Tehran 07 January_Dozens of Iranians and Iranian-Americans have reported being harassed or questioned for hours at the US border following heightened tensions over the US assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club(YJC)-The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy group, said it had provided assistance to more than 60 travelers who were detained at length over the weekend and questioned about their political views at Washington state's border with Canada.
Many of them were reportedly denied entry to the US due to a lack of capacity for Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to detain them. One 24-year-old only identified as Crystal by CAIR said she was detained and interrogated for more than 10 hours with her family at the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine, Washington, before being released early Sunday.
She said when the family asked why they were being detained, CBP agents said, "It is just the wrong time for you guys."
"These reports are extremely troubling and potentially constitute illegal detentions of United States citizens," said Masih Fouladi, executive director of CAIR's Washington chapter.
"We are working to verify reports of a broad nationwide directive to detain Iranian-Americans at ports of entry so that we can provide community members with accurate travel guidance."
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