Coming to Amerika and getting shackled
By John Amato Wednesday May 14, 2008 8:00pmI would understand this behavior if he at least was wearing a F*&k Bush t-shirt:
But on April 29, when Mr. Salerno, 35, presented his passport at Washington Dulles International Airport, a Customs and Border Protection agent refused to let him into the United States. And after hours of questioning, agents would not let him travel back to Rome, either; over his protests in fractured English, he said, they insisted that he had expressed a fear of returning to Italy and had asked for asylum.
Ms. Cooper, 23, who had promised to show her boyfriend another side of her country on this visit - meaning Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon - eventually learned that he had been sent in shackles to a rural Virginia jail. And there he remained for more than 10 days, locked up without charges or legal recourse while Ms. Cooper, her parents and their well-connected neighbors tried everything to get him out.
And then:
Ms. Cooper said that at the airport, when she begged to know what was happening to Mr. Salerno, an agent told her, “You know, he should try spending a little more time in his own country.”...read on
That was probably music to Tom Tancredo's ears. I doubt Geno would serve him a Philly cheesesteak either, but shackels?
I like Digby's take:
One of the most frustrating things about the authoritarian house that Bush built is the argument that you have to trust them, they're only doing it to "keep the country safe." But when you put a large bunch of bozos in boots and uniforms and give them the authority to be assholes --- some of them will inevitably be assholes. If you've read anything about the totalitarian states of the 20th century, you know what can happen.
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dude.
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too true. I'v been frisked at every airport I went through since 9/11. I just happen to be picked randomly, no doubt.
I need a president that wont drive my crazy,,, one who knows when its time to hey hit the highway!
Let us pray this happens come this November,,,,,or whenever the courts decide of such.
Friar Tuck @ 3:
All my bags are packed
Im ready to go
Im standin here outside the WH door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the january 09 dawn is breakin
Its early morn and Paraguay beckons
So curse me and party for me
Tell me that youll never miss me
Speak my name like youll never heard of it
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
when they build the gw library, why don't they make man-sized
capsule and put gw in it for prosperity to find. but with a warning
label that contents are under the IQ of desiccated crap and a large
stench will occur on opening.
We have a retard in the white house and retards protecting our borders.
Will any of the candidates for president roll back the Police State Bush and Cheney have created??? Someone should ask them that one.
Can you believe that tourism to the US is actually down?
People should be afraid. Think about what happened to Governor Siegelman and he was an American. The government is capable of anything and most people either don't realize it OR just don't care if it isn't happening to them.
I've said it before and might as well say it again now...
Welcome to what is rapidly becoming the Western Bloc...right here in the good ol'
United
States of
Authoritarianism
Heh. The sad thing is to those racist pricks in the INS that an Italian is hard to physically distinguish from an Arab, and we all know those darkies are alike, right? (Gag!)
I wait to see what happens when, say, a Greek Orthodox priest tries to get in for a visit....
And the fallout....
Damn just Damn.
What the fuck are wrong with these people??? And even a fucking rethuglican senator couldn't spring him! When the fuck will there finally be a civil uprising to this madness? When there's no difference between us and North Korea?
Funny, isn't it, that these are the same people who for 20 years went on and on ad nauseum about the inherent evils of 'big government'.
But if it's their 'big government', then Heil Shitler and shut the fuck up.
Government by the arseholes, by the arseholes, by the arseholes.
These kinds of things make me hate my country. Yes, hate. There, I said it.
Good Morning America, Looks like a lot of shitty news coming from your side of the pond.
(except of course the news that Karl Rove might be arrested, that's wonderful.)
And once again bush was allowed to close to a microphone and embarrassed his country and break one of the primary rules of International Protocol by going political in a foreign country AND at the celebration of the 60th year of the Jewish Statehood.
Yes, the man is very embarrassing to all of America. Those who are not embarrassed must be the 24% moron Factor.
This story is familiar to me I get stopped (only in America) many times when I come home to the states, the reason? I have a thick Italian accent and look Italian. So this story, while it is terrible, is not one that is not heard of over here. You should hear some of the horror stories that American Ex-Pats and Europeans have to tell about their experiences with America Customs people.
Rebel Yell @ 13:
it's already happening. when was the last time msm reported on a protest?
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 16:
Mr. Bob, the people here couldn't tell a Sephardic Jew from a Baluchi, so what do you expect? Americans are some of the dumbest people on the planet.
