Enemy at the gates

I can understand your frustration. It's a sorry state of affairs. I hope it's resolved soon.

I dont think it's so much a case of being considered 'guilty' I've only been to the US a few times, and I love going there, but I get quite nervous going through immigration, especially at JFK, in case they decide to single me out and lock me in a room for hours with a light shining in my face, accusing me of spying for the Russians. I honestly think they target random people at immigration to make a point. The more white Europeans they target, the less it looks like they're picking on Muslims.

That's an outrageous story, Raff, but mercifully rare; the worrying aspect in my eyes is his being inelligible for legal council or any 'rights' as technically he'd not crossed the border into the US (although, I believe this would be the case in the UK as well )

One quote which made me grin, though, was:

“Also, who on earth would ever seek asylum from Italy?”

Now - there has to be a joke there somewhere...

I don't think I'll be going anytime soon - my passport's filled with arabic stamps from about 6/7 visits to Tunisia...

That story was an absolute embarrassment, a disgusting affair to say the least.  These detention facilities and denying people rights is abhorrent, an affront to civil society.  The very, very worst that should be allowed to happen to a visitor is that they get put on the next plane back to their homeland.

"There are more than 60 grounds for finding someone inadmissible, including a hunch that the person plans to work or immigrate, or evidence of an overstay, however brief, on an earlier visit."

Next to DMV workers, border agents are the most power tripping people.

NaturalScience wrote: stonebeard wrote: Not to be stereotypical (but really, we all know the following is true), but exactly how much caution do we need to devote to a white, European, woman, with a doctoral degree, hmm? Prime suspect for a terrorist methinks. Because we know how'd it go over if they focused on "Middle Eastern"-looking people.

Or we can all be realists and stop acting like it's not Middle Easterners who are committing acts of terrorism.

Point is: Most Middle-Easterners aren't terrorists nor do that have terrorist intentions. But much more attention needs to be paid to them than of white Europeans. This is not discrimination; this is common-f**king-sense.

stonebeard wrote: Not to be stereotypical (but really, we all know the following is true), but exactly how much caution do we need to devote to a white, European, woman, with a doctoral degree, hmm? Prime suspect for a terrorist methinks.

God she would look so hot in cammo..totting  a Beret.. and a loaded AK-47 hahhahahha

the whole point of this to me...  is this country reacted in the way that would have been the wildest dreams of Bin Laden and all those wackos..  we became something less than what we were..and the bullsh*t we spout about Freedom and Democracy to the world... sound mighty hallow when you can be tapped without a court order..  speech against the administration and it's policies is deemed..unpatriotic.  This guy had it bad... what about our citizens that are thrown in jail with no charges filed... their  constitutional rights forfitted. 

"Luis Paoli, a lawyer hired by the Coopers, said there was no limit on detention while waiting for an asylum interview. But even after officials agreed the asylum issue had been a mistake, Mr. Salerno was not released."



Human Rights ... or really just Citizen Rights?


Edited by MikeEnRegalia - May 23 2008 at 09:30