Religious Migrant Mistreatment Continues at U.S. Border, Charge ACLU, 160-Plus Groups in Letter to Homeland Security

Original Article
August 23, 2022
The Davis Vanguard

The U.S. Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas received a letter here Monday signed by 162 organizations urging an end to the “mistreatment of religious migrants by U.S. border officials in Arizona and at other border-crossing points.”

Among the signees were about 20 Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) member organizations, who joined the Sikh Coalition, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona (ACLU-AZ), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in calling for an end to the mistreatment of religious migrants by U.S. border officials in Arizona and at other border-crossing points.

In June and July, the ACLU said it received reports “U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Arizona’s Yuma Sector have been confiscating Sikh migrants’ turbans and other possessions and throwing them in the trash.”

The ACLU said subsequent reports also “revealed that some Sikh migrants in Arizona’s Tucson Sector are being denied vegetarian meals and ordered by border officials to eat meat or starve.”

Immigrant advocates told the ACLU “these unlawful practices are also occurring at other border-crossing points outside of Arizona. Members of Congress have spoken out about the issue. Per public reporting, an investigation is currently underway.”

 The letter signed by the 162 civil rights, immigration, religious, advocacy, and other organizations said,

“For years, advocates and the media have repeatedly raised concerns about the seizure of religious headwear and other articles of faith, as well as the denial of religious diets by CBP. 

“These practices not only affect Sikh individuals, but they also harm Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, and Christian migrants, among others. Furthermore, the unnecessary and cruel confiscation of migrants’ personal belongings extends beyond religious items … Time after time, DHS officials have assured the public and stakeholders that they take these concerns seriously, yet the violations continue. 

“Alarmingly, these abuses have gone on for so long that they appear to have become standard operating procedure at the border, supplanting CBP’s own rules—which require religious sensitivity and the safeguarding of migrants’ personal property. It is now time for immediate and decisive action.”

The Sikh Coalition, ACLU-AZ, and ACLU claim they sent letters of complaint to CBP in early August and “have since continued to press senior DHS and other government leaders to respond in a transparent and comprehensive way.”

The letter urges DHS to adopt “an unambiguous statement of policy prohibiting this misconduct and detailing strict enforcement against any official or individual who violates this policy,” and it underscores the need for DHS to “undertake a full-scale reckoning of CBP’s and other agencies’ brazen disregard for migrants’ religious freedom and other rights.”

“Sikh migrants are among the most vulnerable individuals coming to the United States—in many cases, fleeing a well-founded fear of religious persecution in their home countries. To have their religious and other rights immediately violated by CBP officers is a cruel irony, and this misconduct should not be tolerated,” said Sim J. Singh Attariwala, Sikh Coalition Senior Policy and Advocacy Manager.

And, Noah Schramm, Border Policy Strategist at the ACLU of Arizona said, “The violation of migrants’ religious rights and confiscation of their property has been an ongoing issue for far too long. It is increasingly clear that this problem is rooted in both the misconduct of individual officers and a troubling institutional culture within CBP.”

Jonathan Blazer, Director of Border Strategies at the ACLU argued, “All migrants deserve to be treated with basic human dignity, including respect for their religious rights and personal possessions. We need a transparent investigation into why this practice has continued and an immediate policy change to stop it permanently.”

“It is entirely unacceptable for a nation that has prided itself in its religious freedoms to be responsible for such an egregious violation of the religious rights of newcomers…we demand accountability for these actions by CBP,” noted Katie Adams, Interim Chair of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition and Domestic Policy Advocate for the United Church of Christ.