52 Indians, mostly Sikhs, held at Oregon detention centre in US
52 Indians, mostly Sikhs, held at Oregon detention centre in US. 52 Indians mostly Sikhs have been held at a detention centre in the US State of Oregon for being part of a large contingent of illegal immigrants seeking asylum, an American lawmaker confirmed. The detention centre was recently visited by a group of Democratic lawmakers from the Oregon State, who later told the media about the alleged inhuman condition of the illegal immigrants. The immigrants are seeking asylum in the US. "Through our Punjabi translator, we learned that these men were planning to request asylum because they faced severe religious persecution in India. Most are Sikh or Christian. Instead they were incarcerated in a federal prison," wrote Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. "They said they came to the United States for religious freedom, but they felt as if they were 'going crazy' because they are being confined in small cells for up to 22 hours a day," the Congresswoman said. Most of the detainees at the federal facility are asking for asylum because they experienced violence or persecution in their home countries, Bonamici added. "This is a shameful hour in US history. I don't care what your stance on immigration is, no one should favour ripping children out of their parents' arms ...." Democratic Congressman Earl Blumenauer told reporters after visiting the detention centre. "The administration is criminalising families who are fleeing abuse and violence and separating children as ICE detains or deports their parents," he said in a statement. They alleged that they fled their country because of religious persecution from the Hindu majority. The Indians told the delegation that their Hindi and Punjabi translators were the first outsiders they've been able to talk to since they were imprisoned weeks ago, the daily reported. These 123 detainees are among the more than 1,600 people that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is holding in federal prisons across the US as it enforces Trump's "zero-tolerance policy" on immigration, the lawmakers said in a joint statement. -PTC News
