Apparently, we now have secret police...

[Geronimo]

Even if someone were to try to argue that you need to be in the country legally (citizen or no) to be afforded constitutional protection it would follow in nearly all cases other than perhaps someone caught right at the border or under continuous observation since illegally crossing the border, that it would be absolutely necessary to establish through legal process that they were not in the country legally before denying them any of those constitutional protections. If you didn't, you'd offer government a loophole to all constitutional rights large enough to steer a fleet of cargo ships through.

If someone is passionate about illegal immigration for whatever reason they'd better focus their political energies on the border and on due process within the borders. No government could be trusted with a loophole so vast.

[Dauphin]

NH green card holder Fabian Schmidt stripped, interrogated by ICE

A New Hampshire man with a green card was “violently interrogated” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Boston’s Logan Airport earlier this month and is being detained with no explanation, his family said.

Fabian Schmidt flew back from Luxembourg on March 7, but four hours later his waiting partner had no idea where he was and called authorities, New Hampshire Public Radio reported. Schmidt’s mother, Astrid Senior, told the outlet his green card had been flagged but did not know why.

According to Senior, her son had been “violently interrogated” for hours. He was stripped naked before two officials stuck him under a cold shower and then shoved him back onto a chair, all while agents pressured him to give up his green card, she said.

Held at the airport in a bright room on a mat with other people, he was deprived of food and water, as well as his medications, she said. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital after he collapsed, and learned later he had the flu, his mother said.

More than 10 days later, Schmidt is still being held at ICE’s Donald W. Wyatt detention facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island, NHPR said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Hilton Beckham told NHPR on Sunday that the abuse claims are “blatantly false with respect to CBP” but did not give details.

[Dauphin]

Curious what the other side of the story is, but, what did this guy supposedly do? Write mean things about der Trumpenfuhrer on the internet?

[Dauphin]

Maybe this?

Schmidt has a minor criminal record, with one charge of marijuana possession of less than 30 grams, dropped in 2015, and one charge of drink-driving dating back more than ten years ago, which has since been settled.

According to legal experts, green card holders can be deported for certain offences, even if they are minor or time-barred. However, Schmidt's case appears to be extreme and raises questions about the treatment of legal residents in the US.

[Broken_Erika]

Le Monde reporting that a French scientist traveling to Houston to attend a conference was denied entry to US after a search of his phone & computer revealed messages critical of Trump's science cuts, "which [says CPB] conveyed hatred of Trump & could be qualified as terrorism". Computer confiscated

https://bsky.app/profile/paulecohen.bsky.social/post/3lkqrugxuqs2g

[Ming]

Yep... it seems like disagreeing with Trump is a crime now.

[Broken_Erika]

[Broken_Erika]

Grad student who fled U.S. says claims about her alleged support of Hamas are 'absurd'

Ranjani Srinivasan fled to Canada amid a U.S. crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters

A graduate student who fled the United States over fears she would be detained amid a crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters denies allegations by U.S. authorities that she has been involved in activities promoting Hamas.

"I'm not a 'terrorist sympathizer,'" said Ranjani Srinivasan, referring to terminology the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its secretary have publicly labelled her with. "So, I just find it kind of absurd."

Srinivasan, who is currently in Canada, spoke to CBC News about her predicament. She fears for her safety and CBC News agreed not to reveal her location.

She specifically denies participating in a high-profile protest at Columbia University, where students took over a building and police officers subsequently stormed it to end the occupation last spring.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has been taking steps to single out pro-Palestinian protesters it holds culpable for involvement in a slew of protests on U.S. college campuses.

In January, Trump pledged to deport some non-citizen college students who participated in such protests.

"I was extremely afraid of being detained," said Srinivasan, who pointed to the detention of some fellow Columbia University students as a reason for her concerns about her safety.

Sudden events

Until recently, Srinivasan had been a doctoral student in urban planning at New York City's Columbia University.

