美国海关和边境保护局否认了周末几十名伊朗裔美国人和其他伊朗裔美国人因“原籍国”而被拘留在美国边境的指控。
CBP周日在推特上否认了这些指控声称“社交媒体上说CBP拘留伊朗裔美国人并拒绝他们入境是错误的。”
该机构还坚称，国土安全部和CBP都没有发布任何"指令"，命令边境人员和官员拘留伊朗裔人。
尽管该机构做出了保证，但美国-伊斯兰关系委员会华盛顿州分会称，已经确认了60多名“不分年龄”的伊朗人和伊朗-美国人，他们称自己已被CBP官员“长时间拘留和审问”。
said瓦说，所有被拘留的人都被拦在华盛顿州布莱恩的和平拱门过境点。
该组织表示，这些人在被问及他们的政治观点和忠诚之前，停止报告他们的护照被拿走。报告称，一些人也被“据报道，由于缺乏能力”CBP拒绝进入美国拘留他们。
一名24岁的伊朗裔美国公民告诉CAIR-瓦邦，他们是如何在被释放前在边境与家人一起被拘留和审问了10多个小时。
这位24岁的医科学生仅被认定为克里斯托，他说，“昨晚被关押的绝大多数人是美国公民。”
克里斯托说:“我们不停地问为什么被拘留，问一些与我们旅行的原因无关的问题，然后被告知‘很抱歉，现在对你们来说是错误的时间’。
“这些报道非常令人不安，可能构成对美国公民的非法拘留，”CAIR-西澳大利亚执行主任马西·富拉迪说。“我们正在努力核实关于在入境口岸拘留伊朗裔美国人的广泛的全国性指令的报道，以便我们能够向社区成员提供准确的旅行指南。随着我们获得更多信息，我们将继续更新社区和其他民权组织。”
在一系列推文中，伊朗裔美国人全国理事会(NIAC)也警告说，它已经听到了伊朗裔人在美国边境被拦截的“可信报告”。
“紧急:我们正在听到可信的关于美国边境拘留伊朗裔美国人和永久居民的报道，”NIAC周日在推特上警告说，该组织自称是一个致力于促进伊朗裔美国人利益的无党派非营利组织。
该组织表示，该组织仍处于“信息收集阶段”，但表示，有报道称，“许多伊朗血统的人被拘留在入境口岸——包括机场和边境口岸——接受讯问。”
然而，报告称，大多数报道都来自华盛顿布莱恩的和平拱门过境点。
华盛顿官员表示，他们正在与副州长赛勒斯·哈比卜一起调查此事发表声明表示对关于伊朗裔人被关押在加拿大-华盛顿边境“有时长达10小时或更长时间”的报道表示关切。
哈比卜说:“我的办公室正在尽快收集信息，并将受影响的人引向资源。”。
哈比卜在CBP否认指控的推特上发表声明说:“海关和边境保护局必须立即澄清这一政策上的巨大变化。”
上周美国在巴格达暗杀伊朗将军卡西姆·苏莱曼尼后，局势高度紧张，争议不断。62岁的索莱曼尼曾监督伊朗在中东的军事行动，在美国被视为应对数千人死亡负责的恐怖分子。
汽车在不列颠哥伦比亚和华盛顿州之间的和平拱门过境点排队进入美国。有报道称，包括许多美国公民在内的数十名伊朗裔人在美国边境入境点被拦截，引发了恐慌。克里斯多夫·莫利斯/科尔比斯/盖蒂
索莱马尼被杀后，伊朗发誓要进行“严厉报复”，然后宣布不再遵守此前在2015年核协议中同意的对敏感核活动的限制。
唐纳德·特朗普总统警告说，伊朗的任何报复都可能导致美国以潜在的“不相称的方式”进行反击
“这种法律通知不是必须的，但还是会发出，”总统在推特上说。
新闻周刊已联系CBP、NIAC、CAIR-西澳大利亚和塞勒斯·哈比卜副州长办公室，就本文发表评论。
CBP DENIES DETAINING IRANIAN-AMERICANS 'BECAUSE OF THEIR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN'
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has denied allegations that it saw dozens of Iranian-Americans and others of Iranian descent detained at the U.S. border "because of their country of origin" over the weekend.
The CBP denied the allegations in a Twitter post on Sunday, asserting that "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."
The agency also maintained that neither the Department of Homeland Security nor CBP had issued any "directive" ordering border agents and officers to detain people of Iranian descent.
Despite the agency's assurances, the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA) said it had identified more than 60 Iranians and Iranian-Americans "of all ages" who said they had been "detained at length and questioned" by CBP officials.
All of those who were detained, CAIR-WA said, had been stopped at the Peace Arch border crossing in Blaine, Washington.
The organization said that those stopped reported having their passports taken away before being questioned about their political views and allegiances. Some, it said, were also "reportedly refused entry to the United States due to a lack of capacity" for CBP to detain them.
One 24-year-old U.S. citizen of Iranian descent told CAIR-WA of how they were detained and interrogated for more than 10 hours with their family at the border crossing before being released.
Identified only as Crystal, the 24-year-old, who is a medical student, said that "the vast majority of people being held last night were American citizens."
"We kept asking why we were being detained and asked questions that had nothing to do with our reason for traveling and was told 'I'm sorry this is just the wrong time for you guys'," Crystal said.
"These reports are extremely troubling and potentially constitute illegal detentions of United States citizens," said Masih Fouladi, executive director of CAIR-WA. "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. We will continue to update the community and other civil rights organizations as we obtain more information."
In a series of tweets, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), also warned that it had heard "credible reports" of people of Iranian descent being stopped at U.S. border points.
"URGENT: we are hearing credible reports of detentions at U.S. borders, both of Iranian Americans and permanent residents," the NIAC, which identifies itself as a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing interests of the Iranian-American community, warned in a tweet on Sunday.
The organization said it was still "in the info-gathering stage," but said that reports had suggested that "many individuals of Iranian heritage have been detained for questioning at ports of entry—both at airports and border crossings."
Most reports, it said, however, had originated from the Peace Arch border crossing in Blaine, Washington.
Washington officials said they were looking into the matter, with Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib issuing a statement expressing concern over reports of people of Iranian descent being held "sometimes for 10 hours or longer" at the Canada-Washington border.
"My office is working as quickly as possible to gather information and to direct those being impacted to resources," Habib said.
Issuing his statement before CBP's own tweet denying the allegations, Habib said: "It is critical that Customs and Border Protection immediately clarify this drastic change in policy."
The controversy comes amid high tensions following the U.S.'s assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad last week. Soleimani, who was 62, had overseen Iranian military operations in the Middle East and was marked in the U.S. as a terrorist responsible for the deaths of thousands.
Cars line up to enter the United States at the Peace Arch border crossing, between British Columbia and Washington State. Reports of dozens of people of Iranian descent, including many American citizens, being stopped at a U.S. border entry point have sparked alarm.
In the wake of Soleimani's killing, Iran vowed to take "severe revenge" before announcing that it would no longer be adhering to the restrictions on sensitive nuclear activity that it had previously agreed to under the 2015 nuclear deal.
President Donald Trump has warned that any retaliation from Iran could result in the U.S. striking back in a potentially "disproportionate manner."
"Such legal notice is not required, but is given nonetheless," the president said in a tweet.
Newsweek has contacted CBP, the NIAC, CAIR-WA and the office of Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib for comment for this article.
