lives here. They're either employees and working for someone, or they run their own business."

Kurdish community members in Nashville say they fear being killed by ISIS if they return to Iraq.




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