American Customs are so F*CKED UP!

duggro

my work ran a sales competition where a group of the top sellers in the UK got a free trip to miami. I guy i work with won it, and deservedly so. Top bloke, but uhoh........his family is originally from Pakistan.....

so 15 of them go to miami and 12 of them make it through customs fine....but wait a minute....the 3 asian people in the group (all british citizens) are held for SEVEN FUCKING HOURS in the airport, not allowed to even stand up where they were detained. If they stood up, they were told to sit down.

Eventually they were sent on their way, having missed the welcome meal and evening out, simply due to the colour of their skin.

I never usually get so angry about these things, but the whole system is so fucked up. The thing that pisses me off more is that I know someone like miller is goin to come in here and post about how its done to protect the USA

fuck that

Cosmo

duggro wrote:

my work ran a sales competition where a group of the top sellers in the UK got a free trip to miami. I guy i work with won it, and deservedly so. Top bloke, but uhoh........his family is originally from Pakistan.....

so 15 of them go to miami and 12 of them make it through customs fine....but wait a minute....the 3 asian people in the group (all british citizens) are held for SEVEN FUCKING HOURS in the airport, not allowed to even stand up where they were detained. If they stood up, they were told to sit down.

Eventually they were sent on their way, having missed the welcome meal and evening out, simply due to the colour of their skin.

I never usually get so angry about these things, but the whole system is so fucked up. The thing that pisses me off more is that I know someone like miller is goin to come in here and post about how its done to protect the USA

fuck that

...
We used to be nice. Now, we are terrorized. We don't trust anyone any more. Can you blame us? Those people want to set off nuclear devices in our malls... or, at least, so we are being told.

duggro

there are no excuses though

just bullshit

negationist

Cosmo wrote:

...
We used to be nice. Now, we are terrorized. We don't trust anyone any more. Can you blame us? Those people want to set off nuclear devices in our malls... or, at least, so we are being told.

Sorry, I don't get it, are you even trying to defend the treatment of these people?! Just because you're skin colour is totally different from the 'average' British citizens, you're discriminated against?! I think that's a bit harsh. I only say this coz I can empathize with these people. Being from Malaysia and being not of the correct 'skin type' I've been stopped at numerous airports all over the world and questioned under various pretexts when all my friends have been allowed to travel freely. I just think it's racism pure and simple. And the day people start to admit it, then we can begin to move forward in a positive manner. But I don't see that day coming or have any hopes that it will come in the near future. Soo much for freedom!!

Cosmo

negationist wrote:

Sorry, I don't get it, are you even trying to defend the treatment of these people?! Just because you're skin colour is totally different from the 'average' British citizens, you're discriminated against?! I think that's a bit harsh. I only say this coz I can empathize with these people. Being from Malaysia and being not of the correct 'skin type' I've been stopped at numerous airports all over the world and questioned under various pretexts when all my friends have been allowed to travel freely. I just think it's racism pure and simple. And the day people start to admit it, then we can begin to move forward in a positive manner. But I don't see that day coming or have any hopes that it will come in the near future. Soo much for freedom!!

...
I tend to cast a jaundiced eye upon my beloved America these days. We have become SOOOO FRIGHTENED of the darkies wanting to Anthrax our peace-loving ways and freedoms that we are willing to freely surrender our own liberties granted to us by our founding fathers in the name of 'Please, don't hurt us... scary dark people from someplace else'.
But, we have our great protector... President America. With his swift sword of Vengence he will protect us by slashing down the terrorist along with our bullshit Constitution... what's the big deal, anyway? It's just a piece of paper. And we will continue to protect our land of the free by sealing our 2,000 mile southern border with a 700 mile fence. That should do the trick.
So, scary dark people... be put on notice... we will continue to suspect you all of wrong doing until you can prove your innocence.
God Bless America.

negationist

Cosmo wrote:

...
I tend to cast a jaundiced eye upon my beloved America these days. We have become SOOOO FRIGHTENED of the darkies wanting to Anthrax our peace-loving ways and freedoms that we are willing to freely surrender our own liberties granted to us by our founding fathers in the name of 'Please, don't hurt us... scary dark people from someplace else'.
But, we have our great protector... President America. With his swift sword of Vengence he will protect us by slashing down the terrorist along with our bullshit Constitution... what's the big deal, anyway? It's just a piece of paper. And we will continue to protect our land of the free by sealing our 2,000 mile southern border with a 700 mile fence. That should do the trick.
So, scary dark people... be put on notice... we will continue to suspect you all of wrong doing until you can prove your innocence.
God Bless America.

