re:
“They Spoke Spanish in a Montana Store. Then a Border Agent Asked for Their IDs”
By Matthew Haag
The New York Times
May 21, 2018
This kind of profiling and harassment of the foreign born is inexcusable, incredibly stupid, and unproductive. In a word, it’s deplorable.
What was the agent thinking?
The Times article notes:
An agency spokesman declined to discuss the specific episode but said that the officer’s actions were under review.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and officers are committed to treating everyone with professionalism, dignity and respect while enforcing the laws of the United States,” a spokesman at Customs and Border Protection said in an email on Monday. “Decisions to question individuals are based on a variety of factors for which Border Patrol agents are well-trained.”
This is reassuring (meant sarcastically).
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I am totally against vigorous anti-immigrant enforcement and President Trump’s know nothing, get tough on immigrants policy. (On May 16, Trump launched into a riff about “people trying to come in” and being deported who are “not people.” “They’re animals,” he said. “It’s the latest in a series of statements stretching over Trump’s entire national political career that carelessly conflate immigration, criminality, and violence,” it was noted in a Vox post.)
As noted in previous posts of mine (see links below), I feel that such a policy is not only uncalled for, not justified by any facts, and mean spirited, but that it goes against our foundational principles as a nation and against fundamental concepts of decency and humanity.
And, I believe that following the opposite policy would ensure that we continue to remain a strong country — that, besides inflicting undue hardship on people, it drains us culturally and spiritually and hurts us economically — that it is neither fair nor humane or advantageous from an economical or practical point of view. (See, for example, reference to Wall Street Journal article below).
To say nothing of the pain it has inflicted upon individuals.
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Regarding over-zealous border patrol actions: Last month, I was detained by airport security officers/screeners while changing planes at the Stockholm airport.
I asked why. Was I under suspicion? You get no answer.
I was detained for about 25 minutes, thoroughly searched, and asked innumerable questions, such as what places had I visited, what hotels had I stayed in and what were the room numbers, had I given anyone else access to my luggage, what companies have I worked for. My passport was taken away and returned to me just before the flight departed. There are two stickers on the back of my passport now, one saying “SECURITY” and the other ‘DELTA SECURITY 7/16.” I am afraid to remove them.
I fit the profile of a _______. Shoe bomber? There was nothing about me or my trip, or my carry on items (a laptop computer and a tote bag with a book or two, my passport, an audiobook, and nothing much else) — my suitcase had already been checked in — that was suspicious.
It was very stressful and helped to ruin my trip.
— Roger W. Smith
May 2018
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See also my posts:
“extreme vetting” of immigrants?
“prevarication; institutionalized cruelty”
“immigration policy, Walt Whitman, and Donald Trump’s wall; or, the Berlin Wall redux”
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See also:
“Coveted exemptions from Trump’s travel ban remain elusive for citizens of Muslim-majority countries”
by Abigail Hauslohner
The Washington Post
May 22, 2018
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See also:
“Immigration Is Practically a Free Lunch for America; Tax cuts are well and good, but the surest way to spur economic growth is to let in more people.”
By Neel Kashkari
The Wall Street Journal
January 19, 2018