June 19, 2018:
As many as 52 men from India are among Asylum seekers being held in the US Federal Prisons in Trump Administration’s continuing zero-tolerance crackdown on the illegal immigration that has led to separation of the families and, most controversially, removal of the children from their parents.Indians, who were mostly Punjabi and Hindi speakers, are being held in a Federal Detention Center in Oregon, Washington State, where they were transferred as part of a larger group of 123 people held allegedly for crossing into US illegally along border with Mexico weeks ago.
Some of the Indians identified themselves as Sikhs and Christians claimed that they were fleeing persecution by Hindu majority in India. It could not be immediately confirmed if they had been separated from their families.
Others in this group of 123 all men, are from China, Guatemala, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan and Ukraine.
Lawyers from American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the other groups have been in touch with the detainees while some other bodies have sought volunteers from Indian American community for those from India, most of whom can only speak and understand Punjabi or Hindi.
Asylum seekers are facing increased scrutiny under Trump Administration and those showing up illegally are being subjected to a zero-tolerance policy that has led to an outcry because of splitting of families.
Administration has stated that 10,000 of 12,000 children in the US Detention facilities were those who were sent by their parents alone to be smuggled illegally into United States and the remaining 2,000 were separated from their parents when their families crossed over illegally.
Source Hindustan Times
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