More than 50 individuals from India, some of them possibly separated from their children, are reportedly incarcerated at a federal prison in Oregon under the Trump administration’s tough “zero-tolerance” policy against illegal immigration, an Asia-Pacific activist organisation said on Tuesday.
Over the last month, 123 immigrants seeking asylum have been detained and transferred to Oregon’s Sheridan federal prison in Yamhill County, the Asia-Pacific American Network of Oregon said, revealing that 52 listed India as their home country.
Several identified themselves as Sikhs or Christians fleeing religious persecution from the Hindu majority.
The organisation indicated that the detention involved separating children from parents but did not say how many were affected.
The detained Indians said that their Hindi and Punjabi translators were the first outsiders they’ve been able to talk to since they were imprisoned weeks ago.
