Federal Civil Rights Office To Review Reported Border Delays

Federal civil rights investigators will be sent to Washington state following reports that dozens of people with Iranian heritage were held at the Peace Arch border crossing last weekend. The Associated Press reports the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties told Rep. Pramila Jayapal it had opened an investigation into the matter.

The investigation follows a letter signed by Rep. Pramila Jayapal and five other members of congress, asking federal officials to produce any directives or orders related to additional screening of people from Iran by Jan. 21.

Jayapal held a press conference Monday morning, alongside an Iranian-American woman who said her family was delayed at the border for several hours Saturday night.

According to the Seattle Times, Jayapal's office estimates between 60 and 200 people of Iranian descent were stopped at the border while attempting to re-enter the United States from British Columbia. The reported delays followed an airstrike in Iraq last week that killed a top Iranian general, heightening tensions between the U.S. and Iranian governments.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection attributed delays to high traffic and low staffing levels and denied suggestions that a directive related to Iranians had been issued.