- cross-posted to:
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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
Summary
Welsh tourist Becky Burke was detained for 19 days in a US immigration facility and transported in chains like “Hannibal Lecter” after alleged visa violations.
Burke had been backpacking and staying with host families in exchange for help around the house, which authorities suspected breached her tourist visa conditions.
Deported on March 18, she described the ordeal as traumatizing. Her parents criticized the harsh treatment and are considering addressing the issue politically.
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Why was she refused entry to Canada?
This is a better article but basically she was ‘working’ in the US by exchanging help around the house for a place to stay. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80y3yx1jdyo
Apparently the Canadians were concerned she’d work while in Canada? This kind of housework for accommodation is super common in the backpacking, hostel, hitchhiking kind of space. It’s ridiculous to treat tourists like this because of simply doing a little house work.
Another example with hikers going along the AT or PCT will frequently do housework like activities to payback hostels or shuttle drivers.
Most countries are pretty strict with what you are and aren’t allowed to do while on a tourist visa. For example, tourists are generally not allowed to work or earn income while visiting, you need a work visa for that. Now I’m not 100% versed on how work is defined in this case, but they must have interpreted her chores-for-accommodation setup as work. Not excusing what they did to her, just providing context on the restrictions of tourist visas. I’m sure a lot of people have been doing this for a while, and the current immigration climate is likely why they’re just flagging it now.
How did they even know?
Border agents usually ask where you will be staying for the duration of your trip. They can also ask how you will be supporting yourself. She likely answered honestly and said she will be doing chores for host families in exchange for accommodation, which they probably interpreted as her working. Normally, a typical tourist will have hotel/airbnb reservations and border agents can ask to see those as proof.
Oh sure, it’s all wink-wink-nod when it’s a white person, but soon enough you know who’ll be “backpacking” around? Brown people!. that’s right.
I’m sorry to scare you so, but this is very important in today’s fascist putsching.
I guess the lesson learned is just always flat out say recreation. Not working at all. She was too honest
Some people enjoy housework.
Just explain that you indulge in some hobbies during your downtime while on vacation.
I like to read when I get back to the hotel on vacation. Others might like to do some light carpentry or landscaping.
They did the same to an artist. Just say recreation if that’s your intent.
They’re equally racist as the yanks, what do you shit
For some reason I’m confident this is not the first time this happened. But now it’s covered by European sources so news leak out to the public.
It happened to a well known Canadian actress (she is well known for her role in the American pie films). She was detained for months over what would have been a tiny paperwork error just a few years ago. She said that the women she was imprisoned also had no criminal record but were treated like murderers.
Can’t wait until the summer rolls around and the fascists start arresting kids for setting up lemonade stands and whatnot.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all to hear about a cop shooting a kid for opening a lemonade stand.
I mean, we already had a cop empty their entire mag into the woods because a walnut fell onto his car
HEY NOW, it was an acorn. Way different.
Also it wasn’t the woods, but an already detained “suspect” in the back of their police cruiser (where suspect is just really a person of colour in the wrong place at the wrong time).
Cops are the main violent gang in my community
The interesting thing about this is the amount of spin the bbc is putting on it. They generally do far less of that than US media outlets. But calling her a tourist in the headline is a clear misrepresentation. And really, they didn’t even need to go there. The real story was already bad enough. She could have been full on running a housekeeping business, and the chains still would be ridiculous cruelty worth reporting on. Even Canada said no way when she tried to enter as a “tourist”. But I guess she should have asked for assylum rather than come back to the US at that point.
But calling her a tourist in the headline is a clear misrepresentation
Sure thing, and if you stay over at a friend’s house and make the bed in the morning it’s their legal obligation to report you for not obtaining a proper license for your housecleaning business first /s
These weren’t “friends” houses. I personally think there should be some kind of visa for this. I just don’t like how media headlines continue to get worse. The BBC has been better than most.
Yes it curious. I expect it’s just some young keen reporter exploiting the zeitgeist.
