ICE And CPB Are Abusing Citizens And Non-Citizens Alike In Hints Of Authoritarianism

Trump was supposed to roll out his new Muslim ban sometime last week but it never materialized. Now it is reported that it may come out later this week. Perhaps the delay is because the DHS review that Trump requested that would "prove" what a threat the seven blackballed countries were actually found no such thing, rather concluding that citizenship is "likely an unreliable indicator" of terrorist actions in the US. Trump rejected the study and his administration said it was incomplete.

But his ban may not need to be reintroduced since it appears that DHS, in particular the Border Patrol (CPB), seems perfectly at ease with ignoring the courts' orders to stop enforcing the ban, breaking other laws, and basically carrying on as though they were a law unto themselves.

A Jordanian was denied entry to the US with his valid tourist visa simply because his birth place was in Syria. He was a Jordanian citizen with a Jordanian passport. According to the Jordanian, he was not allowed to call his embassy, a lawyer, or his family before he was sent back to Jordan. In addition, he was threatened with a permanent ban from entering the US if he did not sign the papers agreeing to his deportation.

A British Muslim teacher from Wales traveling with a valid visa and holding a UK passport was denied entry. He was escorted off a plane in Iceland and told he would not be allowed to enter the US. This action was in direct violation of the courts' suspension of the Muslim ban.

Muhammad Ali's son, a US citizen, was detained for two hours at the Fort Lauderdale Airport on his return from Jamaica. Ali, Jr. was interrogated about his Muslim faith. According to Ali's friend and lawyer, "Imagine walking into an airport and being asked about your religion. This is classic customs profiling." But of course Trump hasn't ordered a Muslim ban.

A famed Australian children's author was detained by Border Patrol for two hours as she attempted to legally enter the country. Mem Fox felt like she had been physically assaulted in her ordeal, saying, "I have never in my life been spoken to with such insolence, treated with such disdain, with so many insults and with so much gratuitous impoliteness.". She had been to the US over 100 times without incident before this, but this may be her last visit as she now says she "couldn't imagine" coming here again.

Henry Rousso, a French researcher who has been a visiting professor at multiple US universities, was detained at a Houston airport. The professor was invited to a symposium at Texas A&M University but was held at the airport and was told he would be sent back to Paris as an illegal alien. Fortunately for Rousso, he was able get in touch with A&M who were able to intervene and allow him into the country. No explanation was given for his detention and attempted deportation. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact he is a Holocaust historian. The CPB said that the officer handling Rousso's case was "inexperienced". Rousso had the appropriate response, saying, "That is the situation today in this country. We must now face arbitrariness and incompetence at all levels...My situation was nothing compared to some of the people I saw who couldn't be defended as I was."

These abuses by the CPB will only end up hurting America in the long run. For seventy years, the best and the brightest from around the world have come to America to visit and be educated. Some decided to remain and helped drive our economy forward. The others who returned to their own countries took some American values back with them. In one month, Trump has destroyed that. As the you Jordanian said, "America was an opportunity for people here before. But now, no one is actually thinking about the United States for a future place to live."

Meanwhile, ICE is also performing its share of atrocities at the behest of the Trump administration. ICE has been accused of doctoring a the statement of a DREAMer that it detained in an immigration sweep in order to deport him as a gang member. They dragged a woman out of the hospital who was getting cancer treatment. They arrested a woman who was in court trying to get a restraining order for domestic abuse. There was the cross-country flight where passengers were not allowed to debark without showing their papers, a pretty stark reminder of authoritarian states. And now we find out that the Trump immigration executive order overrode a 2013 DHS rule that prevented the deportation of the immediate family members of active-duty servicemen and women as long as those family members did not have criminal convictions. That means that a soldier serving in, say, Iraq, Afghanistan, or perhaps even Syria, could have his family deported while he was overseas. That will be a boost for military morale.

I've just covered a sampling of what's been reported. As Mr. Rousso says, imagine what is happening to those people wo do not have the connections or resources to properly defend themselves. One of the hallmarks of authoritarian rule is the realization that the police power of the state can be used and abused in an indiscriminate manner at any time. Non-citizens and now even citizens are finding that there seems to be nothing to stop the abuses currently being wrought by ICE and the CPB.