Dauphin County commissioner asks Trump administration to stop deporting refugees to Bhutan

DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas is calling on the Trump administration to stop sending refugees back to Bhutan after he says a number of Bhutanese-Nepali people living in Pennsylvania were deported, and some were later arrested by Nepalese authorities.

On Friday, March 28, Douglas said a group of 10 Bhutanese refugees from across the US, who were in the United States legally, were deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Included in those 10, Douglas said, were one Lancaster County resident, one Dauphin County resident and two Allegheny County residents.

In an update made Tuesday, April 1, Douglas said officials now have reason to believe an additional eight refugees have been deported, including two more people from Dauphin County.

Douglas said that after arriving in Bhutan via New Delhi, India, the refugees were taken to a town in India near the Napalese border.

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Some of the refugees are believed to have crossed into Nepal to visit family in refugee camps, but at least four of those deported now appear to have been arrested by Nepalese authorities, Douglas said.

“Family members report that a 33-year-old male Bhutanese refugee from Dauphin County was among those arrested last night while traveling on foot from India into Nepal,” Douglas said in Tuesday’s update.

Douglas said at least 14 of the deported refugees remain unaccounted for, and at least nine other people from Pennsylvania’s Bhutanese Nepali community are currently detained by ICE.

“Reports from across the country indicate similar situations affecting other Bhutanese Nepali refugee communities,” Douglas wrote in a news release.

Douglas addressed the situation during a county commissioner’s meeting Wednesday.

He started by providing some context into the history of Bhutan.

“In the late 80s and early 90s, the government of Bhutan began a campaign of persecution against its Nepali speaking minority. This included stripping people of their Bhutanese citizenship to ethnically cleanse this group in the 90s, leading to roughly 100,000 people ending up in refugee camps in nearby Nepal,” Douglas said.

He went on to explain that Nepal never accepted the citizens, and Bhutan refused to take them back. Under President George Bush, the United States took in 60,000 of the refugees under a resettlement program. President Barack Obama also took in more of the refugees.

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“Eventually, many Bhutanese-Nepali refugees found themselves drawn to a growing community right here in central Pennsylvania,” Douglas said. “Our Bhutanese Nepali community has grown into the largest in the nation.”

Douglas said he’s spoken to many in the community who are now terrified that 18 Bhutanese Nepali residents have been deported, despite coming to the United States legally as refugees. Even now-American citizens are afraid they might be next, he said.

“Yes, these individuals may have minor criminal histories, which enabled ICE to attempt to remove them from the United States, but that is no reason to rip them away from their wives, children, brothers, sisters and community,” Douglas said.

He said that ICE is not communicating why they are going after these people, and they’ve not provided any criteria for their removal.

“These refugees must be given the time and opportunity to exercise due process, guaranteed to all persons under the Constitution,” Douglas said. “Being arrested and deported within just three weeks while being shuffled between detention facilities every few days, often with limited English proficiency, is not enough time to fully access or understand their legal rights. We must do better.”

Douglas called on both ICE and the Trump administration to stop sending refugees back to Bhutan until their safety can be guaranteed.

“I’m calling on ICE and the Trump administration to immediately pause all deportations to Bhutan until the safety and security of those being deported can be clearly and independently verified,” he said. “We have a moral and legal obligation not to return refugees to a country that once ethnically cleansed them. It now appears we are doing so again.”