Customs and Border Patrol is denying a report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations alleging that a directive was issued ordering the detention of Iranian-Americans returning to the U.S.:
Social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false. Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false.
— CBP (@CBP) January 5, 2020
This all started thanks to this tweet from activist Hoda Katebi:
BREAKING: US CUSTOMS & BORDER PROTECTION NATIONALLY HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO DETAIN & "REPORT" ALL IRANIANS ENTERING THE COUNTRY DEEMED POTENTIALLY SUSPICIOUS OR "ADVERSARIAL" REGARDLESS OF CITIZENSHIP STATUS. 60+ Iranis held last night at the US/Canada border for 11+ hrs / thread
— Hoda Katebi هدی کاتبی (@hodakatebi) January 5, 2020
That tweet quickly went viral thanks to blue checks like Howard Dean, and many others:
In other words, if you are an American citizen of Iranian descent, don’t leave the US You may not be allowed back. This will be overturned in court, but that takes time. https://t.co/N4OSn0AZAY
— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) January 5, 2020
BuzzFeed’s Hamed Aleaziz with the full CBP statement:
NEW: CBP says re: viral tweet :" Social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false. Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false."
— Hamed Aleaziz (@Haleaziz) January 5, 2020
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CBP says that the Washington/Canada POE had "wait times increased to an average of two hours on Saturday evening, although some travelers experienced wait times of up to four hours due to increased volume and reduced staff during the holiday season."
— Hamed Aleaziz (@Haleaziz) January 5, 2020
Additionally:
"Based on the current threat environment, CBP is operating with an enhanced posture at its ports of entry to safeguard our national security and protect the America people while simultaneously protecting the civil rights and liberties of everyone."
— Hamed Aleaziz (@Haleaziz) January 5, 2020
Reporters have yet to to substantiate the claims:
I get it, but the original allegation of a nationwide directive came from a single anonymous source in an advocacy press release, and hasn’t been substantiated.
— Dara Lind (@DLind) January 5, 2020
But they’re trying:
As a reporter, my role is not to 'back up' anybody but to lay out the facts, to the best of my ability.
A viral tweet & press release citing one anonymous source said there was a nationwide directive to detain Iranians at the border. CBP says that is false. I'm noting that. https://t.co/q7HrwFujxI
— Hamed Aleaziz (@Haleaziz) January 5, 2020
As far as the detentions/secondary interviews go, my colleagues & I are looking into that and speaking with those impacted & advocates. We will report what we get from there.
— Hamed Aleaziz (@Haleaziz) January 5, 2020
Here’s the press release CAIR put out:
Press release pt 1 pic.twitter.com/g5qUawd0lq
— Hoda Katebi هدی کاتبی (@hodakatebi) January 5, 2020
— Hoda Katebi هدی کاتبی (@hodakatebi) January 5, 2020
CAIR says they are helping families who were detained, so why haven’t any reporters picked up on this yet?
So far we know of several families who have been released, some of whom we were assisting directly.
— CAIR Washington (@cair_wa) January 5, 2020
We’ll update this post if anything changes.
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