So it begins...

[Crumpets]

A Canadian woman born in Morocco was asked about her thoughts about Trump and her religion at a border stop while traveling to Vermont. When she confirmed that she was Muslim, and stated she was "uninterested" in Trump, they brought her in for four hours of further questioning. When she was found to have received Islamic prayer messages on her phone, she was denied entry into the United States.

From WCAX:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

And if you're interested, here's a more detailed interview from CBC:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.3972400/canadian-woman-denied-entry-to-u-s-after-muslim-prayers-found-on-her-phone-1.3972404

[ApatheticAustrian]

i hope there is some kind of mistake or something special with those videos.

too evil if true.

[Crumpets]

i hope there is some kind of mistake or something special with those videos.

too evil if true.

Even so, any other border crossing it would have gone:

Patrol: Passports?
Person: Here.
Patrol: Where do you live?
Person: Montreal.
Patrol: Where are you going?
Person: Burlington
Patrol: What business do you have there?
Person: Oh, we're just going shopping.
Patrol: How long will you be there?
Person: We'll be back tonight.
Patrol: Are you carrying any drugs, weapons, alcohol, or goods totaling more than 10,000 USD that you plan to leave in the United States?
Person: Nope.
Patrol: Alright, here are your passports. Have a nice trip!

Even if the videos on her phone were somehow damning, they should never have asked her her religion or her politics.

[Hindsight was 2020]

Did Trump put something in the EO about people who don't like him can't come in because I have heard about people being asked about Trump by patrols in multiple stories at the airports

[Antonio the Sixth]

This is legitimately terrifying.

[JA]

This isn't the only example of the border patrol targeting a Muslim; the other example was a Pakistani American who works with the ACLU and was flying back to America from Dominica before being stopped for intense questioning.

https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/flying-home-abroad-border-agent-stopped-and-questioned-me-about-my-work-aclu

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[JA]

This isn't the only example of the border patrol targeting a Muslim; the other example was a Pakistani American who works with the ACLU and was flying back to America from Dominica before being stopped for intense questioning.

https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/flying-home-abroad-border-agent-stopped-and-questioned-me-about-my-work-aclu

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Mr. Reactionary]

i hope there is some kind of mistake or something special with those videos.

too evil if true.

[EnglishPete]

A Canadian woman born in Morocco was asked about her thoughts about Trump and her religion at a border stop while traveling to Vermont. When she confirmed that she was Muslim, and stated she was "uninterested" in Trump, they brought her in for four hours of further questioning. When she was found to have received Islamic prayer messages on her phone, she was denied entry into the United States.

From WCAX:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

And if you're interested, here's a more detailed interview from CBC:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.3972400/canadian-woman-denied-entry-to-u-s-after-muslim-prayers-found-on-her-phone-1.3972404

There's so much to take in hear. It seems unbelievable that in 2017 at a US border crossing point near Burlington of all places that a Muslim woman would be subject to this kind of degrading treatment asked all kinds of inappropriate questions about Religion and politics. And of course she has no real opinion about Donald Trump. It seems unbelievable that a Canadian woman who speaks so confidently and eloquently on the radio would know nothing about politics but clearly its true.

Then there's the five year old kid with cancer. What a terrible co-incidence that exactly the sort of person most guaranteed to pull on people's heart strings and cause them to abandon their critical faculties, a small child with cancer, was with her on this fateful trip.

Its clear that this woman is feeling real pain. Look at the picture. Look at the face of tragedy on this woman's face



This is clearly the look of a woman who has been emotionally devastated.

Clearly we need some confirmation of this woman's version of events. Not for any decent people who will, quite rightly, simply listen to and believe everything she had said. However I suspect that there are some deplorable scum who will suggest that some or all of her story was made up, for the sake of both making a political point and getting 15 minutes of fame. To show that these vile people are wrong we have to see corroboration of this woman's obviously completely true and not at all made up story.

[The_Doctor]

I see EnglishPete's anti-Muslim biases - no, I'll say bigotry, are showing. "MUSLIM WOMAN. MUST PASSIVELY AGGRESSIVELY QUESTION HER BONAFIDES."

