It's no wonder that people from Europe don't want to come to the United States and have fears of being harassed by immigration and the US government. Everyone, please read this article. Then please contact your local US legislator to let them know that this inhumane treatment isn't acceptable.
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1513926.html
I'm not a "political person" per se. I am only stating that if this story is true then this behavior should not be tolerated by rational people.
I read it...I was stunned!
"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Seems more like a case of the tyranny of petty bureaucracy...
Isn't that how all musicans get treated?
Maybe the Immigration Agents assumed they were going to appear on Prairie Home Companion and were hassling them to upset Garrison Keillor:)
I was on another board that someone had posted an article about how tourism was down in the States since 9/11 and many foriegners had stated that one reason they were reluctant to travel to the States was fear of the Customs/Immigration people and being detained for no good reason.. I thought this could not be so,, America has always been so easy for us as Canadians to pass in and out of, BUT,
You read this article and it is SHOCKING and frankly if I was American I would be ashamed.
Sounds like the USA is delveloping into a real police state.
May I give an Englishman's perspective on this ?
Firstly the airline I work for flys two scheduled services into the USA. We are not seeing any decline in Brits going to the USA - far from it. Furthermore when we do arrive we have a really good time and the overwhelming majority of us depart with a desire to return.
The second point is that ALL security at ALL airports gets it monumentally wrong from time to time. Diana Ross was given one hell of a ghastly time at Heathrow 18 months ago. To most of us it seems her only crime was to be rich, non-white and female. It didn't stop you guys coming here.
While I am not going to defend the government officials unconditionally here, the article is full of "he saids" and "he told" etc. Since the government has not had a chance to investigate this incident yet, we need to hold judgement
As Steve says the article just gives one side of the story. It was only a couple of months ago that an off-duty Secret Service agent going through Dulles(?) accused TSA agents of harassing her and her infant child. After she went to the media with her story the TSA posted a video of the incident on its web site. It clearly showed the mother acting belligerent and throwing water on the floor, at the agents and police officers. That shut her up very quickly.
Two years ago something very similar happened to Udo Jürgens, Austrian citizen and probably THE most popular singer and writer of German speaking Europe - at New York's JFK airport. The German Travel Association last year said that from that point on outbound leisure travel to the US plummeted. They also said that due to the very cheap Dollar at the moment people do want to go shopping in America but a majority prefers Canada over the US - for immigration procedure and jail-time-for-no-reason reasons.
Rudeness and unprofessionalism is inexcusable. But I think we need to think about the kind of pressure immigration/customs officials are under in this post-9/11 world. Comparing the U.S.'s procedures etc. to any other county is not quite an equal comparison, since it was the U.S. that was attacked.
Whenever something like the 9/11 events occur, there is a period of excessiveness. I would much rather have some over-zealous border officials than careless, sloppy ones. It can take only one slip up and who knows what the next attack will be.
From Tuesday's Guardian (U.K.) newspaper:
"Britain's first Muslim minister Shahid Malik had his hand luggage analysed for traces of explosives as he was about to fly home from Washington DC after high level talks on tackling terrorism. The international development minister was stopped at Dulles airport on Sunday and detained for 40 minutes by the Department for Homeland Security, whose representatives he had met during his visit."
The rest of the story is at www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2201536,00.html
Bob, this is just great... a classic... phantastic! If it wasn't that sad I'd really L.O.L. now...
Steve why do Americans not realize that terrorist acts have occurred in many other countries, and many people have died in those other countries also.
Do YOU remember about the train bomb in Spain, or of course you do recall the Tube bombing incident in London right??
The States does not have a monopoly on suffering, in fact, due to geography the States has been relatively isolated from many incidents .
Terrorism sucks everywhere, aren't we so lucky we mostly all live in cities and towns that are not affected by it daily.
PS Re: Customs officals, power corrupts some people, small minded control freaks get a badge and a title and seem to feel they are now a law unto themselves. NOT ALL, or even most, but definately SOME!
I wasn’t saying that the United States is the only country to suffer terrorist attacks. What I meant was, since we were attacked, our government reacted in a way that was deemed appropriate for us. Other targets for attacks (Great Britain, Spain, France, etc.) develop their responses – and that is how it should be. But to criticize the U.S.’s policies/procedures by comparing them to another countries policies is pointless. We are not in a popularity contest here.
As Al said, excesses happened at Heathrow and yes, sometimes border/immigration/security officials can really mess up at times. I’m not trying to preach, but sometimes I get a tad annoyed when people post complaints about the “inconveniences” suffered from security procedures. As imperfect as they are, they are there to insure our safety.
continued....
When I compare what we have to go through now to the videos showing the 9/11 hijackers racing through the flight check-in counters with nary a glance from airline employees, I just have to conclude that I will gladly be “inconvenienced.”
I expect to be inconvenienced in order to have safe guards in place to screen out wuuld be terrorists. They are suing left and right because they fit the profile of a terriorist.