Like a lot of countries, the US have never been kind to visa abusers, but chaining them up is new. I note they haven’t asked her how it happened and she has t said, yet.
Others have speculated that she was just to honest with the boarder staff. And just told them what she was doing. Probably didn’t even know it was against the terms of her visa. But remember, Elon says empathy is our greatest weakness. Doesn’t seem to be much of that in ICE.
Omg I was actually worried for a second! She had to shuffle lol true this maybe embarrassing and the process dehumanising. People are dying under state powers.
These are the privileged individuals who get good media coverage (read: conventionally attractive young white women) and have wealth and/or connections. Everyone knows that if this is how they’re treating the most privileged of people, it’s going to be 100x worse for those who aren’t as privileged. Covering abuses in the news that are indefensible makes it much harder to ignore the less black and white abuses that are happening every day
No pain, no chain.
Such an inhumane country. Keeping people in shackles like cattle. Hell, not even cattle gets treated like that.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44518942 And yet, he was voted in AGAIN.
They don’t want foreigners in that country any more, and are willing to treat them badly to get their message across.
Don’t end up in one of their detainment concentration camps, you never know when you’ll be allowed to leave, the way they keep suddenly changing how they do things - for the worse - every few weeks, it could be never.
Don’t go to that country. It’s too dangerous.
Also they might just deport you to some concentration camp in El Salvador for having the wrong tattoo and who knows if you can get out of there ever again. I wouldn’t trust anyone saying “they would never do that to tourists” at this point.
Well, you won’t see me entering the US anytime soon.
Our government certainly doesn’t want foreigners here, but the people remain welcoming.
I lived in San Diego, CA for the entirety of Trump’s first term. He kept making it sound like criminals were flooding in there, and harming us. The narrative was that we were victims, and he was some sort of hero.
The reality was we love our Mexican neighbors… And we fucking hate that asshole for lying and demonizing our friends, colleagues, and family members.
This all said, it is not safe here any longer for us in the long term, or foreigners in the short term. He has lost his damn mind, literally, and his followers are brainwashed. America is unsafe, and unstable.
We should demolish the iron curtain splitting the San Diego - Tijuana metro in half
I don’t know if I trust the people either when Trump has a nearly 50% approval rating
As an American, I agree with you. I DONT trust my neighbors or colleagues.
I’m lucky to work in an office that is a healthy mix of ethnicities so when I talk about politics there’s enough people to make the racist bootlicking types obey their primary motivator, fear, and keep quiet.
Why are we not seeing more travel advisories? I know of a few but if this was any other nation you would have advisories from almost everyone by now.
It’s happening, slowly but surely. UK issued one today.
Like how of any nation is that green?
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Jesus this is all there is for gender/sex/race/immigrant/etc discrimination, if you can even say it’s about that
The link about “travel and your identity” idr what it says exactly but it isn’t anything specific to US and certainly not much help in the current scenario
There’s some inertia that needs to be overcome, but it’s coming. UK and Germany already posted (rather tame…) advisories.
I’d like to see how policies like these affect hospitality and tourism here in the States. These stories are not good for business.
Where do you find people deranged enough to do this to other human beings without any rational explanation?
It seems like “everyday sadists” are attracted to positions of petty authority, but it appears to be a requirement to be some kinda psycho to be offered the job at the border.
How many people oversaw this? How many questioned it? How many said nothing?
Hannibal Lecter was straightjacketed, strapped to a hand truck, and muzzled.
And as we all know, simile must always be used with 100% accuracy or it’s all bullshit.
I think they mean in the cage scene, isn’t he chained up and then gets the key off the guy by eating him and wearing his face?
Well why didn’t she try that?
Me (British) and my American gf are planning to visit her friends and family over the summer in Navada, Washington and New Mexico. Not so sure i want to go anymore.
If either one of you is even the slightest bit tanned, not that I find that likely in Britain, but I digress, neither one of you should even consider coming to this hateful place for the next four years at least.
You think he will be gone after 4?
