'Nine tales of a society scared into stupidity'

[Aidoneus]

Nine tales of a society scared into stupidity
HAROON SIDDIQUI

At a party the other night, five people were talking about their experiences, or those of relatives and friends, while crossing the American border.

As law-abiding citizens, they do not begrudge the need for post-9/11 vigilance. They even understand the occasional arbitrariness that might creep into the immigration screening process.

What they are saddened about is the bad manners, arrogance and the seeming racism of the immigration officials involved, as well as the obvious idiocy of some of the policies of the Bush administration.

Herewith, the stories told by the five people, plus four from elsewhere.

--snip--

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1071361744577&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724

[R Hickey]

1. I've been abused by our customs officers, too.

I've been striped down to my underwear upon return trips from Costa Rica (one out of one trip), Jamaica (strip searched four out of ten trips), returning from Europe (two out of ten trips), insulted by a customs officer in a private search room, "Spread'em, you know the drill" and generally treated like a hardened criminal....and I'm just a white guy, born in the USA.

I suppose they have their reasons to be suspicious. I usually dress like a mess, and once thirty-three years ago, during Nixon's Watergate Era, I was busted near the Texas border for smuggling pot. I even spent a night in jail, and a recieved year's probation because of it. But I've had no arrests since then, paid income taxes every year, yet still, four decades later, they treat me in a rude and insulting manner. Since 9/11 I haven't traveled abroad at all.

[xchrom]

2. that's really unfortunate

it makes me feel bad that you are treated so shabbily -- and worse to know the frequency of this facist behavior is rising.

[ithacan]

3. abuse by border guards

I think that some of these border officers are guys with complexes and are using their positions to get a feeling of power or something, and now they're being encourage to do so by the Bushies.

I was hassled by one of these a**holes coming back into NY State from Canada; I'm a white guy with white wife and kids, the guy was a real jerk, threatening not to let us into the country because I didn't have identification for my kids (in all the years of going across the border, including post-9/11, we had NEVER been asked for id for the kids), lecturing us in the most condescending and arrogant way...

My sense is that he was on a power trip, was actually being encouraged to act like a jerk in order to instill fear into people; orders I'd guess from the Ashcroft Justice Dept and the Bush people in general.