U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued new interim guidance instructing agents to stop unnecessarily removing, confiscating and trashing the sacred turbans of Sikh asylum-seekers, according to language of the directives obtained by Arizona Luminaria.
The agency, however, has yet to make those temporary orders public in what faith and civil rights leaders say is a violation of CBP’s own policies to ensure greater oversight of the government agency.
When for security reasons agents need to inspect the turban, the interim guidance requires that they subsequently return it to the Sikh person.
The change follows a national public outcry and pressure from lawmakers and advocacy groups who said Border Patrol agents were violating the religious and civil rights of hundreds of Sikh people, as well as disregarding the agency’s own policies to protect people with vital belongings in their possession when they seek asylum or cross the border.
While saying that the interim guidance is an important step, Sim J. Singh Attariwala, senior policy and advocacy manager for the Sikh Coalition, said that “more must be done to correct the forced removal and trashing of Sikh turbans by Border Patrol agents, and individual officers must be held accountable for these egregious actions.
“The Sikh Coalition looks forward to continued engagement with CBP leadership to develop policies that include more faith communities and remedy larger concerns of removing other personal property such as medical devices, important documentation, heirlooms, and other valuables.”
Officials with ACLU Arizona and the Sikh Coalition shared excerpts of the interim guidelines exclusively with Arizona Luminaria, which they said went into effect on Aug. 6 and were provided to them by email on Sep. 6, and later discussed during a Sept. 9 meeting with CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus and other agency officials.
According to the interim guidance:
Migrants and property encountered in the field, to include turbans, will be searched by agents for officer safety. Any migrant or property that enters a USBP facility is also searched for contraband. If the migrant is classified as “non-threat” and no other risks factors are present (e.g., suicide risk) the turban will be returned to the migrant at the conclusion of the search.
The accommodation will be documented in our system of record (e3DM).
If safety or security concerns arise while the subject is being detained, the item can be removed and secured as property until their transfer or release. As with the accommodation, any action related to the removal of a turban from a detainee will be documented appropriately in e3DM.
First reported by Arizona Luminaria in early August, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona and the Sikh Coalition called out CBP, Border Patrol’s parent agency, for an uptick in incidences of Sikh asylum seekers having their turbans confiscated and then trashed by Border Patrol agents in Yuma.
Subsequent reporting found that the confiscations were significantly more prevalent across Yuma and the Tucson border than initially thought, and a host of lawmakers stepped up pressure on the Biden administration to put an end to the practice.
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Wearing a turban is one of five key sacred practices that Sikhs follow. The sacred head garment has deep spiritual significance, and being forced to remove it is akin to being humiliated and exposed, say local Sikhs.
After initially saying that the agency would be investigating, CBP has now issued guidance reiterating that all Border Patrol agents must follow the National Standards on Transport, Escort, Detention and Search. In regard to turbans, the new guidelines specify, when conducting a pat down of a subject who is wearing a turban, if no safety or security risk is identified, the turban will be returned to the subject and remain in their possession while being detained, according to excerpts of the guidelines shared by ACLU Arizona and the Sikh Coalition.
Border Patrol repeatedly refused to acknowledge that such guidance has been issued, despite a directive from CPB this May mandating that policy changes “be released publicly unless they contain information that should not and/or cannot be released for personnel safety, privacy, or legal reasons.”
A coalition of lawmakers, led by Democratic Reps. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), Joaquin Castro (Texas) and Judy Chu (Calif.) have repeatedly called for more transparency from Border Patrol in order to better understand the extent of the problem and how to end the abuses. While focused on the specific issue of Sikh turbans, the lawmakers also pointed to Border Patrol’s confiscation of other religious and important personal items.
In response to multiple requests for comment, a CBP spokesperson on Sept. 12 responded with an old statement: “This issue was raised in June and steps were immediately taken to address the situation.”
