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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

#681

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If they had simply booted her back across the border They can't. And this is entirely her fault for trying to enter through Mexico. Telling them she will return to Canada isn't helpful because what are they supposed to do? Tell her ok, go get an Uber to the Airport and just let her go? Mexico would not issue her a VISA either so her only option is US or Mexican Detention. When the agent said "You aren't a criminal"…

Is it true that Mexico denied her re-entry? The source article doesn't say anything about that, and I'm not sure why it would happen - Canadian nationals generally have visa-free entry for short trips to Mexico.

Yes, the agent saying "We have to send you back to Canada" is because she wasn't allowed in Mexico. By default her tourist card would have only covered entry from from Canada. The first CBP agent almost certainly attempted to get her back into Mexico which is why it took "hours." If she already had a valid VISA for Mexico then the default would be to return her. The article doesn't even really make it clear that she flew to Mexico first and then tried to enter the US. To the uninformed it would seem she may have flown into San Diego or something. She wouldn't be able to return to Mexico on an asylum claim either of course.

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

#682

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I absolutely would have. I don't need the support of an imaginary friend when facing oppressive customs laws.

Telling someone in a seemingly hopeless situation that there is a high probability that things will get better because their imaginary friend is more powerful than the machinations of a despotic state is actually preferable to telling them that there's no imaginary friend and nobody is coming to save them. It's a common enough theme in prison camp survival autobiographies. The so-called "logical" thing to tell them i…

>their imaginary friend is more powerful than the machinations of a despotic state

This is the sort of thing that makes a lot of sense if you have an imaginary friend but sounds a little deranged if you don't.

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

#683
post #675
post #674

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not kidding. The problem is that the discussion collapses into an unpersuasive and uninformative partisan flamewar, so it does not improve the choices that those VCs will make. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43413819 for a more in-depth discussion.

Sometimes things get messy discussing important topics, we should err on the side of sunshine rather than darkness for these discussions. HN has a lot of powerful and wealthy people who have a responsibility to protect the system they relied on to become rich and powerful, but instead these people ignore the discussion because it doesn’t mesh with their ideas that America is the greatest. See my connect from a few co…

I deeply regret that you are providing such a perfect illustration of my point.

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

#684

This is the money shot : "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…

I don't get the " tiny, freezing cement cell with bright fluorescent lights" and a foil blanket thing though. Why be so nasty? If you are making a business improperly detaining people it would only be likely to cause outrage and get it shut down?

I'm curious as a non American why no one stops this. I mean presumably both political parties have not bothered. Do people in the US think it's ok? I think if that stuff happened in the UK there would be a lot of protests.

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

#685

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you think the point is of having immigration laws? It’s to control how many immigrants come in and which ones. If you essentially make all the illegal immigration “legal” then you’ve erased the difference.

The conversation I engaged with was about people who are following the law. You are arguing against a point I never made here. I’d ask you what the point of having laws is if we are going to detain and deport people outside of the established legal process. This thread is in response to an individual who came here on a valid work visa.

From the article:

> He claimed I also couldn’t work for a company in the US that made use of hemp – one of the beverage ingredients. He revoked my visa, and told me I could still work for the company from Canada, but if I wanted to return to the US, I would need to reapply.

> I restarted the visa process and returned to the same immigration office at the San Diego border, since they had processed my visa before and I was familiar with it.

This lady is Canadian. She has her visa revoked. Then she goes back to an immigration office on the San Diego border to apply for a visa? Last I checked, no part of the San Diego border is in Canada. So how did she find herself in U.S. custody with a revoked visa?

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

#686

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Illegal border crossings have dropped to almost zero. The policy is working. Private ICE detention centers don’t get any money if people don’t cross the border illegally.

There is absolutely no reason to think illegal border crossings were ever much higher than they are today.

This does not seem to be a disputed fact that there were a massive increase in the number of border crossings under Biden.

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

#687
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There _is_ a process, which optimises for holding people as long as possible for the prison industrial complex to make money "due process" is what you are due - it is what is afforded to you by the 4th amendment and habeus corpus. Op is correct.

However, the US has long been very clear: constitutional rights only apply to citizens . US law is perfectly happy with arbitrary brutality towards non-citizens. (ECHR is different on this, which has caused a lot of controversy in the UK from people who want to be arbitrarily brutal towards non-citizens)

...except at border crossings (which may be at a US border crossing or at an international port of entry like an airport gate where US customs has a checkpoint).

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may search any electronic devices without probable cause at these points.

see https://informationsecurity.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toru...

and

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/usa-border-phones-search-1.4...

Canada doesn't behave this way - https://www.harrisonpensa.com/new-limits-imposed-on-border-s...

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

#688

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> The only option then is draconian enforcement measures to create a deterrent effect. People should be afraid to come to America. Aren’t you a first generation immigrant? What if your family would’ve been scared to come to the US? Those are rhetorical questions, by the way.

[deleted]

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

#689

Why is this flagged? First of all, it's about an entrepreneur traveling to the US for a startup, which is directly relevant to a significant proportion of YCombinator founders themselves. Beyond its direct relevance to the core founding audience of HN, it is not clickbait or wantonly inflammatory, and is clearly of interest to many based on the comment activity and votes.

It's about someone with an denied visa trying to work around due immigration process (going to a consulate) by attempting instead to get to a far away border crossing and attempting a crossing there because, in her own recollection of the events, she knew/assumed the office was less strict. And while it's a non story it's framed as a scandal because it resonate with the current political climate and the character is…

I take it you have never applied for a work visa? You may get denied several times over things outside your control.

She is one of many, many people who have had a success visa after prior failed attempts.

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

#690

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This administration does not want to reduce illegal immigration. They just want to create fear and headlines. If you wanted to reduce illegal immigration, you have a very easy way of doing it through mandating e-verify.

I agree. It seems like the goal is not reducing illegal immigration, but creating fear. This is why they’re coming after lawful residents for things like political speech.

TIL vandalism is speech
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