I see the Alt-Nazis are out in force today. EnglishPete's doing a good job channeling the segregationists and the bigots of the 1960s.

[Sir Mohamed]

Terrifying, but I think we had other single incidents in the past as well. It’s bad anyway, but if it remains a single incident, we shouldn’t panic that much. If the situation changes, it becomes a different ball game.

[angus]

Over-zealous grenztruppen, I'd imagine.  It happens.  I feel bad for this woman and her son, and I feel a little embarrassed for the US government.  

I once was detained for over two hours upon entering the US at Laredo.  I had picked up some zapotec-style masks at Monte Alban in Oaxaca, about two days' drive south of Laredo, and had wrapped them up and put them into the trunk.  When they searched my trunk and found the masks, they flecked off pieces of the white clay and tasted it and insisted that other guards smell and taste it.  They were looking for cocaine.  Thorough search.  

It's a profiling effect.  I had very long hair at the time, about three feet long, was probably about 30, had Massachusetts plates, and was travelling alone from the interior of Mexico.  I fit a certain profile and their search assumed the parameters of their training regarding that profile.  Being a gringo, and having my yankee passport on me, I was admitted, but not until after being humiliated and having my personal property thoroughly prodded and searched.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Custom departments always seem to attract people that have escaped from the works of Heller and Kafka.

[Wiz in Wis]

It is a privilege to come to the United States, not a right. What happened to her might have been degrading but she didn't have to come into the United States when there are Canadian stores with the same toys and it probably would've been cheaper to not come to the US.

So, I'll go ahead and ignore the nonsense about freedom of movement being a right and just point out that this is a completely idiotic argument from an economic perspective. "We don't want your money... stay in Canada" is asking for billions of dollars to removed from the US economy. Stick to being prejudiced, you're not very good at economics.

http://travel.trade.gov/outreachpages/download_data_table/Fast_Facts_2013.pdf

[Bojack Horseman]

i hope there is some kind of mistake or something special with those videos.

too evil if true.

Even so, any other border crossing it would have gone:

Patrol: Passports?
Person: Here.
Patrol: Where do you live?
Person: Montreal.
Patrol: Where are you going?
Person: Burlington
Patrol: What business do you have there?
Person: Oh, we're just going shopping.
Patrol: How long will you be there?
Person: We'll be back tonight.
Patrol: Are you carrying any drugs, weapons, alcohol, or goods totaling more than 10,000 USD that you plan to leave in the United States?
Person: Nope.
Patrol: Alright, here are your passports. Have a nice trip!

Even if the videos on her phone were somehow damning, they should never have asked her her religion or her politics.

Only once have I had a border guard be that nice/brief. Every time they grill me and my dad on exactly what we did in Canada like we're drug smugglers or something. I've always wanted to tell the CBP to  off, but that wouldn't be wise, now would it?

[elcorazon]

our country is doomed

[The_Doctor]

The conservatives should consider in four to eight years, that the question will be "What's your opinion of President [Sanders II/x liberal]?" And I wonder how some of them will take to answering that question? "Oh, I love the President!" they could say.

This is why you don't make idiotic short termism policy.

[RINO Tom]

It is a privilege to come to the United States, not a right. What happened to her might have been degrading but she didn't have to come into the United States when there are Canadian stores with the same toys and it probably would've been cheaper to not come to the US.

So, I'll go ahead and ignore the nonsense about freedom of movement being a right and just point out that this is a completely idiotic argument from an economic perspective. "We don't want your money... stay in Canada" is asking for billions of dollars to removed from the US economy. Stick to being prejudiced, you're not very good at economics.

http://travel.trade.gov/outreachpages/download_data_table/Fast_Facts_2013.pdf

You're missing my point. It simply would have been cheaper to drive to a toy store and go get toys in Canada instead of coming here so this whole incident wouldn't have occurred. To clarify I didn't state that I wanted every single damn Canadian to shop in Canada. If I were in her shoes I sure as hell wouldn't come to Vermont to buy toys when there are toys in Montreal. Don't put words in my mouth.