Confiscations continued well into August, with the latest documented confiscation recorded after the new guidance was issued, according to ACLU Arizona. It is unclear if the confiscation actually occurred before or after the guidance was issued. Whistleblowers working with a Tucson agency that aids migrants and refugees also shared accounts of Border Patrol agents verbally harassing Sikh asylum seekers and denying them their religiously required diets.
The Department of Homeland Security and CBP “have a responsibility to … be forthcoming as they conduct their duties,” Grijalva said. “Until then, I’ll continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to ensure we hold DHS and CBP accountable so that this never happens again.”
Details from one case
Deepak Ahluwalia, a Sikh attorney in Fresno, California, who has been representing Sikh asylum-seekers for years, shared with Arizona Luminaria the details of and case notes from one of his client’s experiences with having his turban confiscated. Because of his ongoing immigration case and fears of retaliation, the asylum-seeker did not want his name publicly released.
On Aug. 3, a Sikh asylum-seeker crossed the border along with his wife and two young children near Yuma to turn themselves in to Border Patrol, according to Ahluwalia. After waiting more than 12 hours near the border wall, they were finally bused to the nearby station for processing.
After waiting all day in the sun — with the parents taking turns holding their young children, ages 2 and 4 — the man was feeling weak and ill, and was beginning to struggle to breathe. He was given water and allowed to sit down as two officers, one of whom he described as rude and aggressive ordered him to remove his turban, according to Ahluwalia.
He explained that he was happy to take it off and let them search it, but he wanted it back afterward. The officers took it off, took photos of him with his hair loose, and confiscated the turban. He said he felt humiliated.
As the processing continued, he told the officers he was feeling worse. They pressured him into signing paperwork he didn’t understand, telling him, “You need to sign this,” in a manner he felt was threatening, according to the case notes. They accused him of pretending to be sick, and one officer pulled him to his feet, pushed him against the wall, and handcuffed him.
His wife, who witnessed the aggression, began crying. When he tried to console her and his children, speaking to them in Punjabi, the officer who handcuffed him said, “You need to speak fucking English,” he later told his attorney.
The officer then escorted him to a small solitary confinement cell and left him alone. He was in the room for a few hours, during which he threw up two to three times. Though he said there were cameras in the room, and he was banging on the door for help, nobody came. Finally, about three hours later, he was taken back to his family and an officer unshackled him.
He asked multiple times if he could have his turban back, according to Ahluwalia, but he never saw it again. He also repeatedly asked for medical attention, but was denied, with an officer explaining to him that he had already been given Tylenol. Four or five days later, after he was released, a volunteer at a welcome center in Tucson gave him cloth to cover his head.
“I wanted to cry,” he told his attorney. At the welcome center he tested positive for COVID-19, he told Ahluwalia.
On Sept. 17, a Border Patrol spokesperson told Arizona Luminaria, “The allegations surrounding the Sikh turbans are currently under investigation by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility … as such, we cannot comment on ongoing investigations.”
The man isn’t the only Sikh who has experienced degrading treatment. Border Patrol agents called another Sikh asylum-seeker a “terrorist” because of his turban, according to Ahluwalia’s case notes.
Ahluwalia, the Sikh attorney in California who represented both of these Sikh asylum-seekers, called the new Border Patrol guidance “damage control.”
Issues remain
While the new guidance about returning turbans is welcome news to Sikhs and advocates, the guidelines are still under review, and the Sikh Coalition feels they don’t go far enough.
“More must be done to correct the forced removal and trashing of Sikh turbans by Border Patrol agents, and individual officers must be held accountable for these egregious actions,” says Attariwala, of the Sikh Coalition.
The organization is looking forward to continued engagement with CBP leadership, but Singh underscored that they want Border Patrol to develop policies that include more faith communities and to remedy larger concerns about confiscating other personal property such as medical devices, important documentation, heirlooms, and other valuables.
