Muslim civil rights activists reported that more than 60 Iranians, some of them American citizens, were detained at the US-Canada border, amid escalating tensions between Washington D.C. and Iran.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported Sunday that more than 60 Iranians and Iranian-Americans of all ages were detained at length and questioned by officers at the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine, Washington.
More Iranian-Americans are expected to cross the Peace Arch Border to try to return to their homes in the US from an Iranian pop concert that took place on Saturday in Vancouver, Canada.
The detained group allegedly had their passports confiscated and they were questioned about their political views and allegiances.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported Sunday that more than 60 Iranians and Iranian-Americans of all ages have been detained at the US-Canada border, amid escalating tensions between Washington D.C. and Iran
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, said her office is investigating the reports
A 24-year-old American medical student named Crystal was allegedly detained and interrogated for more than 10 hours with her family at the Peace Arch Border Crossing before being released early Sunday morning.
A North Vancouver man who was born in Tehran but is a Canadian citizen told a CBC reporter he and his family and dozens of other Iranians were detained for ‘8+ hours at the Peace Arch border’ crossing yesterday.
‘The vast majority of people being held last night were American citizens. We kept asking why we were being detained and asked questioned that had nothing to do with our reason for traveling and was told “I’m sorry this is just the wrong time for you guys,”‘ Crystal said according to a CAIR-Washington report.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, tweeted that reports have emerged of Iranian Americans – some of whom are U.S. citizens, are being detained at the Canadian border.
‘Deeply disturbed by reports that Iranian Americans, including U.S. citizens, are being detained at the Canadian border with WA State. My office has been working on this all morning,’ she tweeted Sunday afternoon.
CBP officials told DailyMail.com they are working on a response to those alleged detainments. It’s not clear of those people are still detained or released.
A source at CBP told CAIR that the Department of Homeland Security issued a national order to CBP to ‘report’ and detain anyone with Iranian heritage entering the country who is deemed potentially suspicious or ‘adversarial’ regardless of their citizenship status.
The National Iranian American Council, a non profit based in the US, also tweeted about ‘credible reports’ of detentions at US borders and said as many as 150 individuals may have been held for questioning. They were asked about relatives, occupations, birthdays, the last time they visited Iran and their opinions on the current tensions.
The Peach Arch border crossing between Blaine, Washington and White Rock, British Columbia pictured above
A source at CBP told CAIR that the Department of Homeland Security issued a national order to CBP to ‘report’ and detain anyone with Iranian heritage entering the country who is deemed potentially suspicious or ‘adversarial’ regardless of their citizenship status
Multiple individuals reports to NIAC being held for 11 to 16 hours.
‘These reports are extremely troubling and potentially constitute illegal detentions of United States citizens,’ Masih Fouladi, the executive director of CAIR-WA, said. ‘We are working to verify reports of a broad nationwide directive to detain Iranian-Americans at ports of entry so that we can provide community members with accurate travel guidance. We will continue to update the community and other civil rights organizations as we obtain more information.’
Separately, there have been reports of questioning taking place at airports. An American citizen who works as a historian was taken to a ‘special side room’after landing at JFK airport and asked how they felt about the situation in Iran and released after questioning.
Unconfirmed reports of problems were also flagged at San Francisco Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.