Afghan Asylum Seekers Are Being Denied Their Religious Rights in ICE Prisons

mister_monster , 2 months ago

Water bottles for ablution and head scarves…

I doubt they let Jews have tefellin in jail either. Or Sikhs carry a ceremonial knife at all times. Not everything is a violation of religious rights, some things are dangerous to give people in situations like that. They make a good faith effort, they let them take time for prayer and eat at the right times during Ramadan, they don’t make them wear immodest clothing, they can wash up before prayers. I wish they weren’t in there, but it’s a potentially dangerous place, the ingenuity people have with the materials around them you wouldn’t believe.

“Islamically significant” lol who comes up with this stuff.

tal , 2 months ago

Or Sikhs carry a ceremonial knife at all times.

I dunno about ICE facilities, but schools in the US allow Sikh students to carry them on First Amendment grounds.

It looks like Canada does as well:

theconversation.com/why-a-queensland-court-overtu…

In 2006 the Canadian Supreme Court found a ban on wearing kirpans in school was a breach of freedom of religion under the Canadian Charter of Rights.

And that article says that Australia does as well.

mister_monster , 2 months ago

We are talking about prisons, not schools, although I concede that the distinction is getting fuzzier by the day.

Linkerbaan , 2 months ago

We’re talking about immigration detention centers which have been turned into prisons.

This would be more comparable to Andrew Callaghan’s three day arrest when he tried to cross the Mexico border

mister_monster , 2 months ago

Yes, they have been turned into prisons. It sucks. I wish they weren’t in there. People seem to be conflating my statement, “it’s a dangerous environment”, with something I haven’t said, something like “these are criminals who deserve to be in there.” All I’m saying is they’re in there, it’s dangerous in an environment like that, some people will try to hurt others in a place like that and since they’re there you’ve gotta try to prevent that.

Linkerbaan , 2 months ago

It does not seem like they are out there to “prevent accidents” more than just abuse inmates. The often cited excuse of “security” just doesn’t fly here.

Banning knives is one thing bur plastic bottles and headscarves for Afghan detainees are not what I would classify as “dangerous”.

Linkerbaan , 2 months ago

Even ignoring the head scarves which aren’t similar to knives…

Water?

mister_monster , 2 months ago

Not water. Water bottles. People in places like that make knives out of paper. A guy taught me how to start a fire using a pencil and toilet paper. You’d be surprised what some people can do with some simple materials in a place like that. I’d be willing to bet there’s some security that’s the direct result of something someone did.

The knives Sikh people usually carry cannot be drawn, FYI. They’re harmless.

idiomaddict , 2 months ago

Nonviolent people waiting for immigration to process them do not make knives out of paper. If they did, they would not receive asylum.

There’s no reason to conflate this with jail, except that we for some reason jail them.

Linkerbaan , 2 months ago

This is ICE.

Detention centers for Asylum Seekers.

Not exactly hardened gang members trying to shank people with plastic bottles. These people are trying to not get deported.

mister_monster , 2 months ago

Look man, you lock a bunch of random people that don’t all know each other up together, some of them are going to be up to shit. It’s a dangerous situation, that I agree they shouldn’t be in, but they are in and you want to make sure nobody hurts anyone in there.

FlyingSquid , 2 months ago

Jewish men in prison are allowed yarmulkes, why shouldn’t Muslim women be allowed headscarves? Comparing either a headscarf or a water bottle to either a knife or a leather strap is just silly.