Both the Sikh Coalition and ACLU Arizona told Arizona Luminaria they participated in a meeting with CBP officials, including Commissioner Chris Magnus, on Sept. 8, and that Magnus was both present and expressed a willingness to work with the groups. Arizona Luminaria has repeatedly requested an interview with Magnus to discuss the agency’s response to religious and civil rights complaints.
“We appreciate the urgency that Commissioner Magnus is bringing to the turban confiscation issue and are hopeful that he will bring that same sense of urgency to confront the broader policy context that produced it,” said Noah Schramm, policy strategist for ACLU Arizona.
“It’s clear that agents feel justified in trashing religious articles of the Sikh faith in a setting that already normalizes these dehumanizing seizures of migrants’ personal belongings,” Schramm said.
Grijalva has been one of the leading lawmakers pressuring the administration to put an end to the confiscations.
“I appreciate Commissioner Magnus’ attention to this important issue, but more must be done to protect migrants, their possessions and religious property,” Grijalva said.
The statement echoes the feelings of all advocates who spoke with Arizona Luminaria, that this is a good first step, but not a final solution.
“Our nation’s border enforcement agency must not exploit or spread discrimination and hate,” said Singh “and we welcome initiatives by Commissioner Magnus to rethink the agency’s approaches to border enforcement that are grounded in fair, equitable, and humane treatment of all migrants.”
A letter released today by the Sikh Coalition, ACLU and ACLU Arizona, as well as other Sikh groups also demands “a full accounting” of the previous confiscations, and that the results of that investigation are shared with the groups.
Interim Guidance
The text, from Sept. 8, was shared with Arizona Luminaria by ACLU Arizona.
All U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) personnel will continue to follow the National Standards on Transport, Escort, Detention and Search (TEDS). In accordance with TEDS, as it relates to the current focus on turbans and the Sikh faith, please reiterate following:
1. Section 1.5 “remain cognizant of individuals religious beliefs while accomplishing enforcement outcomes”, as well as;
2. Section 7.4 discretion as long as “does not pose a threat to the security or good of the order”.
Migrants and property encountered in the field, to include turbans, will be searched by agents for officer safety. Any migrant or property that enters a USBP facility is also searched for contraband. If the migrant is classified as “non-threat” and no other risks factors are present (e.g., suicide risk) the turban will be returned to the migrant at the conclusion of the search.
The National Personal Effects IOP that standardized the proper handling and disposal of personal effects claimed by an apprehended subject entering a U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) facility will be under review while this interim guidance is in place. In Section 6 (Procedures), the guidance states that any personal effects taken during a law enforcement action needs to be safeguarded, itemized, and documented unless classified as contraband or a health hazard. The IOP identifies a health hazard as personal property, which if stored within a USBP facility for any length of time, may pose a risk to detainees, contractors, or employees. This includes substances soiled with bodily fluids and wet items with the potential to become moldy if placed in a plastic bag. Items deemed a health hazard vary based on storage capabilities and designs of a facility. Notification of items unable to be stored in USBP facilities may take place at the time of apprehension but must occur prior to the disposal of such items.
In addition to the above already documented guidance, when conducting a pat down of a subject who is wearing a turban, if no safety or security risk is identified, the turban will be returned to the subject and remain in their possession while being detained. The accommodation will be documented in our system of record (e3DM).
Agents and staff monitoring the detention areas should be made aware of the item being in the detainees possession and they should remain alert for any safety or security concerns.
If safety or security concerns arise while the subject is being detained, the item can be removed and secured as property until their transfer or release. As with the accommodation, any action related to the removal of a turban from a detainee will be documented appropriately in e3DM.
Once the guidance has been issued, please ensure notification of completion through the corridors for tracking purposes. Again, this is interim guidance while the IOP is under review.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the date of the meeting between the advocacy groups and CBP and how the groups received the guidance from CBP, which was via email and later discussed at a Sept. 9 meeting.
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