Bhutanese refugees in Rochester said to be facing deportation crisis
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Advocates call it an ongoing crisis as ICE has begun detaining and deporting legally resettled former Bhutanese refugees in the Rochester area.
With risks of being deported back to a country with a history of human rights violations, News 8 spoke with the president of the House of Refuge who is advocating for legislation to protect resettled refugees.
'Our people are being deported. Our people are being detained. It is really sad what is going on right now,' Bijaya Khadka said.
Khadka said people who came to the United States for safety are facing new a new crisis now: being detained illegally.
'Our people are being deported back to the very country who once denied our very own existence,' Khadka said.
He's referring to Bhutan, a landlocked country which sits in South Asia near the Eastern Himalayas. Khadka said a number of the Bhutanese population came to the U.S. in 2008 and being deported back there is not a safe option.
'They have history of violating human rights. There are still people in jail who are being held without any due process,' Khadka said. 'If our people are being accepted into Bhutan, they will be tortured, they will be jailed, and they won't be treated well.'
And if not to Bhutan, individuals are said to be deported again to India and Nepal. Which, Khadka said leaves them 'stateless and vulnerable.' Advocates are calling on human rights advocates, elected officials, and the Department of Homeland Security to halt the detentions and deportations.
'We are a sanctuary city. We have a history of welcoming people into our community. We have a history of loving people, you know, loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. And this is not happening,' Khadka said.
News 8 caught Congressman Joe Morelle Sunday afternoon who criticized the lack of transparency for Homeland Security regarding their activities in Rochester — particularly concerning Border Patrol and immigration enforcement.
'We need to have border security. We need to make sure that people come into this country that we know about and that they go through the proper procedures,' Congressman Morelle said. 'So far that hasn't happened, and we've seen a number of questionable people be detained. And we continue to ask.'
Congressman Morelle said he has reached out to the Homeland Security secretary to ask about activities here in Rochester. Particularly, who Border Patrol is targeting that they believe is a violent threat, as well as to know generally what is happening in Rochester.
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