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I'm the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks

theguardian.com

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Re: I'm the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks

#21

Post by blindriver »

Yes. This is the reality of how it is. It’s unfair that this woman was caught in this but CBP have ultimate power crossing the border can be scary.

My friend got her visa stripped and given a 10 year ban under Obama because of jokes in her text messages about a GC marriage. She didn’t get thrown in jail but she was refused entry back into the US and had to get someone to sell all her stuff while she flew back to her home country.

Most of you have no idea about how life is because you’re probably citizens but this is the reality at the border. It’s even worse in other countries.

Someone I know is from Australia and she said if you overstay your visa they track you down, arrest you and send you to jails outside of Australia mainland until you are eventually deported. Every country treats their border extremely strictly.

CORRECTION: I pinged my friend and I was wrong. They arrest them but don’t send to offshore jails. Those are for illegal immgrants that arrive on boats.

Re: I'm the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks

#22

Post by drumhead »

If the objective is to scare people off from going to the USA, then they're doing a magnificent job. I've heard other cases of people with green cards being arrested and put in terrible conditions, with absolutely no reason given. This woman was ready to go back home and not enter the US, but instead she was dragged through hell and only released because she was Canadian. All those with different passports get subjected to their own more oppressive and never ending hells, like being deported to a prison camp in Ecuador with no idea when you'd ever be released.

New America is absolutely terrifying.

Re: I'm the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks

#23

Post by freehorse »

stewx wrote: post #4

My takeaway from this is that laws and rules don't matter if the officials on the ground are incompetent, ignorant, and have contempt for you. There is a lot of unnecessary cruelty and lack of due process in this story.

I sort of disagree. There _is_ a process, which optimises for holding people as long as possible for the prison industrial complex to make money. When you privatise these kind of social services, this is what happens. This is not due to a few officials on the ground that just happened by chance to be "incompetent, ignorant, and have contempt for you". As the article concludes,

> The reality became clear: Ice detention isn’t just a bureaucratic nightmare. It’s a business. These facilities are privately owned and run for profit.

> Companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group receive government funding based on the number of people they detain, which is why they lobby for stricter immigration policies. It’s a lucrative business: CoreCivic made over $560m from Ice contracts in a single year. In 2024, GEO Group made more than $763m from Ice contracts.

> The more detainees, the more money they make. It stands to reason that these companies have no incentive to release people quickly. What I had experienced was finally starting to make sense.

Re: I'm the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks

#24

Post by ethbr1 »

croes wrote: post #7

So why does it take to weeks to deport a Canadian to Canada? Are those detainment cells privately owned?

>> The reality became clear: Ice detention isn’t just a bureaucratic nightmare. It’s a business. These facilities are privately owned and run for profit.

>> Companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group receive government funding based on the number of people they detain, which is why they lobby for stricter immigration policies. It’s a lucrative business: CoreCivic made over $560m from Ice contracts in a single year. In 2024, GEO Group made more than $763m from Ice contracts.

Re: I'm the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks

#25

Post by pjc50 »

snapcaster wrote: post #3

This is horrible and scary, why border guards are even giving the authority to revoke visas is beyond me. When people think about giving cops/guards authority like this they need to be picturing the dumbest bully from their grade school. That's who is going to be using the power

It's Team Grade School Bullies all the way up, from the voters to the representatives. Plus decades of pro-cop propaganda, especially against following the rules.

Re: I'm the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks

#26

Post by dhsysusbsjsi »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #12

I traveled to the US (from my country -France- and many others) for 12 years. About a trip every month. The last time was 10 years ago. I never had any problems (outside the horrible behaviour of border officers who show you that you are not welcome). I was stopped once by a policeman when I did an illegal car maneuver (which is tolerated in France), and when he realized I was a tourist with family, he just said, "Be…

I've already made the decision not to go to the US again for the foreseeable future.

Re: I'm the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks

#28

Post by BizarreByte »

The specifics of this case are largely irrelevant to me, the fact is I am scared to cross the border into the US at this point.

For the foreseeable future I will not be travelling to the US for any reason. Canada is safe and there is nothing in the US worth risking my freedom for. I will remain here and I will continue to avoid travel to America as well as spending money on American goods/services.

Re: I'm the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks

#29

Post by jonathantf2 »

croes wrote: post #7

So why does it take to weeks to deport a Canadian to Canada? Are those detainment cells privately owned?

Yeah, the prisons are privately operated. The cynic in me would bet that the agents have some sort of KPI or even kickback from these companies for filling the cells and costing the taxpayer $$$.

Re: I'm the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks

#30

Post by perihelions »

drumhead wrote: post #22

If the objective is to scare people off from going to the USA, then they're doing a magnificent job. I've heard other cases of people with green cards being arrested and put in terrible conditions, with absolutely no reason given. This woman was ready to go back home and not enter the US, but instead she was dragged through hell and only released because she was Canadian. All those with different passports get subjec…

(The forced labor camp is in El Salvador, not Ecuador).
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