US Officials Violate Religious Freedom Rights Of Detained Migrants - Lawyer Group

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) needs to investigate two of its agencies over reported attacks on religious faith that include forcing immigrants to eat forbidden food, banning religious head coverings and prohibitions on attending worship services, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a press release on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2019) The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) needs to investigate two of its agencies over reported attacks on religious faith that include forcing immigrants to eat forbidden food, banning religious head coverings and prohibitions on attending worship services, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a press release on Wednesday.

"This administration purports to champion religious liberty, but its treatment of detained immigrants tells another story," ACLU Senior Staff Attorney for Freedom of Religion and Belief Heather Weaver said. "We call on DHS to immediately investigate, and put an end to, this abhorrent pattern of abuses.

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Weaver accused two DHS agencies - Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CPB) - of forcing Muslims to eat pork, confiscating rosaries from Catholics, ripping turbans of the heads of Sikhs and other illegal acts that deny detainees basic religious rights.

The violations suffered by detained immigrants continue to pile up, and the Trump administration has done nothing to stop it or hold the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol accountable, the release said.