Close X
Tuesday, November 26, 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

Human Rights champion Dr.Sakena Yacoobi pleas for help amidst the Afghan crisis

Human Rights champion Dr.Sakena Yacoobi pleas for help amidst the Afghan crisis
We need humanitarian supplies. The refugee situation we updated you with last week and the week before has only deteriorated. We have 300,000 internal refugees and 80,000 children who are without shelter and food. Where we were short of supplies, now we are out. 

Human Rights champion Dr.Sakena Yacoobi pleas for help amidst the Afghan crisis

Afghan Prez fled with 4 cars and a helicopter filled with cash

Afghan Prez fled with 4 cars and a helicopter filled with cash
Nikita Ishchenko, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Kabul, was quoted as saying by RIA: "Four cars were full of money, they tried to stuff another part of the money into a helicopter, but not all of it fit. And some of the money was left lying on the tarmac."

Afghan Prez fled with 4 cars and a helicopter filled with cash

Travelling from U.S. to Canada? Here are the rules

Travelling from U.S. to Canada? Here are the rules
Fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents can now enter Canada for non-essential purposes for the first time since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the two countries to severely curtail travel.

Travelling from U.S. to Canada? Here are the rules

1 person dead in shooting outside US store

1 person dead in shooting outside US store
One person was killed and another injured during a shooting which took place in the parking lot of a store in the US state of Pennsylvania, authorities said.

1 person dead in shooting outside US store

Biden, Harris commemorate 2012 gurdwara mass killing

Biden, Harris commemorate 2012 gurdwara mass killing
Six Sikhs were killed in the August 5, 2012, attack in which four people, including a police officer, were injured and one person died last year from the wounds sustained in the shooting.

Biden, Harris commemorate 2012 gurdwara mass killing

Novavax seeks OK for COVID vaccine in needy countries first

Novavax seeks OK for COVID vaccine in needy countries first
U.S.-based Novavax partnered with the Serum Institute of India to apply in the three countries, and plans later this month to also seek the World Health Organization review needed to be part of the COVAX global vaccine program.

Novavax seeks OK for COVID vaccine in needy countries first