Between pursuing her studies and grading students' papers, she "rarely left the office," Srinivasan says.

Then she learned her student visa was being revoked, and that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had been knocking on her door seeking to detain her.

She decided to leave the country, via a Canada-bound flight from New York's LaGuardia airport.

"It feels a bit surreal," says Srinivasan, who is still trying to make sense of the events that have unfolded.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ranjani-srinivasan-columbia-university-student-1.7488104

[Dauphin]

A Man Who Voted For Donald Trump Is Now Asking For Help After His Wife Was Detained By ICE

A Man Who Voted For Donald Trump Is Now Asking For Help After His Wife Was Detained By ICE

A Wisconsin man who voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election is now expressing alarm after his Peruvian wife was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month.

Bradley Bartell and Camila Muñoz were on their way home to Wisconsin from their honeymoon in Puerto Rico last month when immigration officials approached them at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, David Rozas, an immigration attorney representing Muñoz, told HuffPost on Wednesday.

Muñoz had overstayed her J-1 exchange visitor visa, and her immigration status is pending following her marriage to Bartell, a United States citizen, Rozas said.

The lawyer said the couple did not have their documents for the adjustment of Muñoz’s status with them at the airport, prompting immigration officials to detain her.

She was taken to a Miami detention center before being transported to an ICE facility in Louisiana, Rozas said.

“As of right now, we have not been able to get a court date for her bond. We are waiting for her to be put in the system. That is what’s going on,” Rozas said.

Bartell told USA Today in a story published Sunday that he was worried about his wife.

"Emotionally, I’m concerned for her,” he said. “It can’t be easy being trapped in a room with 100 other people. They don’t have anything in there. It’s just so wasteful.”

He added that his wife initially came to the U.S. on a legal visa, and he had believed the Trump administration would only focus on people who had crossed the border unlawfully.

Final line - the I only thought the ****show would impact other people, not me. Sums it up really.

[dannubis]

My empathy goes to the wife.
Clearly the husband facilitated illegal immigration and should be in prison. Zero ****s given for this Trumpster.

[Dauphin]

Most civilised countries who bar entry normally just tell you to go back to where you come from. Book a flight or the boat or turnaround the car. Why does the US arrest and detain you for processing in a completely different part of the country, not tell you what is happening, and not give you access to any legal counsel / consulate services. I don't buy that it's meant to be a deterrence effect.

[The Mad Monk]

There was no explanation, no warning. One minute, I was in an immigration office talking to an officer about my work visa, which had been approved months before and allowed me, a Canadian, to work in the US. The next, I was told to put my hands against the wall, and patted down like a criminal before being sent to an Ice detention center without the chance to talk to a lawyer.
I grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon, a small town in the northernmost part of Canada. I always knew I wanted to do something bigger with my life. I left home early and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where I built a career spanning multiple industries – acting in film and television, owning bars and restaurants, flipping condos and managing Airbnbs.

In my 30s, I found my true passion working in the health and wellness industry. I was given the opportunity to help launch an American brand of health tonics called Holy! Water – a job that would involve moving to the US.



I was granted my trade Nafta work visa, which allows Canadian and Mexican citizens to work in the US in specific professional occupations, on my second attempt. It goes without saying, then, that I have no criminal record. I also love the US and consider myself to be a kind, hard-working person.
I started working in California and travelled back and forth between Canada and the US multiple times without any complications – until one day, upon returning to the US, a border officer questioned me about my initial visa denial and subsequent visa approval. He asked why I had gone to the San Diego border the second time to apply. I explained that that was where my lawyer’s offices were, and that he had wanted to accompany me to ensure there were no issues.
After a long interrogation, the officer told me it seemed “shady” and that my visa hadn’t been properly processed. He claimed I also couldn’t work for a company in the US that made use of hemp – one of the beverage ingredients. He revoked my visa, and told me I could still work for the company from Canada, but if I wanted to return to the US, I would need to reapply.
I was devastated; I had just started building a life in California. I stayed in Canada for the next few months, and was eventually offered a similar position with a different health and wellness brand.