How long before it's ok for them to shoot people they don't like the look of?
MargeAggedon @ 19:
You mean they stopped? Just look at all the incidents of gay-bashing and attacks on blacks and tell me they actually stopped.
This is horrible, but I'm not surprised after what happened to us.
We adopted a girl from South Korea. She was 19 at the time of the adoption, but we had her in our home since she was 15 and wanted to help her mother by putting her through college. We went through with an adoption to assure funds for her education here in case anything happened to us. The adoption stipulated that it did NOT change her immigration status, so after her HS graduation she returned home to work and financially help her mother for the summer. We (and our lawyer) collected all of the proper paperwork for her to apply for a student visa for her return, as required by the law.
When she went to the our embassy in Seoul to get the student visa as she was instructed her visa was refused and the embassy employee slammed a window shut in her face. She was then stuck in Seoul for a year until Carl Levin interceded and she was granted the student visa. The reason she was refused? Because of the adoption Homeland Security did not feel she had sufficient ties to her home country to insure she would return! She was considered a "flight risk". The fact that she was legally our daughter and had never violated a visa meant nothing to them. We could not even contact the embassy directly to try to straighten this out - all email and phone calls were routed through Washington and we were told we had "no rights" in this matter. Regardless of the fact that we had been declared her legal parents in a US court.
At least she didn't sit in a jail like this poor guy, but our border system and immigration laws are seriously screwed up. But if this country keeps going in the same direction it has we'll have more people scrambling to get out than in.
ashton @ 8:
True. Even though Bush now has the dollar at half the value it was compared to the Euro eight years ago.
Bush Hates America - For Our Freedoms
Atilla the Hungry @ 22:
These are excellent points you bring up. Europeans could have a hell of a vacation in America with the dollar being so weak against the Euro, but nobody want to go to America.
dadams @ 5:
The GW library will consist of a single bible, and a stack of comics.
He might throw in a coloring book or two.
Bozos with the authority to be assholes. Cops are out of hand in America. That's right, I said it.
They'll lie in court, knowing full well the judge will side with their "impartial" testimony.
Power corrupts.
C&L, i have a complaint!
I went to work this morning as i always do and now i come home and there are no less than eight threads here i want to spend hours commenting on, but there is just so much of my energy left to go around.
Can't you try to slow down the bullshit in the world just a little bit so we can all have our say?
;)
Widespread @ 26:
Come now, this is news to you? The cops were the big killers in the Holocaust, far worse than the Waffen-SS. The cops weren't much nicer in the USSR, either.
Restore the Constitution @ 7:
Absolutely!
Atilla the Hungry @ 22:
I think that BushCo. and friends are trying to break this country financially. Tourism would bring a cash influx, so they put a stop to it.
They want all 'Merkins to be ignorant, god fearing, bigoted, ethnocentric, angry, violent puppets.
In other words, they want troops that are too stupid to ask questions, and are willing to go to other countries to fight and steal for big business.
JoGoBamma(formerly Jo) @ 29:
Hillary just called and says "hell no!"
JoGoBamma(formerly Jo) @ 29:
Maybe not before they hold accountability for the past actions of this administration.
Anyway .... Devo ora andare incontrare i miei amici per la prima colazione. Arrivederci l'America
BB (going to beach after breakfast ... ciao)
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 32:
What? Politicians give up power? Funny, I don't recall Octavian complaining about Julius's little "enhancements," do you?
General_Rennenkampf @ 20:
You're right. And because I think this is also relevant to the thread;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/immigration/cwc_d4p...
"Some Detainees Are Drugged for Deportation: Immigrants Sedated Without Medical Reason"
MargeAggedon @ 34:
Dammit, did we have to get Galba right off the bat? Couldn't the American Republic have at least gotten an Augustus?
Numinous @ 30:
More practically, they have to destroy the dollar because it is the only way to finance the enormous debt they have created.
xoites (One White Vote for Obama) defends Constitution @ 27:
they simply have you outnumbered.
“They were pretty shocked that the government could do this sort of thing, because it doesn’t happen that often, except to people you never hear about, like Haitians and Guatemalans.”
Excellent. They didn't care when it was people they didn't give a rat's ass about. That's how change happens. Mess with the kids of the well-connected.
dadams @ 5:
They may as well since his supporters say future generations will better appreciate him. I just wish it had been done years ago.
