Muslim man denied green card after being detained, allegedly served pork: report

by Brooke Seipel - 03/08/19 9:14 PM ET

A Muslim man’s green card has reportedly been rejected after he alleged Border Patrol agents served him pork sandwiches for nearly a week while he was detained.

HuffPost reports that Adnan Asif Parveen, a Spanish citizen who was born in Pakistan, applied for the green card two years ago after marrying a U.S. citizen. Parveen had not received a decision on his green card application but reportedly had a permit to legally work in the U.S. when he was detained by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services earlier this year for six days.

{mosads}Parveen alleges that during those six days in custody, the only food he was offered was a pork sandwich every eight hours. He says he denied the food because he practices Islam, but eventually started eating just the bread without the meat.

He also claims he was questioned about possible ties to terrorist groups and about the mosque he attends.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) declined to comment to HuffPost or confirm the incident, but noted their policy is to accommodate religious dietary restrictions.

After Parveen was released from custody and spoke to HuffPost in an earlier article about being fed pork, he heard back from U.S. officials that his green card had been denied.

He is now being held at Port Isabel Detention Center in South Texas, where he faces the possibility of deportation.

Parveen’s lawyers told HuffPost they believe the decision was motivated by his religion and have filed a federal lawsuit seeking his release.

News of the alleged incident prompted Democratic Rep. Grace Meng (N.Y.) to send a letter to the Department of Homeland Security to investigate the allegations made in HuffPost’s report.

Tags Grace Meng