A first generation American of Iraqi origin has set up an "underground railroad" to help Christians escape the terror in Iraq.

Mark Arabo set up the Minority Humanitarian Foundation to help Chaldean Catholics and other religious minorities from the region flee the destruction of their faith and country at the hands of Islamic State terrorists, he told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

He said he had become impatient with the failure of central government in Washington to intervene.

San Diego suburb El Cajon is home to about 60,000 Chaldeans, the second largest number after Detroit. Many have already fled there and 27 are in custody with US immigration services, with 15 ordered to be deported and five facing charges for entering the US under false pretences. Some have fled to other countries and been granted asylum. Arabo, aged 32, said those left behind in Iraq were facing a "Christian genocide".

He criticised the US President: "Obama is failing on this issue completely. Our Congress is turning a blind eye."

Fadi Hirmiz, a 38-year-old Chaldean Catholic, told the newspaper he was able to get out with Arabo's help after Islamic State moved on his home in norther Iraq last summer. Speaking through an interpreter he said: "ISIS was getting closer and closer to our village. I was afraid for my family, for our kids."

He explained how Arabo's escape system works. The family boarded a truck their village, Batnaya, and rode to Turkey where they were given tickets to fly through Europe to Mexico. They entered the US through San Ysidro on the border and have applied for asylum. For a family of four the cost is about $25,000.

Arabo said: "The underground railroad wasn't our first choice. It was our last choice."