Those assholes at the border are the reason I'll never return to the US to spend my money. I somehow got on one of their lists, and I'll never allow them to fuck me over like they did ever again. One of them even apologized to me saying they are not allowed to use their discretion anymore.
Good job DHS, your country is so much safer now without me there spending my money and paying sales taxes and helping your slumping economy.
This is a God Damned outrage! Every person on this site needs to send this article to their elected rep(s) and DEMAND an explanation as I will be doing right f!@#ing NOW.
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 24:
Yep. A weak currency is generally good at improving a country's economy... given that said country has something other countries want. And this is where America fails.
We could have tourists flooding here, but no one in their right mind wants to come here with the absurdly paranoid security. We could be selling cheap products, but the only thing we produce is burgers and fries at a local fast food chain. We could be providing cheap research, but our schools have become extremely dumbed down, and those jobs have moved off to China and India. We could be selling cheap food, but having the government pour money toward corporate farms to not grow anything, or throw away food, has prevented that from happening.
There's no point in basement bargain prices when you have nothing. Nothing is free, so you can't put a price on it.
Creat enough fear and xenophobia and your Customs and INS officials become the Gestapo.
Oh America, when the hell will you learn? Free, my ass.
Now that I think about it, this seems more like something out of later Ming-era China, or the Tokugawa Shogunate, or North Korea, not a Democracy where everyone's invited...
MargeAggedon @ 34:
Marge,
just what the hell is going on down there? I know I felt scared transisting SFO and LAX last year but seeing this shit makes me want to stay the hell out of America period!
smchris @ 38:
That's the only thing that eventually stopped Joe McCarthy. He messed with the well-connected.
Blue Taliban Osama Buddha @ 42:
Speaking of Guatemala. Hey, foreigners can come here, spend money on cheap goods because the dollar is so weak, and risk getting jailed in some rat hole without charges for nothing! We're like a giant banana republic now!
The NY Times milquetoast headLine for this article is revealing:
Italian’s Detention Illustrates Dangers Foreign Visitors Face
Dangers Foreign Visitors Face?
How about:
Italian’s Detention Illustrates Dangerous Dept of Homeland Security
The propaganda that the intelligence community/news media/special interests/radical neo-fascist anti-democratic republic and freedom coalition is hard selling nationalism, militarism, superiority, and ignorance. They refer to all the Iraqi veterans as heroes. The veterans know which soldiers were heroes. A soldier is not a hero simply because he showed up. The word hero is used to describe exceptional behavior usually resulting in self-sacrifice or selfless behavior that is not a common attribute and normally is exhibited under life threatening circumstances. If what I just said is not true, why does the government award medals for conduct "above and beyond" the call of duty.
Most soldiers are people long before any of them become heroes. One song writer wrote that the courage to face each day is heroic; therefore we are all heroes with that meaning. Soldiers are not below other people either, but they are only people. Realism is enough for me. I don't need a fantasy to hold the concepts of patriotism, love of my birth place, and a willingness to put my life on the line, again, if necessary.
It is because America was not xenophobic, tyrannical, intolerant, unjust to innocent, militaristic, nationalistic, against due process, torture, the aggressor against those who were unable to defend themselves and did not attack us, censoring civil liberties including the right to criticize, protest, disagree, opposed to equal rights and opportunities that I would die fighting for, not because the neo-cons are being deceitful with me, or because they are so scary. In fact, it is because of their arrogance and greed that I wouldn't fight for them if they were the last people on earth. This is probably part of the disrespectful liars' plan, (fantasy?)
It must make a person very petty and mean to live with such self-loathing. On the surface they do not appear to care that others see them as such creeps, (Karl Rove would only baby sit my child over my dead body,) but inside they know they are scum sucking reprobates.
Seriously, what would someone in the Shrub admin or any other Repug in government think if he/she were denied entry and put in jail in shackles for a few weeks while visiting France? I'd be hard pressed to care, but what would he/she think?
MountainMan23 @ 48:
It's phrased a bit passively, isn't it? Like "Italian's detention illustrates the natural disasters that twist of fate could accidentally bestow on visitors".
