(Image source from: The Week)
Over 50 Indian nationals, for the most part, Sikhs from Punjab, confined in a prison house in the United States state of Oregon after illicitly entering the country are not being manacled, a legal advocacy group volunteer said on Friday.
According to claims by media reports, the asylum seekers were being treated like criminals in a federal prison, where they have been detained for the past several weeks now.
"It was not my statement that immigrants detained at Sheridan (Oregon) have been kept in handcuffs and chains since their arrival or that they are in handcuffs and chains 24/7 now. My statement has been misconstrued by the media," Navneet Kaur, a community college professor, said in a statement.
Kaur who has been volunteering with Innovation Law Lab whose main role was to render translations to detainees said her report is based on her visit to the prison and meetings with them.
"On July 14, during the 105th year celebration held in commemoration of the Ghadar Party in Astoria, Oregon, I spoke against the grave violations of human rights experienced by immigrants detained in America. My statement was based on the accounts I have heard during my visits to the federal detention center in Sheridan, Oregon," said Kaur. "I have a few examples of such violations including not giving them access to legal representation, keeping them in prison cells 22 hours a day, keeping them handcuffed and chained for a 24-hour period upon the arrival."
It is her understanding that conditions at the detention center have improved since the immigrant's initial arrival in late May 2018, she said.
U.S. immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) officials in an email to North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) has said that it is processing all detainees in accordance with the US immigration law.
"ICE has met with all detainees to advise them of their rights to speak with their consular representatives. Detainees have access to legal representation," Melissa Nitsch, community relations officer, told NAPA.
"Any asylum claims are forwarded promptly to the US citizenship and immigration services (USCIS) asylum office in San Francisco. Interviews are underway by USCIS, and determinations of credible fear are at the discretion of USCIS (not ICE)," Nitsch said.
By Sowmya Sangam
