MOSCOW (Sputnik) — US federal and state authorities continue to treat migrants seeking security or reunification with their families as criminals, a rights group said in an annual report published Wednesday.
In 2015, over a half of US governors pledged to oppose resettlement of refugees fleeing a five-year conflict in Syria to their states, citing security concerns.
"The Obama administration is sending messages of detention, discrimination, and distrust to families fleeing violence and persecution at home," Alison Parker, Human Rights Watch (HRW)'s program co-director in the United States, was quoted by HRW as saying.
In 2015, the United States continued to detain entire families of undocumented migrants trying to escape gang violence in Central America, a year after a huge lockup designated to hold some 2,400 parents and children was opened in December 2014.
Parker urged US authorities to reverse its policy course and "stop treating undocumented arrivals as criminals," primarily asylum seekers from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
The 659-page World Report 2016 is its 26th edition reviewing human rights practices in more than 90 countries.
