As Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pounded on his front door, Ali Najim Al-Sadoon grabbed his wife and six children and hugged them. Moments later, the agents forced entry and arrested the 34-year-old Iraqi refugee, who had cut his tether to avoid deportation.

“They sentenced him to death,” Al-Sadoon’s wife, Belqis Florido, told The Detroit News. “He can’t go back.”