Haha. For a moment there I thought you were being dead serious!! You aren't, are you??!!?!? Gulp!!!

Beav

Your talking like it was a personal grudge they had against these three. It's not. Maybe on this particular day there was a security issue in which they had information regarding a threat and they fit a description. Personally, after everything that's happened, I'd rather be over-cautious than just letting things slide for fear of offending a couple people. I don't get the no standing up thing, and I'd hope they were otherwise treated respectfully. Other than that, I say better safe than sorry.

parel jam

duggro wrote:

my work ran a sales competition where a group of the top sellers in the UK got a free trip to miami. I guy i work with won it, and deservedly so. Top bloke, but uhoh........his family is originally from Pakistan.....

so 15 of them go to miami and 12 of them make it through customs fine....but wait a minute....the 3 asian people in the group (all british citizens) are held for SEVEN FUCKING HOURS in the airport, not allowed to even stand up where they were detained. If they stood up, they were told to sit down.

Eventually they were sent on their way, having missed the welcome meal and evening out, simply due to the colour of their skin.

I never usually get so angry about these things, but the whole system is so fucked up. The thing that pisses me off more is that I know someone like miller is goin to come in here and post about how its done to protect the USA

fuck that

I feel sorry for them...these are not only incidents...but I think it's structural...it happened to me also, but I was not held for 7 hours...

http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=219384

DinghyDog

-

enharmonic

I'm from this country. Once I was detained for 3 hours, and I'm just your typical run of the mill cracker.

You must understand that in America, the majority of people listen to and follow their government blindly because they just don't know any better. I have to tell myself that, because the alternative is that they just don't care...and that's worse.

Sorry for your friends.

enharmonic

double post.

negationist

if the american public were to be told that certain people would be detained and questioned due to certain blanket descriptive criteria that they filled, it would be an outrage and deemed unconstitutional. However, it seems if it's for the foreigners, it's ok then. Just a bit surprising seeing as America was built on fairness and equality for all. And for some strange reason, this description never seems to involve white europeans. I think these rules worsens further the whole them vs us mentality that many people feel and it just frightens the lay public and instills in them a bias towards people who look a certain way. I mean, if the american customs can discriminate, so can the general public don't you think.

redrock

Beav wrote:

and they fit a description.

...non white.... pure and simple.

darkcrow

it is a tragic shame. i experienced the same as i am sure many other non-whites have trying to go to the usa. not much you can do about it though, when a nation is told every minute of every day that the enemy are dark skinned then it is quite understandable how they react. i am not condoning it, just accepting what happens when you are told brown people are the enemy...

i along with a lot of my asian friends experienced / experience a great deal of fear / racism from londoners since 7th july bombings.

Songburst

As much as I think that this particular incident probably had to do with racial profiling, white people get detained at the border too. Living on a town that is on the US/Canada border, we go to the states quite a bit. My uncle (who is white) happened to have the same name as somebody who was wanted by the FBI and he was detained for 5 hours (edit: when trying to enter the US). It could be that those people happened to have names that were red-flagged and that's the way it goes sometimes.

duggro

Beav wrote:

Your talking like it was a personal grudge they had against these three. It's not. Maybe on this particular day there was a security issue in which they had information regarding a threat and they fit a description. Personally, after everything that's happened, I'd rather be over-cautious than just letting things slide for fear of offending a couple people. I don't get the no standing up thing, and I'd hope they were otherwise treated respectfully. Other than that, I say better safe than sorry.

bollocks, just bollocks

they were asian, thats it.

they were judged by the colour of their skin, which is racism in its simplest form

trappedinmyradio

it's not done to protect the u.s. it's done because of personal issues and group dynamics of the individuals "securing" the area. you don't want to get me started on security officers arbitarily man-handling someone. anyway...there is nothing you can do to change the personal feelings of an individual. people just need to stand up and bring these things to light so those people are not put in a position of multi-cultural power.

duggro wrote:

my work ran a sales competition where a group of the top sellers in the UK got a free trip to miami. I guy i work with won it, and deservedly so. Top bloke, but uhoh........his family is originally from Pakistan.....

so 15 of them go to miami and 12 of them make it through customs fine....but wait a minute....the 3 asian people in the group (all british citizens) are held for SEVEN FUCKING HOURS in the airport, not allowed to even stand up where they were detained. If they stood up, they were told to sit down.

