“Operation Liberty Shield” Turns
Liberty on its Head
Iraqi Asylum Seekers Targeted for Detention
NEW YORK - With its new plan “Operation Liberty Shield,”
the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will detain
all asylum applicants who seek refuge from a group of countries, a
list that will include Iraq, as well as other refugee-producing countries
such as Iran, Sudan and Somalia.
“Operation Liberty Shield is targeting the very people who
have stood up to, and in some cases been persecuted and tortured
by, the same regimes that the U.S. has singled out for condemnation,”
said Eleanor Acer, Director of the Lawyers Committee for Human Right’s
Asylum program. “We have heard the President justify the war
against Iraq as a war of liberation, directed not at the Iraqi people
but at their leaders. But ‘Operation Liberty Shield’
will target individuals for detention based solely upon their nationality,
including Iraqis. By treating asylum seekers in such a manner, we
will certainly not be shielding liberty, but making a mockery of
it.”
The DHS “press kit” does not provide clear information
about which asylum seekers are affected, at what stage of asylum
proceedings, or which countries are targeted. As a result asylum
seekers around the country have no way of knowing if they will or
will not be detained. The Lawyers Committee is concerned that such
a major change in policy has been announced only through the media.
The Homeland Security Act transferred responsibility for immigration
and asylum issues to DHS on March 1, 2003. “It is truly troubling
that one of the first steps taken by DHS is to label those who seek
protection in this country as security threats,” added Acer.
The U.S. does have an obligation to protect its citizens from risk,
but it can do so in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. Pre-existing
procedures already provide ample authority for detaining any non-citizen
if there is reason to believe that he/she may constitute a risk
to national security.
Operation Liberty Shield, the Lawyers Committee believes, targets
asylum seekers based on their nationality. Principles of fairness
and due process that are enshrined in U.S. and international law
confirm that asylum seekers should have a chance to have their detention
status reviewed by a court.
“The human consequence of this detention plan will be severe,”
said Acer. “Asylum seekers from the countries that are singled
out will be jailed for months, and in some cases, years. Some of
these individuals are victims of torture and mistreatment; some
already suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome and depression,
conditions that will no doubt be made more severe by prolonged detention.”
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