U.S. Customs and Border Protection is denying social media reports that U.S. immigration officials are detaining Iranian Americans at the border and refusing to allow them entry because of their country of ethnic origin.
A claim posted to Twitter by Hoda Katebi, a Chicago-based Iranian-American blogger and activist, was shared more than 25,000 times after Katebi alleged CBP were detaining “all Iranians,” including Iranian-born American citizens, “deemed potentially suspicious.”
“BREAKING: US CUSTOMS & BORDER PROTECTION NATIONALLY HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO DETAIN & "REPORT" ALL IRANIANS ENTERING THE COUNTRY DEEMED POTENTIALLY SUSPICIOUS OR "ADVERSARIAL" REGARDLESS OF CITIZENSHIP STATUS. 60+ Iranis held last night at the US/Canada border for 11+ hrs,” Katebi tweeted Sunday.
BREAKING: US CUSTOMS & BORDER PROTECTION NATIONALLY HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO DETAIN & "REPORT" ALL IRANIANS ENTERING THE COUNTRY DEEMED POTENTIALLY SUSPICIOUS OR "ADVERSARIAL" REGARDLESS OF CITIZENSHIP STATUS. 60+ Iranis held last night at the US/Canada border for 11+ hrs / thread
— Hoda Katebi هدی کاتبی (@hodakatebi) January 5, 2020
Katebi included a photo of a “press release” from herself and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) claiming that CBP had detained more than five-dozen Iranians trying to cross the Canadian border into the U.S.
Press release pt 1 pic.twitter.com/g5qUawd0lq
— Hoda Katebi هدی کاتبی (@hodakatebi) January 5, 2020
— Hoda Katebi هدی کاتبی (@hodakatebi) January 5, 2020
CBP, on the other hand, says they’ve been given no such order to hold any Iranians and did not detain any Iranians at the border.
Social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false. Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false.
— CBP (@CBP) January 5, 2020