Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
International

US probes reports of Sikh turbans being confiscated at Mexico border

Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Aug, 2022 11:04 AM
  • US probes reports of Sikh turbans being confiscated at Mexico border

Washington, Aug 4 (IANS) US authorities have said investigations were underway into reports that turbans of Sikh asylum seekers were confiscated after they were detained at the country's border with Mexico, the media reported.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nearly 50 Sikh migrants have had their turbans taken away, the BBC reported.

It said that the turban confiscations "blatantly violate federal law" and are inconsistent with the US Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) own non-discrimination policies.

In a letter sent to CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus on August 1, the ACLU called the seizures "ongoing, serious religious-freedom violations".

Meanwhile, Vanessa Pineda, a lawyer of the ACLU of Arizona, told the BBC that no proper explanation has been given about what, if any, security concerns a turban could raise.

"It's just not acceptable. They need to find another alternative and to stop this. It's dehumanising," she added.

In response, Magnus said the border agency expects its staff to "treat all migrants we encounter with respect", the BBC reported citing A Washington Post report.

"An internal investigation has been opened to address this matter," the CBP Commissioner was quoted as saying.

According to CBP statistics, nearly 13,000 Indian citizens, including many from Punjab, have been detained by Border Patrol officers at the US-Mexico border in the fiscal year that began in October 2021.

Of these, about three-quarters, or nearly 10,000, have been detained in the Border Patrol's Yuma sector, a 202 km expanse of desert and rocky mountains that stretches from California's Imperial Sand Dunes to the border between Arizona's Yuma and Pima counties.

MORE International ARTICLES

Please Donate For Rajvinder Sidhu's Family, Truck Driver Killed In Accident In Delta

Rajwinder Singh Sidhu passed away tragically while working to support his family living both here in Canada as well as back in India.

Please Donate For Rajvinder Sidhu's Family, Truck Driver Killed In Accident In Delta

Thousands To Participate In Indian Mission-Led Yoga Day Events In UAE

Thousands To Participate In Indian Mission-Led Yoga Day Events In UAE
Thousands of residents will participate in events commemorating the fifth International Day of Yoga led by the Indian missions across the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the media reported on Tuesday.

Thousands To Participate In Indian Mission-Led Yoga Day Events In UAE

YouTube Working on Removing Harmful Content: Sundar Pichai

Pichai acknowledged that the platform was too big to completely fix the problem.  

YouTube Working on Removing Harmful Content: Sundar Pichai

Death Of Indian Girl Gurupreet Kaur Shows ‘Broken’ US Immigration System: Advocacy Group

Death Of Indian Girl Gurupreet Kaur Shows ‘Broken’ US Immigration System: Advocacy Group
The death of Gurupreet is the second recorded fatality of a migrant child this year in Arizona desert highlighting the central issue in immigration which is complicated, arduous, expensive and scary, forcing people to take extraordinary measures to come and make a life here in the US.  

Death Of Indian Girl Gurupreet Kaur Shows ‘Broken’ US Immigration System: Advocacy Group

Plan To End Work Permit For H-4 Visas Yet To Be Finalised: US Official

Under the previous Obama administration, certain H-4 workers were allowed to get employment authorisation. However, President Donald Trump said that he plans to rescind such a rule  

Plan To End Work Permit For H-4 Visas Yet To Be Finalised: US Official

US Senator Slams Donald Trump For 'Damaging' Trade Ties With 'Ally' India

US Senator Slams Donald Trump For 'Damaging' Trade Ties With 'Ally' India
The Indian move is seen as a retaliation to Donald Trump's decision terminating India's designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the key GSP trade programme after determining that it has not assured the US that it will provide "equitable and reasonable access to its markets".  

US Senator Slams Donald Trump For 'Damaging' Trade Ties With 'Ally' India