
Mem Fox, Australian author, won't go back to US after being detained - Debugreality
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-25/mem-fox-detained-at-los-angeles-airport-by-us-officials/8303366
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08-15
A friend of mine was denied entry into the US after having travelled there a
few times. Since there was no return flight the same day, and the airport was
closing overnight, he had to spend the night in a cage (they call it detention
center, but it is a cage), where he was raped (they call it body cavity
search, but it is penetration without consent, and therefore rape). We he
returned the next day, he was _actually_ traumatized.

Two hours of questioning is nothing in comparison, and the "I felt like I was
physically assaulted" line when there was no actual assault makes me sick.
Actual assaults happen all the time, people from supposedly friendly nations
are routinely treated like animals, and nobody even receives a letter of
apology.

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toyg
Ahh, the good old days, when the worst thing about being "randomly selected"
three times in a row was slight annoyance and delays as they went through your
baggage... now they're into full-jackboot mode.

Note this writer is white and "anglo"; but her books support respect among the
different and a melting-pot worldview, so she's a dangerous subversive and
worth of intimidation.

Dark times.

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arjie
It's been this while for quite some time if you have "Muslim" names. "I'm
sorry, my computer's stopped working. Please come this way."

And yup being sixty or seventy isn't going to help you. Perhaps new rules have
made this common (I don't know) but this is how American border personnel are.
It's fairly well known among the affected communities.

~~~
Arizhel
I have to comment about her age: when I read the article, I was shocked when
she said she was 70. Her photos look like someone who isn't a day over 50. She
looks absolutely fantastic.

That said, she's absolutely right to stay out of the US. This place is not
safe for foreigners, and the treatment she described can be assumed to be the
norm now. Take your tourism dollars to a country that treats you right.

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pentae
Simply incredible.

She got a 'charming' apology letter only because she's famous and the US got
caught with its pants down. To think that this happens every day to people
without a platform.

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TheSpiceIsLife
As an Australian...

I'm never going to the US, no way fuck that.

~~~
i_feel_great
Same here. Just turned down an invitation to meet an Amazon recruiter
primarily because of the requirement to travel to the US.

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Walf
I've met her a few times. There is nothing remotely threatening about her.
Pull your heads out of of your arses, America.

~~~
the_d00d
Please understand that not all Americans condone this.

~~~
Arizhel
As an American, I really dislike statements like this. We _voted_ for this,
and a very large portion of our population _wants_ jack-booted
authoritarianism like this.

No, not _all_ Americans condone this, just like not _all_ Americans speak
English. But we Americans can absolutely be assumed to condone this overall.
We chose this, and it's not just the latest election with Trump; this kind of
thing was going on under Bush and Obama too. This country has been going this
way for a long time.

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nthcolumn
The Decline and Fall. American refugees welcome here. I can't remember what
was it that made the possum visible again?

~~~
AckSyn
I'd love to move to the .au

~~~
senectus1
just do it man, fairly sure you wont regert it ;-)

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jaclaz
Maybe it is just me (and I am not mother tongue English speaker) but this:

>"I thought: 'How can human beings treat other vulnerable human beings in this
fashion, _in public, in full view of everybody_?'

Somehow makes me think that the same things if done privately and not in
public could even be admissible?

~~~
dugword
I think her point was the public humiliation made a bad thing even worse.

~~~
jaclaz
Yes, maybe, or maybe it was meant to underline how they (border/custom
officers) had not any kind of difficulties in doing that publicly, i.e.
hinting that that kind of arrogant behaviour is (or can become) the "new
normal"? Anyway, it is yet another (to me) "terrifying report", I have never
been to the US, but from what friends/people I know told me noone in the
airport/custom have ever been anything less than respectful and professional
when dealing with them (as tourists entering the country). Of course this is
not even anecdotal, it is "reported anecdotal", so take it for what it is, but
maybe something is really changing in the attitude towards visitors.

