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German tourist held indefinitely in San Diego area immigrant detention facility
- axiologist 2y agoPerfect strategy boosting the US tourism industry. https://archive.is/EUYi7 https://archive.is/EUYi7
- casenmgreen 2y agoI may be wrong, but the US detention/prison system seems to be there to punish people. This is bad in and of itself, but excruciatingly awful when the people involved are innocent. Other countries of course are worse - I hear very bad things about Japan, and in places like Syria and Russia prison is there for torture and death. There was another recent story, about an inmate in a NYC jail being killed in what looks to be a routine beating by guards.
- croes 2y agoIf you get compared to Russia and Syria there certainly something wrong with you.
- casenmgreen 2y agoI was thinking exactly that as I was writing.
- nabla9 2y agoThere is difference between legal evil and neutral evil. See my other comment for the evils. Compared to Russia there is little corruption and lawfulness. The justice system reflects the conservative retaliation values most Americans have when it comes to justice system. People just want justice system to cause suffering. Nothing is more American comedy than men being raped in prison.
- orwin 2y ago> Nothing is more American comedy than men being raped in prison. Is this really true? Because it is my instinctual belief for staying on internet too much, but when i think about who i've met there, i don't think it's true (well, most of them were hippies and back-to-lander, the few who had a job worked in natural parks or as musicians, so maybe i did not meet the average USian)
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 2y agoPerhaps not as hyperbolic as they write but it’s definitely there. It might aid understanding to do an internet search for the phrase “don’t drop the soap”. I suspect what OP means is that people outside America don’t make similar jokes, not that it’s quintessential American comedy. It’s just (mostly?) uniquely American comedy.
- nabla9 2y agoIt's combined with failed justice system. Legal aid for migrant children has now ended, leaving many to navigate courts alone https://apnews.com/article/trump-legal-aid-unaccompanied-children-immigration-court-5b5573cc022ebfdf8dc6b961bfcc0768 https://apnews.com/article/trump-legal-aid-unaccompanied-chi... US Judges, liberal and conservative, just continue sit there day after day and don't find that "right to fair trial" is not violated. More generally US plea bargaining system is just cruel. See US Bar Association Plea Bargain Task Force Report: https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/criminaljustice/plea-bargain-tf-report.pdf https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/cri... Prosecutors are effectively coercing people to take prison sentences.
- aswanson 2y agoThe US prison system is definitely designed to be punitive, not to release reformed individuals back into society.
- SauciestGNU 2y agoThis isn't even supposed to be the prison system though, the individual had committed no crime the US had only "suspicion" that they might violate visa terms by performing tattoo artistry.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- kergonath 2y agoThe fact that a company operating detention facilities and profiting from it could be called CoreCivic is such a perfect metaphor. The unholy blend of techbro disruptivism (look, CamelCase!) and Orwellian doublespeak. Utterly disgusting.
- Sakos 2y ago1) This is horrifying and shouldn't happen to anybody. 2) You have to be an idiot to visit currently. The rule of law is now nothing more than guidelines and Trump and his ilk have publicly stated they alone can decide what's right or wrong. Edit: Somebody fucking explain. She tried to cross the border on the 25th, 5 days after Trump's presidency started and after he started rounding up and deporting people.
- ReptileMan 2y ago3) Read the article
- Sakos 2y agoBe specific. I did read the article. She's stuck with ICE and nobody in charge gives a shit. Did you read the article? Tell me the part of the article that changes the fact that going to the US today is moronic. You realize she tried to cross the border on the 25th? 5 days after Trump's presidency started and 4 days after Trump started rounding up and deporting illegal immigrants. Or is that too difficult for you to understand?
- gigatexal 2y agoWhat the fuck? She did everything right. She had a passport, an entry visa, and a return ticket? Don’t visit the US. Don’t come here and spend your money. Don’t send your kids to our universities. Don’t vacation here. Stay away for the next 4 or so years. It’s clear this administration is brain dead and can’t govern. From the article: “Brösche had her German passport, confirmation of her visa waiver to enter the country, along with a copy of her return ticket back to Berlin, Lofving said. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent pulled Brösche aside for a secondary inspection. “I look at her and go, ‘I’m going to wait right outside for you,’” Lofving recalled. She didn’t know it then, but it would be 25 days before Lofving would see her friend again. Brösche would spend that time in federal detention, where she remains, waiting for a deportation flight back to Berlin.”
- gigatexal 2y agoAlso from the article:”CBP agents at the border accused Brösche of planning to violate the terms of the visa waiver program by intending to work as a tattoo artist during her trip to LA, Lofving said.” Though the article doesn’t say when they determined that, how they could have known, and anything from the woman detained.
- zolbrek 2y agoI read an article in the German press about it a few weeks ago, she had her tattoo equipment with her and that was what aroused suspicion. According to her and her friend it was so she could tattoo her friend during her visit.
- chronos00 2y agoThey ask questions during the customs process, the typical “business or pleasure” thing. And if the agent senses any deception, you are sent with another officer that will interrogate you. What I don’t understand is why she was detained, immigration officer are allowed to deny entry to tourists. This whole ordeal could have been avoided if she was allowed to go back to Mexico and rearrange travel to Germany.
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- chronos00 2y agoThe government should have just denied her entry if they believed she would violate her visa. I don’t understand the cause for detaining and putting her on the path to deportation.
