Wash. Gov. Jay Inslee Reacts to 'Alarming' Claim of Detained Iranians

Multiple reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained dozens of Iranians and Iranian-American citizens at Washington State's border with Canada after Iran's regime vowed vengeance for the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani are "deeply alarming," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday, while the CBP called the reports "false."

On Sunday, the Washington State chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a statement saying it was "assisting more than 60 Iranians and Iranian-Americans of all ages" who had been detained at length at the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine, Washington, and questioned, reports USA Today.

CAIR also reported that many more were refused entry into the U.S. because CBP had no capacity to hold them.

In a statement, CBP said that "social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false. Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false."

Inslee called the reports "deeply alarming" and said CBP's denial is "simply not credible."

"Washingtonians, who happen to be Iranian-American, were detained at the Canadian-U.S. border because of their ethnicity or country of origin," he said in a statement posted on Twitter. "This is wrong and rife with constitutional and moral problems. No one should be treated differently due to where they come from, how they look or what language they speak."

CBP said the border wait times Saturday night in Blaine were increased to an average of two hours because of reduced staffing, but Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., rejected the claims, reports Axios.

"This appears to be another attempt to target and isolate a community that is very much part of our fabric, our social fabric," she said. "The fears that these policies have brought and the discrimination that we once again are veering towards has deep roots in our history."

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