Spokesperson Sara Hottman said they represented 16 countries, spoke 13 languages and few speak any English
US Senator Jeff Merkley's spokesman said today 123 asylum seekers have been held in Oregon prisons with at least 72 belonging to South Asia which included 52 from India, 18 from Nepal and two from Bangladesh.
Spokesperson Sara Hottman said they represented 16 countries, spoke 13 languages and few speak any English.
President Trump recently declared "zero tolerance" for immigrants who cross the US border illegally asserting that such migrants be tried as criminals. The move has inflamed passions across the country with several Republicans voicing their discontent.
"They call it 'zero tolerance,' but a better name for it is zero humanity, and there's zero logic to this policy," said Senator Jeff Merkley said.
According to the Pew Research Center, Indians are the fastest-growing illegal immigrant population in the US with nearly a half a million coming in 2014. Several Indian illegal immigrants come through Mexico and central American countries, however, this time they are being stopped at the border and detained.
Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat said Sheridan prison had several Indians - mainly Sikhs and Christians confined in small cells for the whole day with no medical treatment.
The US government had recently said nearly 2,000 minors were separated from their parents in a six week period which created a storm. Merkley said "hurting kids to get legislative leverage is unacceptable. It is evil."
"It's completely unacceptable under any moral code or under any religious tradition to injure children, inflict trauma on them in order to send some political message to adults somewhere overseas," the Oregon Senator added.
President Trump has since backed down and signed an executive order not to separate kids from parents. However, the order says "the children of migrant family groups crossing the border illegally will no longer be separated from them. The family units will now be detained together by the Department of Homeland Security," and any adult caught crossing the border illegally, even if to request asylum, will be "arrested and charged with criminal illegal entry".