Internal documents released in litigation against Customs and Border Protection (CBP) following the detention of U.S. citizens and permanent residents of Iranian descent at the U.S.-Canadian border earlier this year reveal that officials not only detained far more people than previously known, they actively misled the public in an effort to cover up their unlawful and discriminatory actions.
Civil and immigrant rights groups that sought the documents said in a statement that “emails demonstrate that after reporters began to inquire about the detention of Iranians at the Blaine Port of Entry, then-Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan and other high-level officials signed off on a public statement claiming that ‘[r]eports that CBP officers are detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry in the U.S. solely because of their country of origin are false.’” That, of course, was a lie.
The documents, sought by the Council on American Islamic Relations, the Washington office of CAIR, and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, show that despite their claims otherwise, there was in fact an order instructing U.S. officials to single out people of Iranian descent following the killing of a top Iranian military official by the United States in early January.
“The court ... required CBP to provide to the court unredacted copies of additional documents that CBP refused to release, in order to determine whether they must also be released to the public,” the groups said. “Those documents include the previously-leaked directive ordering the detention of all Iranians entering at the border, regardless of their lawful status … Notably, as the court observed in its decision, CBP has not contested that its actions in ordering the detention of Iranians at the border was unlawful.”
The documents also revealed that more people were unlawfully detained than previously known. While the number of people detained was reported anywhere from an initial 60 people to as high as 200 according to Rep. Pramila Jayapal, emails show over 250 people were sent to secondary inspection, including over 80 U.S. citizens. “Another email shows that CBP detained many of these individuals for several hours, including over 9 hours in some cases,” the groups said. “Indeed, in the vast majority of cases, CBP detained individuals for 3-4 hours or more—solely based on these individuals’ national origin.”
Morgan, who is still serving as the agency’s acting commissioner, later responded to outrage over the unlawful detentions by claiming officials just got a little carried away. “In that one instance,” he said during a press conference in February, “leadership just got a little overzealous, and we corrected that right away.” The true correction is making sure Morgan is nowhere near the federal government come January 20.
“The Constitution makes clear that discrimination based on national origin like this is unlawful,” NWIRP legal director Matt Adams said. “Yet, the records plainly demonstrate that CBP officials detained hundreds of people, including scores of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents solely because of where they were born. Moreover, the records make clear that authorities then lied about it. We urge Congress and the incoming Biden administration to hold CBP officials accountable for violating the civil rights of Iranian-Americans, among others.”