A disgusting habit of the pundits that I have heard and read over the past few months is when they refer to the “Jewish vote.” What vote is that? Are supposedly all Jewish Americans in agreement with the radical right wing tactics applied in Israel? Are they all supportive of the neo-cons? It is a racist point of view. Jewish Americans are Americans first not Israelis. Americans do not have enemies on our borders with our backs to the sea. Living in such a manner creates a different mindset than most Americans including the Jewish ones can actually know. Prior to all of the nationalistic propaganda the honest response most people had about Arabs was they did not care about them. They were not paranoid of Arabs, they did not want to kill Arabs, and for the most part, they didn’t know even one Arab.
Most Jewish Americans are not fundamentalists, (Zionists,) many are atheists, they are right, left and everything in between, but their votes are no different than other American votes. Though Jewish Americans have duel citizenship the relationship for most of them has not been consummated with a round trip ticket to Israel. Some who are drawn to Israel due to culture and history may decide to stay, but most return to the land that holds their patriotism – America. There is no “Jewish vote,” any more than there is an American vote. Our nation was founded on the ideal of tolerance for difference with tolerance being the factor that unites us.
WTF????
What on earth has happened to the U.S.??
I just cannot fathom how an amazing country has allowed itself to get to the state that it has...to almost destroy the very foundations upon which it was founded.
When are the American people finally going to say they've had enough & really do something to stop the madness???
I live in Canada...born & raised, and thank my lucky stars every day, that I was.
I also lived in the States for a few years, way back in the late 60's...great experience, wonderful & friendly people. I loved my time there.
I was there through the shock of Martin Luther King's killing & Bobby Kennedy's killing. Pure & total shock with everyone I knew, that that could even happen, nevermind what hopes & dreams were shattered with those bullets.
I guess I'm just mystified that so very many violations against such a good country have gone unchallenged...where is the shock...where is the outrage???
So very sad.
Since we have staunchly refused to shackle *, we really can expect no less. I mean, this is WHY there are laws to insure we can get rid of criminal administrations. If we don't USE them, we deserve what we get.
i have a similar take to digby
what is most important... safety or freedom? you can't have both on equal footing, so which one takes precedence?
my choice is freedom.
Anyone else hear the brown boots clicking behind you??
So when will the rest of the states put up boarder checkpoints like California?? So if you're anything but a wasp are you detained at the boarders?? Sounds an awful lot like the old Soviet Union, hey??
Naa..must just be my imagination...
Not only is this story an outrageous example of abusing the rights of an innocent person, it also shows the incredible stupidity of our laws and the people in charge of enforcing them. What a bunch of frackin' morons! And it is they, who are allegedly protecting us from terror!
I can indeed understand. In January I travelled from Helena MT to Long Beach CA for a needlepoint trade show. All well out to the coast, but when I got to the Long Beach Airport to travel home the Delta clerk, first day on the job, screwed up my boarding pass. TSA pulled me out of the line (btw Long Beach Airport is a really podunk place) and chastised me for not checking the boarding pass. I'm a 60 yo needlepoint store owner and my glasses were buried in my purse. They frog marched me around the airport three times looking for a Delta employee who could rectify the boarding pass, but when they couldn't find one locked me up in a room with a chair that fell apart when I sat down. After about 20 minutes a large female TSA employee came into the room and asked (since I am obviously of English origin - never lost the accent) for proof of citizenship. I told her I am actually a Canadian citizen but married to an American - have a green card, and have lived in Montana for 5 years. OK, so where's the green card. Actually I don't have it - it has been issued twice during the last three years with erroneous information and I'm still waiting for the real thing. I guess the ICE in Nebraska is a little backed up.
I told them to call my husband in Helena - not a chance. I pointed out that there is only one flight a day from LB to SLC, and I really didn't feel like spending the night on the floor. And anyway I don't need to have proof of citizenship to travel between two American cities. Eventually they figured I was more trouble than they wanted to deal with, and after keeping the flight for 15 minutes (which pissed everyone else off) they shoved me on to the plane.
I arrived in SLC, and while trying to board the usual Delta sardine can flight to Helena had to go out into the main airport and through security again (can't figure that one out) was once again pulled aside by TSA. Green card? Nope - don't have it. Whispered conferences. Shut in another room with my needlepoint, Ipod and a copy of Takeover by Charlie Savage. I'm surprised they didn't confiscate that! I missed the flight I was supposed to be on, and four hours later after I had lambasted everyone I could in my vewwy proper English accent was allowed into the sardine can and got home after midnight. I guess they figured I'm not a terrorist and was more trouble than they wanted to deal with - again - and off we went. Got home way late, they'd lost my bag, my draft mare had foaled that evening and I missed it, my husband was apoplectic, I'll never fly again in this country, and are waiting for landed immigrant status for him so we can go live in Canada.
this occurs, while millions of illegals continue to work for slave wages and make the corporations millions
the entire dept of homeland security is one huge fubar
oh sure, once in awhile the dept will make a huge bust...but thats just for show
i bet this is the case that caused mcfool to say "we have illegal immigration under control"
what a fucktwit
As an Aussie, I have no interest in travelling to the USA. it sounds scary.
