Thread by @jennycohn1

Paul Manafort, a convicted felon, was allowed to go home with a GPS. But the Trump administration forces asylum seekers from Cameroon—who are not criminals—to remain in detention in harsh conditions for years on end, only to deport many of them anyway. 1/

On the return flight, these asylum seekers are treated like violent criminals, with their hands shackled to their legs. What kind of a country does this to people fleeing violent conditions? We don't treat animals with such cruelty. 2/

The Trump administration has tortured these asylym seekers. It is despicable. When I said they kept them detained 4 years, I meant years. Imagine having to live in a detention center year after year only to be deported in shackles to the dangerous situation from which u fled. 3/

Here is my full interview of Jacqueline NDIToko, an advocate with the Cameroon American counsel, and with Selena Keesecker, an advocate with the Guadalupe Presbyterian Church, which has been working to help these asylum seekers. 4/

"As Trump leaves office, the 'pattern and practice of physical and verbal coercion' by ICE officers and guards to force Black asylum seekers to sign deportation papers is worsening, according to the complaints..." 11/27/20
5/
latimes.com/politics/story…

"Beyond threats, the tactics include shackling the immigrants, stripping them naked, holding them down and choking them, resulting in injuries, according to the complaints." 6/

"Immigration detention is civil, not criminal, and ICE has the discretion to release detainees at any time. Most of the asylum seekers have family in the US," but "many are being detained for years even though they have U.S. sponsors and haven’t committed a crime." 7/

.@jacobsoboroff