The practice of Customs & Border Patrol (CBP) agents forcing migrants to discard possessions of religious significance, including items like dastaars (turbans), has been a recurring and grave issue at the border. The Sikh American Legal Defense Fund (SALDEF) reiterates that the dastaar is an object of deep religious significance, and those who wear it and other articles of faith like karas and kachere do so as a reflection of their faith and devotion. The confiscation and destruction of a Sikh’s turban is among the gravest offenses imaginable.
“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been receiving formal complaints about its agents’ failure to respect religious dignity since at least 2016. I am alarmed and deeply concerned that years after my previous visit to the border with other advocates for Sikh migrants, where we received promises that the issue would be addressed, stories of these violations continue to emerge,” said Kiran Kaur Gill, Executive Director of SALDEF. “The CBP agents in Yuma are contravening specific guidance in their own agency’s National Standards: on respecting individuals’ religious beliefs and dignity; and on cataloging and returning personal property seized during processing. We will continue to engage with partners on Congressional committees, in the White House, and at executive agencies to elevate these civil liberties violations to the highest levels possible. We hope we can assist in the long term by helping to develop appropriate procedures and providing Sikh-specific sensitivity training to CBP as we have for other enforcement agencies.”
Among the meaningful solutions, SALDEF demands are the provision of interpretation and in-language resources in Punjabi to migrants, so they can request appropriate accommodation and services. We strongly endorse the provision of publicly available data and transparent audits on the frequency of confiscations of religious items by CBP agents. This will help community members ensure adequate pastoral care is delivered to detainees, and create a basis of trust between the agents protecting our southern border and advocates for asylees from marginalized groups.
SALDEF would like to extend an invitation to the Sikh American community to help. Alongside our fellow community advocates and our partners at the International Rescue Committee’s Welcome Center in Arizona, we have arranged an opportunity to send replacement dastaars and other essentials to the organizations receiving Sikh and other recently-released CBP detainees.
Please contact jyot.singh@saldef.org if you would like to help make Sikh and non-Sikh asylees’ new home feel more welcoming.
We also invite concerned citizens to send a letter directly to their representatives in Congress and the President in just two minutes using this link: https://secure.everyaction.com/fswxhGClRky7GU8AyZXiYw2