Yesterday I was going through boxes in the attic and came across my arrest papers from 24 years ago. I was arrested on false pretenses and the cops lied their asses off.
Cops lie. Cops abuse their power. Always has been that way, always will be that way.
The founding fathers knew this and created the bill of rights as essentially a limitation of police powers. The bill of rights was NOT intended to enumerate our rights, because our rights are not limited to what's mentioned in the bill of rights. It was simply a bill of "things cops and other government officials damned well better not try and get away with."
We've forgotten that. Instead of seeing people vested with police powers as being a necessary evil and limiting those powers to the greatest degree practical, people now see cops as authority figures. Bullshit. WE are the authorities.
I actually saw some dumbassed redneck Bush lover arguing against gay rights by saying "we have no rights except those mentioned in the constitution" - exactly the opposite of the truth, and exactly what some at the time feared would happen and why some were against a bill of rights - people would then try to argue those are the only rights.
Republicans are authoritarians. They are the intellectual descendants of the Tories. They would have been loyalists, they would have fought (or rather demanded that others be drafted to fight) on the side of King George.
They are anti-American.
I don't usually fly, but had to take a one-way flight a few years ago. I was told the one-way thing caused the extra "security". But seeing the way things are going, I suspect that I'm now on some terrorist watch-list for all eternity. Getting ready to apply for my first passport, so it'll be interesting to see how many hassles will be encountered. Nevermind that I was born on a US Air Force base over 50 years ago to a career Air Force veteran.
Did I say "interesting"? I meant "scary, horrifying, I'm dreading it".
I can't respond to this. I just can't do it.
MargeAggedon @ 19:
They've been killing Blacks in increasing numbers since the 80s (after some progress during the 70s), and no one seems to care. Even when cops claim they killed someone because they thought a candy bar was a gun. But Americans are too brainwashed by all those Cops-like shows and violent video games. And I do think that contributes to people not caring, becoming inured to heavy-handed fascist authoritarianism. And I think that those in power know this and have some say in the promotion of such violent, authoritarian-promoting forms of "entertainment." Americans have become a rotten people. It's a shame countries with more sense don't have militaries big enough to invade us and set us back on the right track. And I'm not kidding about that either.
Sigh, now I'm going to have to learn to stop biting my nails, so I can claw the eyes out of some of these self-righteous asses when I run into them....
There are stories that show why America should be allowed to exist; and then there are stories as to why it should be destroyed to the last blade of grass. This is one for the latter. I ain't gonna cry if the U.S. gets wiped off the face of the earth. Looks like the morons in America outnumber the nice ones; too bad the nice ones can't change a thing; otherwise Bush would have been impeached long ago.
In the article, Mr. Cooper said this:
You know he's right. INS and now DHS have moved on from arresting anyone from Central/Latin America to anyone who isn't 'white enough' to meet their standard.
You know he's right. WE the good people have got to step it up and check the bad people who toss people in jail just because they want to speak to their embassy. If we do not, we are worse than Libya.
Both public and private "security" have become the new growth industry in America. It's sort of a public/private Brown Shirt full employment program. They're being trained on foreigners, but they're not likely the long term suspects.
General_Rennenkampf @ 28:
Yeah, but we're talking about the USA, not Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia.
I grew up with this image of cops like the guys in "Adam-12". I was raised by conservative parents, and naively believed that the American justice system worked impartially. I can honestly say that first-hand experience with American police officers has been the single biggest factor in pushing me to the left.
I do think it has gotten worse during my lifetime (I'm 46). A few years ago I was at some Dead shows at Red Rocks, CO. After the show, I standing outside my car in the parking lot, eating a sandwich. Cop came by and told me to leave. I said, "I'm waiting for my friend". He said to wait in the car. I said I have a bad back, and that's why I'm standing outside. He said, "Get in the car right now, or you're going to jail." WTF??? I was leaving in 5 minutes anyway, why did he have to be such a dick and create more bitterness in the world?
