From Persecution to Prison - Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of ...

the cars and other people walking in the street. At Elizabeth, all you seeis the officers, the other detainees and the INS.Difficulties Practicing ReligionSeveral individuals reported difficulties practicing their religions. At times,staff appeared to disrespect the religious practices of asylum seekers, andto obstruct rituals essential to detainees’ active worship. One detaineenoted,We have to pray in our room where the toilets are, and loud TV whichthe officers will not turn down—they say ‘shut up’ to us. Officers arerude to you, play TV loud if you want to pray.Another detainee explained the following,Muslims have to wash before prayer. They throw away the cans we useand we told them we need them to pray, and they say we are notallowed. They told us they would give us plastic cans but that was morethan a month ago and nothing has happened.Said another asylum seeker of his mail-ordered materials from theAmerican Bible Academy:They seized my religious coursework and said it wasn’t allowed. Weweren’t allowed to pray together, we were told we had to do it individuallybecause we were in prison.One individual commented, “We are not allowed to pray in a group,only individually.”“They say we cannot pray together,” echoed a detainee at a differentfacility.Another detainee noted, “Recently, I have not been able to obtainCatholic books from outside – we previously were able to receive books.”Reported another detainee:I’m fasting now and can’t keep food until evening – it gets thrown out.When I went to speak to an officer I was told that I and other Muslimsshould not be fasting now anyway. Why were we fasting?Another asylum seeker complained,I’m an Orthodox. Nothing here is Orthodox. They have no mass forme. I requested a book in my baggage about my religion – but theyrefused. They brought me my request and it said “Denied.” [The officer]said to me “It is not my problem. It’s your problem.”Several subjects spoke of unfair limits imposed by the INS on spiritualleaders, who many detainees welcome as a source of faith and comfort.For example, one detainee reported,TREATMENT IN DETENTION FACILITIES 127