One American identified in the report as Mohammed, a client of CLEAR, was interrogated for hours while holding an infant child he was not permitted to feed, until he signed a statement that the person who brought him to the United States two decades ago was not his true father. The Embassy then refused to return his passport or help him fly home, leaving him stranded in Yemen for over a year. Later, Mohammed produced the results of a DNA test, proving a biological relationship with his father, and demonstrating definitively that the statement was both coerced and untrue.
"This happened to dozens of people. The State Department's behavior was questionable or illegal almost every step of the way," said Nasrina Bargzie, Senior Staff Attorney at the Asian Law Caucus. "The Embassy tore families apart by stranding their loved ones in a war zone, turning its back on vulnerable Americans."
"The Department has unfairly singled out Yemeni-Americans for suspicion and mistreatment, with little transparency or real accountability so far," said Naz Ahmad, Staff Attorney at CLEAR. "That the Department continues to rely on these coerced statements is all the more troubling and cries out for corrective action, particularly because these same unacceptable practices could be replicated at any Embassy across the world."
The Asian Law Caucus and CLEAR's request for an investigation is supported by: the American Civil Liberties Union, the Arab American Institute, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, the Council on American Islamic Relations, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, and Muslim Advocates.
In addition to Bargzie and Ahmad, the report was prepared by Yaman Salahi of the Asian Law Caucus, Ramzi Kassem, Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law and Director of CLEAR, and Hilal Homaidan, Jackelyn Mariano, and Cassandra Veach, students at CUNY School of Law.