Security will always be big business....
http://www.gofrostfire.com
"I would understand this behavior if he at least was wearing a F*&k Bush t-shirt:"
I wouldn't. He arrived in the land of freedom, where freedom of speech is your "first right", enshrined in the Constitution. A country that sticks to the letter of the law, no less.
I keep telling eveyone, this is what my train to NYC, from Niagara Falls, Canada, was like a few years ago. The Gestapo got on, with full leather gear, automatic weapons and attack dogs, and terrorized the entire trainload, for two hours (people in tears everywhere).
Atilla the Hungry @ 36:
============================================
Perhaps they do want to create massive disorder, even panic. The rich will keep their money (and all their goodies), and the rest (the peons-- that means YOU) will BEG for security and a strong LEADER. Enter the zillion-strong security forces already amassed a.k.a. "the Blackwater Family". Hitler ruined the Deutschmark, and people cried out for "LEADERSHIP". And he blamed it all on the "dirty Jews" and communists. Then he started gassing misfits (gays, mentally ill, "nasties-of-all-sorts"). The Holocaust came later in the story.
I think this incident goes to show just how easily any one of us, foreigner or citizen, can be thrown in jail in this country.
"But when you put a large bunch of bozos in boots and uniforms and give them the authority to be assholes — some of them will inevitably be assholes. If you’ve read anything about the totalitarian states of the 20th century, you know what can happen."
Close, but no cigar! The assholes, the hypocritical, the racist and sexist, the power hungry with fantasies of violence and chips on their shoulders are the ones who come out and become part of the state apparatus and support them. Why? Because they are their base. They are the willing authoritarian followers and they THRIVE in environments like this. It is their time.
xoites (One White Vote for Obama) defends Constitution @ 27:
I know that feeling!!
Atilla the Hungry @ 22:
It's no secret that the USA's Homeland Security treats foreign travelers poorly--as Americans we're just used to it. Our family of 4 went to London last spring and when we got to customs at Gatwick, I presented the declaration card (or whatever it's called) to the agent. The agent informed us that we needed a card for each traveler. I told him the flight attendant had insisted we only needed one card for all of us, because I had asked for 3 more when he distributed them on the flight. The agent and the neighboring coworker shot each other knowing glances and graciously gave us new cards to fill out (and didn't send us to the back of the line, which was moving way more quickly than any US domestic flight anyway). If the same scenario had happened to a foreign family traveling to the US, I'm sure it would not have been handled in the same way--in fact I was a bit nervous that we'd be detained which would not have been convenient, since our daughter had just begun to exhibit a serious case of stomach flu 3 hours into our flight.
Numinous @ 25:
And My Pet Goat.
Why is America spelled with a "k"?
One of the dirtest tricks in police bag of tricks is to take your wallet in any arrest,(throw it away and say they never saw it) Then the next time asked by a cop for ID, they want to hold you 72 hours, that is a crock of shit, speak up America.
Well that sucks... It just sucks... Just like everything else these nitwits have brought down on our heads..... Good old fashion international hospitality... Just something else the Bushies have 'rendered' extinct since stealing their way into the wh....... Yea, just like bushtwin@15, this kind of shit makes me hate too... But not the country perse... Just the assholes fucking it up.....And we ALL know who that is...JD
To get around the NYT registration select the text from the article paste it into news.google.com and it will give you the site without registration foofah.
The sad part about this all is the consumer society that we live is such that we are enslaved to the machine to such an extent that the government can do whatever it wants and no citizen would do a thing in response. As long as citizens are more concerned about making mortgage payments, buying the next big electronic item, making their car payments, etc, they will never give a shit about what happens to anyone other than themselves, and will let this government walk all over them. Who needs big brother when you have that kind of herd mentality? It is a sad day for this country.
As both a liberal and one of these so-called "bozos in boots," I won't/cannot comment on any one specific case, but every country has the right to protect its sovereignty by determining the intent of all seeking admission and whether they are legally entitled to do as they state or as we perceive their actual intent to be. From the comment that this Italian needs to spend more time in their own country, my educated guess would be that this is someone coming not as a bona fide
visitor but coming repeatedly for 90 days at a time, effectively living here without having gone through the process of obtaning an immigrant visa.
And I resent the statement that this constitutes "the authority to be assholes."
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