I restarted the visa process and returned to the same immigration office at the San Diego border, since they had processed my visa before and I was familiar with it. Hours passed, with many confused opinions about my case. The officer I spoke to was kind but told me that, due to my previous issues, I needed to apply for my visa through the consulate. I told her I hadn’t been aware I needed to apply that way, but had no problem doing it.
Then she said something strange: “You didn’t do anything wrong. You are not in trouble, you are not a criminal.”
I remember thinking: Why would she say that? Of course I’m not a criminal!
She then told me they had to send me back to Canada. That didn’t concern me; I assumed I would simply book a flight home. But as I sat searching for flights, a man approached me.
“Come with me,” he said.
There was no explanation, no warning. He led me to a room, took my belongings from my hands and ordered me to put my hands against the wall. A woman immediately began patting me down. The commands came rapid-fire, one after another, too fast to process.
They took my shoes and pulled out my shoelaces.
“What are you doing? What is happening?” I asked.
“You are being detained.”
“I don’t understand. What does that mean? For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
That would be the response to nearly every question I would ask over the next two weeks: “I don’t know.”
They brought me downstairs for a series of interviews and medical questions, searched my bags and told me I had to get rid of half my belongings because I couldn’t take everything with me.
“Take everything with me where?” I asked.
A woman asked me for the name of someone they could contact on my behalf. In moments like this, you realize you don’t actually know anyone’s phone number anymore. By some miracle, I had recently memorized my best friend Britt’s number because I had been putting my grocery points on her account.
I gave them her phone number.

---

They handed me a mat and a folded-up sheet of aluminum foil.
“What is this?”



“Your blanket.”
“I don’t understand.”
I was taken to a tiny, freezing cement cell with bright fluorescent lights and a toilet. There were five other women lying on their mats with the aluminum sheets wrapped over them, looking like dead bodies. The guard locked the door behind me.

LOTS more behind the link. If this doesn't enrage you, I don't know what to say.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney

[BeBMan]

Just skimmed recent posts, so may have missed it, but there are now also a couple of cases where tourists ended up in detention despite having visas.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91300967/the-trump-administration-has-started-detaining-some-european-travelers-and-things-could-get-dire-for-u-s-tourism

I'm not saying I know the details of each case (you can find several online), but this seems unnecessarily heavy-handed, at least.

[Aeson]

Most civilised countries who bar entry normally just tell you to go back to where you come from. Book a flight or the boat or turnaround the car. Why does the US arrest and detain you for processing in a completely different part of the country, not tell you what is happening, and not give you access to any legal counsel / consulate services. I don't buy that it's meant to be a deterrence effect.

Cruelty is the point.

We designed a system where sociopaths and psychopaths have immense economic advantages, and where wealth is unchecked power. We shouldn't be surprised that a bunch of sociopaths and psychopaths have amassed all the wealth and power.

[giblets]

Most civilised countries who bar entry normally just tell you to go back to where you come from. Book a flight or the boat or turnaround the car. Why does the US arrest and detain you for processing in a completely different part of the country, not tell you what is happening, and not give you access to any legal counsel / consulate services. I don't buy that it's meant to be a deterrence effect.

The prisons are privately owned by corporations that get paid for holding prisoners and these corporations provide campaign contributions to politicians. It's corruption.

[-Jrabbit]

The current administration is literally going after people whose "papers" are 100% normal and approved. But apparently, ANY negative social or text post about Trump is enough to trigger a personal search; seizure of passports, green cards, and other identifying documents; detention without arrest or charges; denial of access to legal counsel. Detention conditions are, of course, stupidly inhumane.

The USA is now on the "travel watch" caution lists for Germany, the UK, Finland, Denmark, and others. The list keeps growing. Travel for Spring Break is down. Canadian tourism to Florida is WAY down. And that's just the white people.

Must be a great time to be an American company in the tourism industry!