US immigration authorities are abusing Iraqi immigrants facing deportation and coercing them into waiving their legal rights, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has said.
In a court filing on Thursday, ACLU noted that incarcerated Iraqis face abuse, pressure and intimidation to give up legally challenging their deportation.
This is despite the fact that a federal judge in Detroit halted the deportations of all Iraqis in July to allow the immigrants to obtain the paperwork and legal representation they need to challenge the governments orders in court.
"In Arizona and Colorado, and on the plane travelling between the two locations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) guards referred to the Iraqis as ‘camel jockey, ‘rag head, and ‘terrorist," a report by the rights group said.
Iraqi immigrants had led normal lives while under orders of removal because Iraq did not accept deportees from the US. But that changed when Baghdad struck a deal with the administration of President Donald Trump, which removed Iraq from the second "Muslim ban".
The ACLU is asking US District Judge Mark Goldsmith to bar ICE agents from discussing legal issues with the detainees.
Meanwhile, an immigrants rights group recently noted that abuse at US immigration detention facilities are rarely investigated, according to data obtained by a national nonprofit agency.
The California-based Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement, or CIVIC, filed a federal complaint recently based upon data from the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of the Inspector General.
Between 2010 and 2016, there were 33,126 reports of sexual and physical abuse in U.S. immigration detention facilities, according to the data. Less than 2 percent of those complaints were investigated, CIVIC found.
The complaints came from detainees held by six U.S. agencies, including the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/8384
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