Indian detainees in US not handcuffed, says volunteer

Over 50 Indian nationals detained in a US prison after they illegally entered into the country are not being handcuffed, a legal advocacy group volunteer who has been meeting the detainees on a regular basis said today.

Media reports had claimed that the Indian immigrants, seeking asylum in the US fearing religious and political persecution back home, are being treated like criminals in a federal prison in Oregon where they have been detained for the past several weeks now.

"It was not my statement that immigrants detained at (a federal prison in) Sheridan (Oregon) have been kept in handcuffs and chains since their arrival or that they are in handcuffs and chains 24/7 now. My statement has been misconstrued by the media," Navneet Kaur, a community college professor, said in a statement.

Kaur who has been volunteering with the Portland-based Innovation Law Lab in providing legal aid to more than 50 Indian prisoners in Sheridan jail said her account is based on her visit to the prison and meetings with these detainees.

Her main role is to provide translation to the detainees, a majority of whom are from Punjab and speak only Punjabi.

"On July 14, 2018, during the 105th year celebration held in commemoration of the Ghadar Party in Astoria, Oregon, I spoke against the grave violations of human rights experienced by immigrants detained by ICE in America. My statement was based on the accounts I have heard during my visits to the federal detention center in Sheridan, Oregon.

"I gave a few examples of such violations including not giving them access to legal representation, keeping them in prison cells 22 hours a day, keeping them handcuffed and chained for a 24-hour period upon the arrival etc," Kaur said.

It is her understanding that "conditions" at the federal detention center in Sheridan have improved since the immigrants initial arrival in late May 2018, she said