U.S. customs admitted ‘breach of protocol’ in targeting Iranian travellers: congresswoman

A Washington congresswoman says a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official has admitted to her that there was indeed a directive to detain and question travellers with links to Iran at a border crossing between B.C. and Washington state.

It comes days after a leaked memo that appeared to show an order from CPB’s Seattle field office, telling officers to question and detain travellers not only with links to Iran, but Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries — as well as Shia Muslims.

The memo references top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed Jan. 2 in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad.

House Representative Pramila Jayapal then posted on Twitter, saying she was working to confirm the authenticity of the document and had requested a meeting with the CBP’s Seattle field office director.

She said that meeting happened on Monday.

“I appreciate CBP Seattle Director of Operations Adele Fasano meeting with us,” she said in a statement posted to Twitter.

“For the first time, we were able to hear that there was indeed a breach of protocol and that a large number of Iranian-Americans were inappropriately targeted.”

Between Jan. 3 and 5, upwards of 60 people of Iranian heritage were reportedly questioned and held for hours at the Peace Arch border crossing. Many of them were American citizens who had been in Vancouver attending a concert.

“[It’s] absolutely outrageous, unconstitutional, discriminatory, but the thing is that CBP never admitted that that happened, kept insisting that it didn’t happen,” Jayapal said in a town hall event later Monday evening.

“And I will tell you it was the first time that I was able to hear that, yes, in fact, this did happen; yes, in fact, there was a directive. Two hundred people of Iranian-American descent do not get pulled aside unless there’s some sort of a directive.”

Now, Jayapal wants CBP to issue a formal statement apologizing to those who were impacted.

She said CBP missed a Jan. 21 deadline she gave them to release any internal documents that contain directives, instructions or guidance on screening people with links to Iran, and said she looks forward to receiving a written response to her letter now.

I would like to see a formal statement from CBP admitting these facts & I await the results of two investigations underway.

I'm also deeply concerned that it took a leaked memo to get to this point. CBP headquarters has not been honest about what happened — & that must change.

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) February 4, 2020

On Monday, Global News asked CBP for comment on Jayapal’s statements that Fasano had admitted a ‘breach of protocol’ to her.

“It is under investigation. I don’t have updates on the investigation,” said a spokesperson in an email.

CBP has previously denied that there were any directives issued to deny entry into the United States to travellers, but wouldn’t confirm whether a directive to question and detain certain travellers existed.

“CBP has understood Iran and its proxies to be a very capable adversary for some time,” the spokesperson told Global News on Jan. 30.

“As part of a multi-layered approach to security, CBP officers may refer for additional screening individuals who present a known risk or individuals about whom we need more information to make a determination of risk.

“These referrals are based on factors that could include the individual’s activities, associations and travel patterns.”

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

CBP would not comment on the authenticity of the memo, saying they could not comment on “leaked documents”.

Meanwhile, in light of the contents of the leaked memo and U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent restrictions on immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania, an American community organizer said Canadians travelling across the border should seek legal advice and make sure they’re aware of their rights.

Hoda Katebi said the Iranian-born people she talked to, who were held at the Peace Arch border crossing earlier this month, say they’ve had bad experiences every time they try to cross a U.S. border — and historically, people of colour are consistently targeted by CBP secondary questioning and screening.

“Customs and Border Protection are racist, are institutionally engaged in racism every single day. It’s impossible to say that anybody is ever safe, citizen or not, Canadian citizen or not,” she said.

Especially with the recent deportations of Iranian students studying in the U.S. on valid student visas, she said it’s vitally important to seek legal help before travelling rather than waiting until you are already detained.

“People have been messaging me for support after being detained for 10, 20 hours. But at that point, if you’re already in deportation proceedings, there’s very little that can be done,” she said.

“So I think it’s absolutely important that people are getting legal help and support in advance, and knowing your rights and questions that you can or don’t even have to answer.”

Katebi said she has “absolutely no faith” in the investigation CBP’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties office is carrying out into the alleged directive and leaked memo — a sentiment echoed by Len Saunders, the immigration lawyer to whom the memo was delivered.

“They’re investigating themselves. This is CBP Homeland Security investigating CBP Homeland Security, so I don’t have a lot of confidence that this investigation will be anything other than lip service for the media,” he said last week.