Eventually they were sent on their way, having missed the welcome meal and evening out, simply due to the colour of their skin.

I never usually get so angry about these things, but the whole system is so fucked up. The thing that pisses me off more is that I know someone like miller is goin to come in here and post about how its done to protect the USA

fuck that

negationist

Songburst wrote:

As much as I think that this particular incident probably had to do with racial profiling, white people get detained at the border too. Living on a town that is on the US/Canada border, we go to the states quite a bit. My uncle (who is white) happened to have the same name as somebody who was wanted by the FBI and he was detained for 5 hours (edit: when trying to enter the US). It could be that those people happened to have names that were red-flagged and that's the way it goes sometimes.

I think the point is, in your uncle's case, it was a one off thing coz he happened to have the same name as a wanted man. How can that justify foreign nationals who are non-white that get detained randomly all the time. Because of all of this, I just have lost faith in the way the USA works, claiming to be the worlds leader in freedom and democracy when really, they're just a little scared of something different. Racism has not been eradicated, it's just changed it's face!

lukin2006

negationist wrote:

I think the point is, in your uncle's case, it was a one off thing coz he happened to have the same name as a wanted man. How can that justify foreign nationals who are non-white that get detained randomly all the time. Because of all of this, I just have lost faith in the way the USA works, claiming to be the worlds leader in freedom and democracy when really, they're just a little scared of something different. Racism has not been eradicated, it's just changed it's face!

Are you serious? The can detain anyone they want, after all its thier country, and it's racial profiling and when it comes to rooting out terrorist and other criminals I'm all for it and if people from these countries don't like it stay home and then you do not have the problems. I'm a white Canadian who goes to the States on regular basis, when entering the US, I fully expect to be questioned and it seems like thier are more questions than before and it takes twice as long to get into the States than before 911

negationist

beemster wrote:

Are you serious? The can detain anyone they want, after all its thier country, and it's racial profiling and when it comes to rooting out terrorist and other criminals I'm all for it and if people from these countries don't like it stay home and then you do not have the problems. I'm a white Canadian who goes to the States on regular basis, when entering the US, I fully expect to be questioned and it seems like thier are more questions than before and it takes twice as long to get into the States than before 911

Well, I have no intention of ever visiting the states, and the whole racial profiling thing has made up my mind. So yeah, I'm gonna be staying at home and not bothering. I was just participating in this discussion to raise a few important points and to express my dismay at the lack of better judgement on the part of US customs officials.

chopitdown

negationist wrote:

Well, I have no intention of ever visiting the states, and the whole racial profiling thing has made up my mind. So yeah, I'm gonna be staying at home and not bothering. I was just participating in this discussion to raise a few important points and to express my dismay at the lack of better judgement on the part of US customs officials.

perhaps if the US customs officials were this thorough and used better judgement a few years ago we'd still have some buildings standing and people home with their families for the holidays. It's amazing what little things like that will do to people. I mean, the audacity of the US gov't trying to protect it's citizens from people that fit a certain criteria.

duggro

chopitdown wrote:

perhaps if the US customs officials were this thorough and used better judgement a few years ago we'd still have some buildings standing and people home with their families for the holidays. It's amazing what little things like that will do to people. I mean, the audacity of the US gov't trying to protect it's citizens from people that fit a certain criteria.

oooh shut up you small minded fool

racial profiling is just a term which seeks to legitimise racism

parel jam

chopitdown wrote:

perhaps if the US customs officials were this thorough and used better judgement a few years ago we'd still have some buildings standing and people home with their families for the holidays. It's amazing what little things like that will do to people. I mean, the audacity of the US gov't trying to protect it's citizens from people that fit a certain criteria.

The only thing the US govt is doing is building a big "wall" around the country...if you are somehow coloured, just because the attackers of 9/11 were so...than it gives the customs clear way to search some persons for 7 hours? This is so short-sighted...

