US detains over 60 Iranians on Canada border: Group

The United States has detained more than 60 Iranians on the border between the state of Washington and Canada amid rising tensions between Iran and the US, the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says.

According to Press TV, the CAIR said the US Customs and Border Control (CBP) detained at length and questioned the Iranians who were returning to the US after attending a concert on Saturday in the Canadian city of Vancouver.

Other Iranians, who have been residing in the United States for years, were denied entry to the US.

"Many more are turned around at the border and refused the opportunity to enter the United States due to a lack of capacity for Customs and Border Patrol to detain them," CAIR's Washington chapter said in a joint news release with Hoda Katebi, a community organizer and fashion blogger.

In a tweet, Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said she was "deeply disturbed" by the reports of the detentions.

"This is a HUGE DEAL. Iranians who have been born and raised in the USA are literally being ILLEGALLY DETAINED for 11+ hours for NO REASON & interrogated with intrusive and inappropriate questions about political opinions, what courses they or their parents studied in college," Katebi said in a tweet.

CAIR noted that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had issued a national order to CBP to "report" and detain anyone with Iranian heritage entering the US who was deemed potentially suspicious, regardless of their citizenship status.

CBP denied that it was detaining individuals because of their country of origin.

ME