4 ms·

Funny story, so in 2008 I was admitted as a refugee. I flew from Amman, Jordan and landed in Chicago. Everyone that had an IOM bag had to go to a designated are

by Yabood 9y ago

Funny story, so in 2008 I was admitted as a refugee. I flew from Amman, Jordan and landed in Chicago. Everyone that had an IOM bag had to go to a designated area to get their fingerprints taken. So when it was my turn, the officer took my index fingerprint, waited a few seconds then gave me a look, a WTF look, but didn't say anything. A couple of minutes later, two homeland security officers showed up out of nowhere and escorted me to a holding area. I wanted to find out what was going on because I was the only one out of the entire group (100 people or so) that was getting this special treatment, but the officers ignored me. I waited, and waited, and waited, then when I asked again ~ four hours later I was told "Don't worry, you're going in either way". Long story short, The FBI had a record on me because I was a translator for the US Army in Baghdad, but the record didn't say whether I was one of the good guys or the bad guys, so they had to contact the FBI to see what's up. Fun times..

e12e 9y ago
Travelling to the US around 2005 or so - a friend got whisked away into an interrogation room without any explaon entering the country. He'd been part of the NATO forces preparing for/participating the gulf I war - and they similarly spent some hours before letting him go with a "thank you for your service". Apparently they readily knew he'd been "in the wrong place at the right time", but took some time to figure out which "side" he'd been on..
samstave 9y ago
Please define IOM
- ChairmanPao 9y ago
  One of these: https://www.fedasil-hosting.be/sites/5042.fedimbo.belgium.be/files/explorer/vrijwillige_terugkeer_Fedasil_0003.jpg https://www.fedasil-hosting.be/sites/5042.fedimbo.belgium.be...
- greyskull 9y ago
  http://worldreliefdurham.org/iom-bags http://worldreliefdurham.org/iom-bags > Before arriving in the U.S., every refugee case receives a white plastic bag from the International Organization for Migration (I.O.M.), in which they should keep their important identification and other official documents.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- Yabood 9y ago
  I apologize, https://www.iom.int/ https://www.iom.int/
samstave 9y ago
Did you get a copy of your "record"? Do they give that too you?
- Yabood 9y ago
  No, but I never really asked. I doubt they would though.
  - wonderous 9y ago
    Not saying that you should, but it's possible to get information from the FBI: http://m.wikihow.com/Obtain-Your-FBI-File http://m.wikihow.com/Obtain-Your-FBI-File It's also possible you could file an FOIA with the DoD, Army, DHS, etc.: https://www.foia.gov/report-makerequest.html https://www.foia.gov/report-makerequest.html
    - sushid 9y ago
      Just saying, it's a catch 22 because making a request will most likely prompt the FBI to now create a record of you if you didn't have one before.
      - RugnirViking 9y ago
        Try it! request one, wait a couple weeks, then request again. Would be interesting to see the results.
stickfigure 9y ago
I don't know if you get this very much, but thank you. I'm glad you made it through our government's byzantine, arbitrary, and capricious immigration process, and I'm hope you are happy with your life here!
malmsteen 9y ago
"Don't worry, you're going in either way" Did you get the hidden meaning at that point ?
personlurking 9y ago
For anyone interested, here's a podcast episode on being a Middle Eastern translator for the US military then trying to get into the US https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/607/didn’t-we-solve-this-one https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/607/...
unethical_ban 9y ago
Can a translator for the Army be a bad guy?
- bb611 9y ago
  My reading is that all the homeland security officers can see is a flag that such a file exists - they had no way of knowing (and should have no way of knowing!) what is actually in OP's file.
Puts 9y ago
Why is it in all these stories about people being detained by law enforcement or border security that any questions about whats happening are just being ignored. I almost get the feeling that they willfully want to make people uneasy. Anyone can see that if you make people feel helpless in this way it's the prefect recipe for panic.
- x1798DE 9y ago
  It's because they, like you, get nothing out of revealing information that they aren't required to reveal, except they have training that says, "Don't say anything until you have to, even if it seems rude," whereas the average person stopped does not treat it quite so adversarially, and tends to waive their right to remain silent. Presumably, the reason that so many Kafkaesque stories crop up is because these people are not required to tell you why you are being detained if asked.

by Yabood 9y ago

e12e 9y ago

Travelling to the US around 2005 or so - a friend got whisked away into an interrogation room without any explaon entering the country. He'd been part of the NATO forces preparing for/participating the gulf I war - and they similarly spent some hours before letting him go with a "thank you for your service". Apparently they readily knew he'd been "in the wrong place at the right time", but took some time to figure out which "side" he'd been on..

samstave 9y ago

Please define IOM

ChairmanPao 9y ago
One of these: https://www.fedasil-hosting.be/sites/5042.fedimbo.belgium.be/files/explorer/vrijwillige_terugkeer_Fedasil_0003.jpg https://www.fedasil-hosting.be/sites/5042.fedimbo.belgium.be...
greyskull 9y ago
http://worldreliefdurham.org/iom-bags http://worldreliefdurham.org/iom-bags > Before arriving in the U.S., every refugee case receives a white plastic bag from the International Organization for Migration (I.O.M.), in which they should keep their important identification and other official documents.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Yabood 9y ago
I apologize, https://www.iom.int/ https://www.iom.int/

samstave 9y ago

Did you get a copy of your "record"? Do they give that too you?

Yabood 9y ago
No, but I never really asked. I doubt they would though.
- wonderous 9y ago
  Not saying that you should, but it's possible to get information from the FBI: http://m.wikihow.com/Obtain-Your-FBI-File http://m.wikihow.com/Obtain-Your-FBI-File It's also possible you could file an FOIA with the DoD, Army, DHS, etc.: https://www.foia.gov/report-makerequest.html https://www.foia.gov/report-makerequest.html
  - sushid 9y ago
    Just saying, it's a catch 22 because making a request will most likely prompt the FBI to now create a record of you if you didn't have one before.
    - RugnirViking 9y ago
      Try it! request one, wait a couple weeks, then request again. Would be interesting to see the results.

stickfigure 9y ago

I don't know if you get this very much, but thank you. I'm glad you made it through our government's byzantine, arbitrary, and capricious immigration process, and I'm hope you are happy with your life here!

malmsteen 9y ago

"Don't worry, you're going in either way" Did you get the hidden meaning at that point ?

personlurking 9y ago

For anyone interested, here's a podcast episode on being a Middle Eastern translator for the US military then trying to get into the US https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/607/didn’t-we-solve-this-one https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/607/...

unethical_ban 9y ago

Can a translator for the Army be a bad guy?

bb611 9y ago
My reading is that all the homeland security officers can see is a flag that such a file exists - they had no way of knowing (and should have no way of knowing!) what is actually in OP's file.

Puts 9y ago

Why is it in all these stories about people being detained by law enforcement or border security that any questions about whats happening are just being ignored. I almost get the feeling that they willfully want to make people uneasy. Anyone can see that if you make people feel helpless in this way it's the prefect recipe for panic.

x1798DE 9y ago
It's because they, like you, get nothing out of revealing information that they aren't required to reveal, except they have training that says, "Don't say anything until you have to, even if it seems rude," whereas the average person stopped does not treat it quite so adversarially, and tends to waive their right to remain silent. Presumably, the reason that so many Kafkaesque stories crop up is because these people are not required to tell you why you are being detained if asked.