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U.S. Suspends Deportations of Dozens of African Asylum Seekers Amid Claims of ICE Torture

HeadlineFeb 05, 2021

The Biden administration suspended the deportation of dozens of African asylum seekers at the last minute Wednesday, following new allegations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tortured them into signing their deportation orders. The Guardian reports the asylum seekers, who are Congolese, Cameroonian and Angolan, may now be interviewed as witnesses while the allegations are looked into.

One of the asylum seekers was reportedly placed in a room with darkened windows as agents grabbed them by the neck and back. He said, “I told them: 'Please, I can't breathe.’ I asked them to release me. They said that they didn’t care; what they need is my fingerprint.”

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