Edward Bajoka, the immigration attorney, said that Aldaoud had never been to Iraq and did not speak Arabic.
He was deported in June, after a crackdown on Iraqi immigrants with criminal records went into effect in the US.
Aldaoud had been convicted 20 times over 20 years – including for assault with a dangerous weapon, domestic violence and home invasion, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
He was born in Greece. Human Rights Watch has called his death a “shocking but unpredictable result of cruel US immigration policies.”
The Aldaoud family is now looking into taking legal action.
ICE claims that he was given enough medicine to ensure that his health would be maintained while he was being deported.