Texas officials accused of harassing detained Somalis

Lawyers charge segregation came after Muslim rite

By SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 17, 2008, 10:33PM

Attorneys for 10 Somali men held in an immigration detention center in South Texas allege that federal immigration officials segregated and interrogated their clients after they left a Muslim prayer service, saying they were subject to "discriminatory and unethical" questioning.

Lawyers for the asylum seekers said the men — detained at the South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall — were targeted because they were Muslim and from Somalia. The lawyers contend that their clients were segregated into a separate dormitory for two to three days after they left a Dec. 8 prayer service at the detention facility celebrating the Muslim holiday, Eid.

The Somalis were not given the opportunity to contact their lawyers, according to a letter the attorneys sent Monday to several federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

Carl Rusnok, a spokesman with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the agency is researching the allegations in the letter, which was forwarded to ICE's public affairs office Tuesday by a Houston Chronicle reporter. Rusnok declined to answer a reporter's questions Wednesday.

"Until that research is completed, no further specific information is available on the issue," Rusnok said.

'They were scared'

According to the attorneys, nine of the 10 Somalis were interviewed in English without the aid of a translator, and some reported having difficulties understanding questions.

The men were asked questions such as whether they participated in radical groups, had military training, had studied computers and had "ever violated anyone," according to the letter. They were also asked, "What does it mean to be a Muslim?" their lawyers said.

The questioning reportedly led one client to break down in tears, said Jonathan Ryan, executive director of San Antonio's Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, which is representing the men along with an Austin-based organization, American Gateways.

"They were scared," he said. "They were segregated, and they thought they had lost their cases and were going to be deported."

Attorneys for the Somalis allege the men were questioned by six agents — two with ICE and four with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Ryan said he and Edna Yang, another attorney representing the men, were still trying to figure out what would prompt the federal government to single out the Somali men.

Ryan said they were not in disciplinary trouble and their asylum cases were "very meritorious," particularly considering the instability and violence in Somalia.

Conditions criticized

Since the collapse of the central government in 1991, Somalia has been plagued by armed conflicts among rival militias, according to the U.S. State Department. The instability and in-fighting has resulted in the displacement of nearly 1 million people.

Lawyers for the 10 Somalis in South Texas said that while in segregation, the men were held in conditions that did not comply with the federal government's detention standards for immigration detainees.

They allege the government failed to provide the men with written administrative segregation orders, and denied them access to telephones and the law library.

The men were returned to the general population after their attorneys heard from another former client that they were held in segregation, the lawyers said.

susan.carroll@chron.com
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