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Metro Detroit man facing deportation to Iraq is only available donor for his ill niece

Posted at 11:26 PM, Jun 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-29 05:06:44-04

A Warren woman is in the fight of her life because every day could be her last.

Mirvet Bahoura, 38, is battling a rare auto-immune disease, which requires daily medication - and a bone marrow transplant at any given moment.

In something most, would call a miracle, Mirvet found a match in her 55-year-old uncle, Ghassan Kassab.

He's already saved her life, not once but twice.

But on June 11, a routine visit to ICE, turned into a nightmare, which could be a matter of life and death for them both.

Kassab was detained because of his past criminal record and is now being held behind bars in Arizona with the threat of being deported back to Iraq.

Now her uncle, her donor and lifesaver is gone.

"He's not here to provide and then I have to be put on a waiting list and that can take years and years and especially like with Mediterranean, Middle Eastern it's hard to find a match like that," says Mirvet Bahoura, tearfully.

Kassab did have a drug conviction two decades ago, and a DUI conviction almost 10 years ago.

According to a court of law, he has paid his debt to society.

Kassab has been in this country since he was 6 years old and does not want to return to Iraq.

Mervit and her family have been working with CODE Legal Aid. They have helped them to secure legal counsel, with hope of bringing their case before the immigration court and bring her uncle back home.