Unsafe for foreigners (or well anyone) to travel to US catchall thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter altmin
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies: 104
  • Views: 2K
  • Politics 
www.theguardian.com

Irish woman detained by US immigration released after 17 days in custody

Cliona Ward, who has lived legally in US for decades, was returning from trip to Ireland when held over criminal record from 20 years ago
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
An Irish woman who was detained by US immigration authorities because of a criminal record dating back almost 20 years has been released after 17 days in custody.

Cliona Ward, 54, who has lived legally in the US for decades, emerged on Wednesday from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility at Tacomain Washington.


After visiting her sick father in Ireland she had been detained at San Francisco airport on 21 April, causing an outcry in Ireland and the US and a campaign for her release.

Last week a California judge agreed to an application for the original convictions to be formally overturned in a manner that would be recognised at a federal level, paving the way for her release, according to Ward’s lawyers.

...

Ward is originally from Dublin and moved as a child to the US where she obtained a green card, attended the University of California, in Santa Cruz, now works for a non-profit, pays taxes and cares for a chronically ill son who is a US citizen, according to Holladay.

A criminal record for drug possession and misdemeanours from 2007 and 2008 was expunged at state level but not federal, which put her in the crosshairs of Donald Trump’s crackdown on documented as well as undocumented immigrants.

Earlier this year Ward accompanied her stepmother to Ireland to visit her father, who has dementia, and upon returning to the US was stopped at Seattle airport on 19 March and held for three days.

She was released to obtain documentation about the partially expunged convictions and presented them to Ice officials at San Francisco airport on 21 April, after which she was again detained, said Holladay.
 
US Citizen in this case.

www.usermag.co

Hasan Piker detained at the border and questioned for hours over politics

+ TikTok clout loop, Kai Cenat's next chapter, the "safest white boy", Minecraft marriages, group chat trauma, a MAHA-friendly food app, Altman's kitchen fails, and Silicon Valley's existential crisis
www.usermag.co www.usermag.co

Hasan Piker, the biggest progressive political streamer in America, was detained by Customs and Border Protection for hours of questioning upon returning to the U.S. from a trip to France this weekend. Piker posted about the incident on X and later talked about it on stream.

He was detained in Chiago and questioned for two hours about protected journalistic activities like who he’s interviewed and his political beliefs. He was asked whether or not he’d interviewed Hamas, Houthis, or Hezbollah members. He was questioned about his opinions on Trump and Israel and asked about his history of bans on Twitch. His phone and laptop were not confiscated.

"They straight up tried to get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently,” Piker said on stream following the incident. “… [the agent] kept saying stuff like, do you like Hamas? Do you support Hamas? Do you think Hamas is a terror group or a resistance group?”

“I kept repeating the same statement over and over again,” Piker said. “I kept saying... I'm on the side of civilians. I want the endless bloodshed to end. I am a pacifist. I want wars to end… which is insane because up until this moment. If you were to say as an American citizen, you stand 10 toes down with Hamas, or you stand 10 toes down with the Houthis, they can’t deny you entry into the country for that shit.”

“DHS flagging and detaining one of the U.S.’s largest left-wing voices for their political opinions while the Trump admin suggests they might suspend habeas corpus does not portend well for the future,” said lawyer and content creator Alex Peter.
 
uncmba said:
This stupid plan to harass and threaten visitors to our Country is so beyond the pale that I can’t understand it. Why? Millions of people who want to come and spend their money here. See how great our Country is. Do we still want Foreigners to admire the US and want to work with us or do we believe that threats work better?
Click to expand...

Isn’t this what our enemies would like?
 
After U.S. President Donald Trump took office, sociologist Travers — who goes by one name — nixed plans to attend the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS) conference in Seattle this November.

Travers, a full professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., is the president-elect of NASSS. But as a trans person, they are wary of visiting the U.S. at a time when the Trump administration is rolling back transgender rights.

" will not be travelling to the United States right now because it feels very dangerous to do so," said Travers.


The sociologist soon realized the problem was widespread: around 40 per cent of NASSS's 600 members live in Canada, and many of them reported that they, too, don't want to attend the Seattle conference, due to reports of increased scrutiny at the U.S. border, Trump's trade war and his threats to annex Canada.

"If we were to just hold the conference in Seattle, it would be significantly under-attended," Travers said of the annual conference, where NASSS members meet and share research about the sociological study of sport.

Because breaking the venue contract would be cost-prohibitive, organizers came up with a creative solution: a pared-down Seattle conference with an added tandem one in Vancouver. Some events will take place in both locations, courtesy video conferencing.




...


Sociologist and NASSS member Nathan Kalman-Lamb also had an incident at U.S. customs in March at Montreal's Trudeau International Airport, as he was heading to a conference at the University of South Carolina.

The Canadian citizen says despite having all the right documentation, including an invite from the university, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer interrogated him and searched his possessions, including his phone and wallet.


"To be subject to these kind of searches and the seemingly arbitrary authority of basically police officers in these spaces, it's beyond disquieting. It's frightening," said Kalman-Lamb, an assistant professor at the University of New Brunswick.

Three hours later, he said, the officer allowed him to continue on his journey. However, by this time, he had missed his flight and had to rebook it. He said no one explained why he had been targeted, so he's sworn off U.S. travel for now.

"I don't even think for research I can justify at this point taking the risk of travelling to the United States," he said.

...

Work and Family Researchers Network (WFRN), an association for work-family scholars, announced in April it has relocated its 2026 biennial conference from Boston to Montreal. The conference typically attracts 400 to 500 participants from across the globe.

...

The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans is relocating its 2025 Canadian Employee Benefits Conference from San Diego to Canada. The exact dates and location have yet to be announced.

The foundation, an educational organization for the employee benefits industry, declined to comment. But a statement posted online last month suggests the conference, which hosts up to 1,500 Canadians, was moved due to travel concerns.

"We believe this move will enable us to educate more attendees," said the statement.

If conference organizers continue to choose Canada over U.S. venues, it could be a boon for the Canadian economy, says non-profit conference manager Heather Dow, who has organized more than 100 conferences and events since 2012.

"If you think of a conference that might have 300 participants, that could be a boost into the economy of $500,000-$600,000 or more," said Dow, senior manager with Events & Management Plus in Kingston, Ont.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top