from Hacker News

Mem Fox on being detained by US immigration: 'In that moment I loathed America'

by mantesso on 2/28/17, 3:42 PM with 17 comments

• by bluejekyll on 2/28/17, 4:25 PM

  > Instead of crying and being sad and sitting on a couch, I am going to write to politicians. I am going to call. I am going to write to newspapers. I am going to get on the radio. I will not be quiet. No more passive behaviour. Hear me roar.

  I have a serious question. What does it mean to be on the frontline? It's obvious that she intends to do something and push the system, but it's not "revolution", as she says she is for. She is arguing for action inside the system, but that is not revolutionary.

  I very much want to force change, but it sounds more like she doesn't want to be on the frontline, but instead call others to action.

  I'm horrified by what we as Americans are doing to people of all stripes coming to the US. We are supposed to be the land of opportunity, the land that is welcoming to all. Some claim that we are a nation based on Christian morals, but then we throw out the primary messages of being Christian. It's horrendous.

  So what is the best way to fight this? The things which are getting the most attention recently are the large marches. I suppose that's the place to start, and it feels tangible. Civil disobedience, boycotting supporters of these policies, these seem to cause the powers that be to take notice.

• by relics443 on 2/28/17, 4:38 PM

  I don't think they have anything against her personally. These tactics are used to fluster and confuse, and hopefully cause the subject to make a mistake. Clearly it's effective.

  In a perfect world, this would only be applied to criminals. Because the agents aren't allowed to profile, they have to pull in people across the spectrum. Which includes authors, women with children, and old ladies.

  I don't think they mean any harm. They're trying to do their job of protecting the border, but they have protocol that they need to follow.

  Edit: anecdata, but there may be other reasons they make ridiculous selections like this (like old ladies). My grandmother, who is an elderly white lady who is hunched over, has the same name as a criminal on a watch list. Every time she went to the airport she was selected for additional screening. She never had the same experience as Fox, but sometimes they got real nasty. She always thanked them when they let her go, because what if she was actually the criminal, and they were protecting the country.

• by tzaman on 2/28/17, 4:35 PM

  I have an employee from the US (I'm otherwise from Europe) and while visiting through the conversation/personal stories he explained the most interesting part of relationship between US authorities and citizens: You're less likely to be "harassed" if you lie to them, because they can turn pretty much anything you say against you and dig so deep to finally find an excuse to bully you, or charge you with something.

  That is quite a sad state for the society to be in, being always afraid of the authorities, rather than knowing their primary goal is to protect and serve.

• by eatbitseveryday on 2/28/17, 4:16 PM

  How is there no damned accountability for these people? I'm sure decent humans in positions of power read such stories or are aware of them. Have they no authority to curtail this, fire those individuals, or do something?