Forget the money: I'm still missing your broader point, what the  is it?!

[elcorazon]

He's saying Americans should stay in America and Canadians should stay in Canada. At least Canadians who aren't white Christians coming to do business with a major corporation shouldn't bother coming into our country. We are a white christian nation and there is no need to have interlopers who pray to Allah inside our borders.

[America Needs R'hllor]

It is a privilege to come to the United States, not a right. What happened to her might have been degrading but she didn't have to come into the United States when there are Canadian stores with the same toys and it probably would've been cheaper to not come to the US.

This is exactly why so many people worldwide have a very unfavorable opinion of America. You're not some heavenly kingdom of god which we all must beg to set our filthy feet on its divine soil. Also, what happened here was denying the freedom of movement on a religious basis. Stop trying to excuse your authoritarian regime because of partisanship.

[JA]

It is a privilege to come to the United States, not a right. What happened to her might have been degrading but she didn't have to come into the United States when there are Canadian stores with the same toys and it probably would've been cheaper to not come to the US.

This is exactly why so many people worldwide have a very unfavorable opinion of America. You're not some heavenly kingdom of god which we all must beg to set our filthy feet on its divine soil. Also, what happened here was denying the freedom of movement on a religious basis. Stop trying to excuse your authoritarian regime because of partisanship.

Thank you! What happened to the Canadian woman and what this forum poster said are absolutely abhorrent. I truly can't fathom how someone can justify the dehumanization of another human being simply because of where they had the random chance of being born or for the faith to which they adhere. This is a serious slippery slope that we absolutely do not want to venture down.

[Vcrew192]

It is a privilege to come to the United States, not a right. What happened to her might have been degrading but she didn't have to come into the United States when there are Canadian stores with the same toys and it probably would've been cheaper to not come to the US.

This is exactly why so many people worldwide have a very unfavorable opinion of America. You're not some heavenly kingdom of god which we all must beg to set our filthy feet on its divine soil. Also, what happened here was denying the freedom of movement on a religious basis. Stop trying to excuse your authoritarian regime because of partisanship.

This specific case, if the event happened as it is reported in the article, is clearly ridiculous.

However, on principle, I think it is in our best interest to not act like we owe anything to people of other countries when it comes to immigration policy. If America stands to benefit from that travel (such as in the case of Mexican immigration or a Canadian taking a shopping trip to Vermont), then we should be gracious hosts but if American interests are threatened by an immigration policy then we ought to have every right to protect ourselves.

We the people of the US guaranteed justice, domestic tranquility, common defence, general welfare, and the blessings of liberty to OURSELVES and OUR POSTERITY. We should be careful not to forget that.

[EnglishPete]

I see EnglishPete's anti-Muslim biases - no, I'll say bigotry, are showing. "MUSLIM WOMAN. MUST PASSIVELY AGGRESSIVELY QUESTION HER BONAFIDES."

I see the Alt-Nazis are out in force today. EnglishPete's doing a good job channeling the segregationists and the bigots of the 1960s.

Anti-Muslim bias? Really? So if I point out that Trump accuser Jessica Leeds' account of her alleged 'assault' is utterly implausible and full of holes that's because of anti-Muslim bias is it?

http://gotnews.com/breaking-nytimes-trump-accuser-jessicaleeds-confirmed-liar-cnn-airplane-details/

Or if I point out, as I have repeatedly pointed out on this forum, that journalists Michelle Fields and Ben Terris told a story about Fields being attacked by Cory Lewendowski that had all kinds of problems with it and had the deep smell of bullsh**t about it that's because of of 'anti-Muslim bias'

https://www.dangerandplay.com/2016/03/13/michelle-fields-corey-lewandowski-trump-hoax/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B6K7iiV_zk

Perhaps if I mention an anecdote that Robert Reich told about a recent conversation he'd had with a Republican Congressman

https://politicalwire.com/2016/10/29/gop-lawmaker-off-record/

and say that the conversation that Reich recounts sounds completely inauthentic and fictional you might think I'm only saying that because of anti-Muslim bias?