There are certain "flags" raised on many individuals before they even board a plane in Europe and elsewhere around the world for the US.
After 911 I was working on the east coast for a month and had to buy a ticket for the next day for a return to SF. I had 4 suitcases and 2 hanging bags...they search me and my luggage for at least 1 hour each at Harrisburg, Pa...again at Dulles. I knew it was because I had purchased the ticket the day before my flight.
Let passengers complain all they want. Security checks at airports will not keep me from traveling internationally.
I think it depends which part of the US you are entering. If going to the west coast, say Los Angeles or even San Francisco, there's more (um...) diversity than going into Minnesota.
I do not mind "inconveniences" or the extra time one should allow so that a thorough security screening can be done,in fact I agree that it is nessisary, and makes me feel safer!
What I don't agree with is yelling at people, and calling them liars, when truly, in this articles' case, a simple bit of common sence would have made it clear that a Finnish singer is not likely to be planning to overthrow the States, or for that matter,even WANT to live there. I know we all think our countries are the best places to live in the world,, but sometimes I think some people don't get that other countries ,especially a modern , democratic country like Finland, is not likely a country that a Finnish person would be desperate to leave in order to live in the States.
I guess that is a bit of "profiling" but lets face it ,if I was visiting from a war torn impoverished country it would make sence that the Immigration people might want to examine the motives for my visit carefully!
But, Finland?!
Jarrod, I'm likely to find more ethnic people in the OC than Minnesota. Last time I went to Eden Prarie, I was the only Asian person in the restaurant... not counting my friend who I went to visit.
PS: The OC has the largest Vietnamese population.. only 2nd to Vietnam. Not all of us are Mischa Bartons.
Michelle, and not all Minnesotans are characters out of the movie Fargo. I will admit that the Upper Midwest, in general, struggles with diversity. But on my team at work there is a guy from Spain who has spent much of his life in Belgium, 5 people from India and a Chinese woman. At one point there was even a Peruvian. I also live on the same little street in my suburb as a Mexican family of 8 and two black families. I'm not saying I live at a place that has the diversity of the Frankfurt airport, but these people aren't ignorant bumpkins who have never seen a non-European-American.
For the record, Eden Prairie is about as lily white as it gets. Next time your in town, go to Frogtown in St. Paul, Columbia Heights or Brooklyn Park. That's just for starters.
Keith Ellison is from Minnesota. He's about as diverse as the US government gets.
Bottom line, this isn't a diversity or racism issue. Afterall, the guy was from Finland. Last time I checked they're not black in Finland.
The complaints are not about security checks (which have been staples in many places in Europe LONG before they existed in the US) but about fear of detention
and possible imprisonment or revocation of travel privileges as a result of somebody having a bad day or misidentifying the traveler. The fear is that something very bad will happen and that there will be no explanation given as to why so that there is no way too fight it.
Overly intrusive searches and custom checks aren't a monopoly in the US. Three years ago I was flying out of Paris. Austrian Airlines had lost my luggage and all I had at DeGalle was my carry on and a little bag with the stuff I bought in Paris. I went through the normal check, then had all the things I was carrying hand searched. At the gate before boarding I was pulled aside and had everything in my bags taken out and searched, including opening the packaging. I was wanded, and then patted down and questioned. All of this took place in the open while the the rest of the plane loaded and people gawked at me like I was a terrorist. I am a blue eyed 50 something redhead, dressed in decent clothing and flying businesses class. I was humiliated but it didn't keep me from going back this year and I'm going at Christmas. In Cyprus my SIL was taken into a room and half for three hours while all kinds of records were checked. No one would tell her why.
It seems that Racial Profiling makes a lot of people uncomfortable. So why then would anyone feel mistreated if they are reasonably questioned? And the key word is reasonable and I am not excusing unreasonable abuse of power.
If this article is valid, that is certainly beyond unacceptable.
We all know that Terrorists can come in many shapes and sizes, colours and creeds. A terrorist cell was uncovered in my Province a couple years back. They didn't look or act any different from anyone else.
If there's a "reasonable" red flag, I would hope to be questioned on it. The "inconvenience" should be anyone's last concern in the grand scheme of National security.
Michael here mentioned (10/29/07) "Garrison Keillor". In Garrison Keillor's radio show Prairie Home Companion the skits, and some of the song lyrics, are of poor taste, in my opinion. Perhaps people in Europe listened to Prairie Home Companion, and they did not like the skits and some of the song lyrics, and some of those people in Europe think the bad behavior and bad attitudes of the actors heard in those radio skits is representative of many people who are residents in the U.S.A. And perhaps that is a reason for some people in Europe not wanting to go to the United States.
Well, anyway, when I visited Europe, European people there, of various European countries, said to me : they desire to travel to the United States of America, for one reason, they want to go to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Because they can not see a grand canyon in Germany or Italy. And some European people desired to go to Disneyworld at Orlando Florida. Perhaps they stopped desiring to go to those places.
