A group of lawyers representing foreign nationals detained at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport say the travelers too often are being held for hours at a time, amounting to an illegal government detention.
Peter Schulte, among more than 100 attorneys offering free legal services to those detained at the airport, said Tuesday that screening travelers can take hours, but any detention longer than four hours must be considered unlawful.
Schulte said it appears more than a dozen people were detained at the airport Monday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. But the actual number is unclear because he and other lawyers must rely on family members or airline passengers who notice travelers being pulled aside.
Another attorney, Paul Wingo, said additional travelers were detained Tuesday.