As I said, “at least.” I fully expect this bullshit to take multiple decades to Luigi everyone that is causing it because they just won’t stop being greedy and hateful.
I enjoy seeing Luigi as a verb.
Hopefully he’ll be deceased long before then but the reich is busy stacking courts and appointing party line people to jobs they have no qualifications for.
Dictatorship does not have fair elections.
If you think he will, you haven’t been paying attention. Is more likely that he dies and the weird face guy has to take the copilot seat while Elon drives, just like today.
At this point I would recommend against any non-US national from traveling to the US.
And i would recommend anyone from the US, already traveling outside, and not 100% bleach white, to increase your vacation time for a few years and not come back if possible as you will probably be detained even with a legit passport and documentation. Maybe seek asylum.
not 100% bleach white
More like any from:
- Not 100% bleach white
- Not 4 generations American
- Not a MAGA
- LGBTQ+
- Related to any anti-MAGAs
- Is pro-Palestinian or pro-Ukraine
- Has any part of their identity that can be used as an excuse to deport
Basically everyone other than Trump and the core MAGAs
Maybe they’ll dust off the good ole “dirty whites” hate and discriminate against jews Italians and irish again.
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Don’t. I used to hike around the southern states for fun. Currently residing in one. The border patrol goons are just headhunting to fill quotas now. Anybody is game. I myself am planning my move out of country right now. Even the magats are not safe and are willing to sacrifice themselves for their hateful ideals.
I’m Latino Canadian so I’m not going anywhere near the u.s, fuck that.
I’m brown in the US and I try not going anywhere. Every morning I have to drive by a school zone to get to the freeway and the police always parks right by the 20mph sign. If you don’t see the fucker there, he is somewhere already detaining someone.
I’ve got a few friends that were adopted , one of Columbian decent the other Korean. I askd them how their feeling about all this if theyre worried. My Columbian buddy is a little concerned , wants tinted windows on his car etc., cant say i blame him.
Back during fuckboys first term my Korean buddy got locked up for a few months (non violent crime). I went to pick him up , when I got to the jail they said he was being detained. I got in touch later that evening and he was released. They were about to send him to Washington D.C. to get sent back to south Korea because of some bull shit error on his adoption paperwork from the early 80’s. Luckily it all got straitened out but he was scared , he said they weren’t fucking around. He was terrified he was going to get sent back to a country he left at 3 years old with no chance to return over a clerical error.
I could only imagine the wrong people (im not saying anyone deserves this level of harassment) are going to get hammered by all this hair trigger jackboot coward behavior.
I hope you don’t get fucked with out there
100% trust your gut. It’s not a good idea.
Don’t.
It’s not safe here
Do not go to America! I wouldn’t take any chances. At this point we are a dictatorship country and you’ll be held in a prison if you can escape the corrupt pigs and ice.
Call ICE hotline, explain that her friends and family are all illegal aliens, then you can all meet at the ICE detention centre - no planning stress!
Geezus. I’m right next door (Canadian), and I wouldn’t even consider going there. They’re going to start using ANY excuse to detain people. In December 2018, Canadian nationals Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were taken into custody in China. It appeared that their detention on December 10 and subsequent indictment under the state secrets law were linked to the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Canada on December 1. In English-language media, the pair are frequently and colloquially referred to as the Two Michaels. Wikipedia. EDIT: I spent 35 years crossing the border camping, shopping, and feeling like I was with trusted neighbours. Really sad…
Wasn’t it found that those two actually were spies, and it wasn’t complete bs that China made that accusation?
Another reminder: these, and all the detention facilities are privately owned and for profit. The motivation is to have a full house to maximize profits.
Just more systems put in place to worship the American God: money.
No crime is too great as long as the parasites at the top are taking more and more and more of our wealth and prosperity from us.
They did this to a white person?!?!?! That’s news!
smh
They are absolutely desperate to fill their quotas, they’re selfish cowards who know how quickly their Dear Leader will throw them under the bus if they don’t
