CBP's Detention of Iranian Americans Was Probably Illegal
Over the weekend, Customs and Border Protection agents detained more than 60 American citizens and green card holders at a border crossing in Blaine, Washington, because they were of Iranian heritage. Agents allegedly held these individuals for up to 11 hours, questioning them about their families, politics, and allegiance to Iran. CBP insisted that it did not detain anyone “because of their country of origin,” a claim contradicted by firsthand accounts from travelers and attorneys in Blaine.
Given the Trump administration’s previous targeting of religious and ethnic groups, particularly Muslims, the news raised the question of whether this action was part of some new directive from the Department of Homeland Security. It’s quite possible, however, that CBP has not adopted a nationwide policy targeting Iranians—while permitting individual officers to do just that. The agency grants its employees extraordinary discretion to enforce broad directives, a recipe for discrimination and illegality. Under Trump, especially, CBP agents frequently behave as if they are accountable to no one, because they usually are.
While CBP denied imposing any uniform rule in response to Iran’s perceived threat to the United States, the agency’s statements acknowledge some heightened scrutiny. CBP told CQ Roll Call’s Tanvi Misra that it was “operating with an enhanced posture,” alluding to the Department of Homeland Security’s warning that Iran may soon carry out a terrorist attack. When the agency declares an enhanced threat, its officers have wide latitude to decide how best to respond. They can’t legally single out individuals solely because of their national origin, but they can take it into consideration, along with other factors like travel history and suspicious behavior. Former CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske told the New York Times that agents “put an added emphasis” on national origin when a specific country has been “singled out as a national security threat.”
These hazy rules give agents considerable authority to select Iranian Americans for “secondary screening,” CBP’s term for detention. When selected for secondary screening, an individual is placed in a small room, often for hours, and eventually interrogated. According to reports from the Times and BuzzFeed, agents asked these individuals about their family members (including names, birthdays, and military service), education, “political views and allegiances,” and “weapons training.” Agents coerced at least one American citizen into providing his phone passcode, then searched the phones for two hours—an inspection of dubious legality, since CBP can only lawfully search phones at the border for “digital contraband” like child pornography, not general evidence of a crime.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/cbp-s-detention-of-iranian-americans-was-probably-illegal/ar-BBYG5I5?ocid=msn360
= new reply since forum marked as read