I'm a Dutchman, who looks more like an Italian and the US customs were held me once for a long time...does it make me a criminal? A terrorist?

Those criteria stink! It's all based on the colour people have...

Smellyman2

parel jam wrote:

The only thing the US govt is doing is building a big "wall" around the country...if you are somehow coloured, just because the attackers of 9/11 were so...than it gives the customs clear way to search some persons for 7 hours? This is so short-sighted...

I'm a Dutchman, who looks more like an Italian and the US customs were held me once for a long time...does it make me a criminal? A terrorist?

Those criteria stink! It's all based on the colour people have...

You're a white guy, who looks like a white guy and you were detained?

Seriously, the US is jumpy right now. Until new leadership is in place(07 can't come fast enough, 09 even better) it will be the same for a while.

Drilling for fear it makes the job simple....

chopitdown

parel jam wrote:

The only thing the US govt is doing is building a big "wall" around the country...if you are somehow coloured, just because the attackers of 9/11 were so...than it gives the customs clear way to search some persons for 7 hours? This is so short-sighted...

I'm a Dutchman, who looks more like an Italian and the US customs were held me once for a long time...does it make me a criminal? A terrorist?

Those criteria stink! It's all based on the colour people have...

it may be short sighted, but something had to be done after that event; it's prob not ideal, but we don't live in an ideal world.

did they charge you with being a criminal or a terrorist? My guess is no, so therefore you aren't one (legally...and if you haven't committed a terrorist act then you're not one by definition). I'm not saying it's not inconvenient to people, don't get me wrong. But it is what it is.

I don't know the criteria. Since you don't like the criteria...what would you change about them? I mean we are a sovereing nation that has a responsibility to our citizens first the rest of the world second. What would you have us do? And please, no utopic suggestions like, let everyone in...that's not going to happen.

chopitdown

duggro wrote:

oooh shut up you small minded fool

racial profiling is just a term which seeks to legitimise racism

that's the best you could come up with..."shut up you small minded fool"? Glad to see that scottish education working for you.

parel jam

chopitdown wrote:

I'm not saying it's not inconvenient to people, don't get me wrong. But it is what it is.

This inconvenience will result that many people will not enter the USA again. I'm not going anymore and know some other people in the NL that are not going again. Too bad, because the US also has lots of good sides...

chopitdown

parel jam wrote:

This inconvenience will result that many people will not enter the USA again. I'm not going anymore and know some other people in the NL that are not going again. Too bad, because the US also has lots of good sides...

i know that is the unfortunate side of it. i wish we had a much simpler / efficient system b/c i feel the US has tons to offer people who are visiting here.

Restless Soul

negationist wrote:

Sorry, I don't get it, are you even trying to defend the treatment of these people?! Just because you're skin colour is totally different from the 'average' British citizens, you're discriminated against?! I think that's a bit harsh. I only say this coz I can empathize with these people. Being from Malaysia and being not of the correct 'skin type' I've been stopped at numerous airports all over the world and questioned under various pretexts when all my friends have been allowed to travel freely. I just think it's racism pure and simple. And the day people start to admit it, then we can begin to move forward in a positive manner. But I don't see that day coming or have any hopes that it will come in the near future. Soo much for freedom!!

I'm British asian and I get the same treatment whenever I go abroad. My suitcase is always the one that gets searched and there's always a ton of questions. A friend of mine who is fairly dark-skinned has to travel regularly to Germany at least once a week in her job and she says that although they practically know her by now she gets stopped and searched every single time. When she goes with her white colleagues she's the only one that gets stopped.

darkcrow

it also doesnt help when passengers refuse to fly with dark skinned people. remember a few months back when mi5 and the police siad they foiled an aircraft bombing plot? well a few days after that people refused to fly on the plane because two asian guys "look suspicious". the pilot forced them off the plane even though spanish (it might have been in italy) police checked them and said they were fine to travel and that their luggage was clean. i hope those guys sued the airline. there really was no call for it.

world

I took a flight about 10 months ago and the only people they questioned at the airport was an old lady and some mom with her 1 year old.

I actually feel better that they are questioning people from Pakistan instead of old ladies and babies now.