If I call The Washington Post liars and fake news, as I have done repeatedly on this forum, that's because of anti-muslim bias is it?

If there has been such a never ending stream of fake hate crimes over the years that now whenever I hear a sob story on the news that fits a little too neatly to someone's political narrative I'm immediately suspicious.

And of course it can't just be me. The people who exposes the Mattress Girl rape hoax and the Duke Lacross rape hoax, I suppose they must have been motivated by anti-Muslim bigotry?

When CBC aired a documentary in 1992 exposing that the 'Nurse Nayirah/Iraqi soldiers stealing baby incubators and letting the babies die' story was a fraud and atrocity propaganda designed to sell the 1990 war against Iraq to the American public

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaR1YBR5g6U

that was motivated by anti-Muslim bigotry was it?

Likewise those more recently who exposed the 'Saddam Hussain put people into shredding machines' atrocity propaganda used to help justify the Iraq invasion that was motivated by anti-Muslim bias is it?

Or possibly none of these things are motivated by anti-muslim bias. Perhaps you are just jumping to unjustified conclusions because I'm not the kind of person who will simply swallow, like mothers milk, every politically weaponised sob story that gets reported in the media.

[Crumpets]

i hope there is some kind of mistake or something special with those videos.

too evil if true.

Even so, any other border crossing it would have gone:

Patrol: Passports?
Person: Here.
Patrol: Where do you live?
Person: Montreal.
Patrol: Where are you going?
Person: Burlington
Patrol: What business do you have there?
Person: Oh, we're just going shopping.
Patrol: How long will you be there?
Person: We'll be back tonight.
Patrol: Are you carrying any drugs, weapons, alcohol, or goods totaling more than 10,000 USD that you plan to leave in the United States?
Person: Nope.
Patrol: Alright, here are your passports. Have a nice trip!

Even if the videos on her phone were somehow damning, they should never have asked her her religion or her politics.

Only once have I had a border guard be that nice/brief. Every time they grill me and my dad on exactly what we did in Canada like we're drug smugglers or something. I've always wanted to tell the CBP to  off, but that wouldn't be wise, now would it?

I've had some pretty inconsistent experiences myself, but I'd say we get something like this with maybe one or two more questions thrown in at least 60% of the time. The only times I've had it be different were when I was travelling by boat and when I travel with my friends, especially when I was between the age of 19 and 21, since they assume we only go up for booze. One time I was coming back from a concert in Vancouver, and we got just two questions before coming back into the US. I think the worst I've ever had was just that they wanted to go through our car and bring out the dogs, but it honestly just seemed like a random inspection, not an over-zealous border patrol.

[America Needs R'hllor]

It is a privilege to come to the United States, not a right. What happened to her might have been degrading but she didn't have to come into the United States when there are Canadian stores with the same toys and it probably would've been cheaper to not come to the US.

This is exactly why so many people worldwide have a very unfavorable opinion of America. You're not some heavenly kingdom of god which we all must beg to set our filthy feet on its divine soil. Also, what happened here was denying the freedom of movement on a religious basis. Stop trying to excuse your authoritarian regime because of partisanship.

This specific case, if the event happened as it is reported in the article, is clearly ridiculous.

However, on principle, I think it is in our best interest to not act like we owe anything to people of other countries when it comes to immigration policy. If America stands to benefit from that travel (such as in the case of Mexican immigration or a Canadian taking a shopping trip to Vermont), then we should be gracious hosts but if American interests are threatened by an immigration policy then we ought to have every right to protect ourselves.

We the people of the US guaranteed justice, domestic tranquility, common defence, general welfare, and the blessings of liberty to OURSELVES and OUR POSTERITY. We should be careful not to forget that.

I do think that compassion is very important and that it's inhumane to not help taking in some refugees, especially with as a country with such a huge population which can help quite a lot of people without being fazed, but I agree that if the amounts of immigrants or refugees are too big to handle, it's absolutely necessary to put the interests of your own citizens first.
But the notion that it's such a privilege to come into the US is one of the things that makes it much harder for me to defend America in arguments.