- notimetorelax 2y agoWouldn’t it be in the interest of the detention facility to have detainees?
- madeofpalk 2y agoSurely the detention facility wasn't responsible for sending her to a detention facility.
- actionfromafar 2y agoThe "agents" rounding people up are refusing to identify themselves.
- alephnerd 2y ago[flagged]
- casenmgreen 2y agoYou don't make examples of people. You treat them equally by the law. You do not put people in solitary confinement for nine days - or twenty days - and without giving them any idea of what is happening, or notifying anyone where they are. This is cruel and unusual punishment.
- alephnerd 2y ago[flagged]
- madeofpalk 2y ago
- gedy 2y ago> CBP agents at the border accused Brösche of planning to violate the terms of the visa waiver program by intending to work as a tattoo artist during her trip to LA, Lofving said. This seems to be key point - but sounds awfully subjective if you can just be accused. Did she bring her tattoo equipment or something? I mean a person could type or code on a laptop too for work... Edit: yes, apparently: > According to Lofving, Brösche had equipment on her that she used for tattooing, and this may have been part of the reason for her detention. https://www.tag24.com/lifestyle/tattoos/vacationing-tattoo-artist-faces-deportation-after-ice-arrest-3359367 https://www.tag24.com/lifestyle/tattoos/vacationing-tattoo-a... Still seems a dumb criteria.
- BakirKreso 2y agoYes, it seems like she did bring her tattoo equipment.
- BlueGh0st 2y agoThe article I read a few days ago said that the tattoo artist posted on Instagram advertising their arrival to the US and taking clients. They had done the same with the previous destination on their tour. If it's true, it seems pretty open and shut, so I'm not really sure why this is popping up on HN now.
- np- 2y agoIt doesn’t seem open and shut at all, why not just deny her entry if they’re so sure at the border? It’s popping up on HN because apparently she’s been detained for over a month… well after her scheduled return flight. why would this ever be necessary?
- EfficientDude 2y agoSo it seems obvious that she had posted with her friend about working without a visa in the US, CBP found this, and she was rightfully deported. Note neither women featured in this little writeup actually denied it. These days they do check your social media for little secret plans.
- alextingle 2y agoDid I miss that in the article, or did you just make it up?
- EfficientDude 2y ago[flagged]
- Hnrobert42 2y agoIt seems obvious from what? Is there another source you have that supports this supposition? I'm not disagreeing. I'm just asking
- sschueller 2y agoIf that was the case they seem to have known at the border and like every episode of border patrol they should just have denied entry. Instead they are wasting thousands of tax payer money. They also did not put her on the plane for which she already had a ticket. What is the plan here? To send her to Guantanamo?
- throw101010 2y agoRightfully = Solitary detention for 9 days... without a set date for said deportation 20 days later, making it an indefinite detention? Seems like the USA has very low standards for what's "right" these days.
- knallfrosch 2y agoSerious journalism gives the accused a chance to respond. Serious sympathy articles confront the subjects with the core accusations brought against them. Needless to say, this doesn't clear the bar. Neither of the women even deny the accusations..
- jonathanstrange 2y ago[flagged]
- fishmaster 2y ago[flagged]
- kleiba 2y agoRussian oligarchs are explicitly welcome under the planned new "Gold Card" program. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-end-eb-5-immigrant-investor-visa-program-2025-02-25/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-end-eb-5-immigrant-in...
- danielovichdk 2y agohttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ncnpe6p93E&pp=ygUgYW1lcmljYW4gYmVhdXR5IHN0cmFpZ2h0IHRvIGhlbGw%3D https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ncnpe6p93E&pp=ygUgYW1lcmljYW4...
- alephnerd 2y ago[dupe]
- amazingamazing 2y ago[flagged]
- twh1293819 2y agoPeople traveling to conferences in the US might want to know. What if you post on your website that you are going to work on a feature with others from the US while at the conference? You may be detained indefinitely. The EU should make US citizens go through the same humiliating and euphemistically termed "visa waiver" program. Make US citizens tell their whole life history, whether they have firearms experience, whether they have psychological issues, whether the are members of a terrorist organization (!) and so forth. EU citizens have to fill out a humiliating four pages form in order to enter G_d's own country.
- amazingamazing 2y agoRespectfully, there’s a lot of justifiable political information that’s relevant, but does that mean it should be posted here? In any case it does seem from the downvotes that this site is more like Reddit for now, that’s ok.
- anon373839 2y agoI think it’s interesting that this strikes you as “political”. I think anyone regardless of their politics should be horrified at the thought of a tourist with documentation being held like a rabid animal.
- amazingamazing 2y agoThere are plenty of horrible things that happen that aren’t appropriate for HN. In any case, I concede that this site is more like Reddit now, in which case let it flow.
- anon373839 2y agoMove to strike as nonresponsive.
- dworkr 2y ago[flagged]
- megous 2y agoForeign persons have RIGHT to contact their embassy, wtf. How come noone knew where she disappeared? What Taliban country is this? And why did they just not turn her away?
- glass_door 2y ago[flagged]
- idiotsecant 2y agoHello there, brand new account. Curious topic for your first post.
- fabianholzer 2y agoRich, coming from a green account...
- hnthrowaway121 2y agoThe idea that politics shouldn’t be in a place for “tech stuff” is like saying water should not be discussed in a place for “fish stuff”. Politics is already in tech and has large effects. It’s a part of the stuff.
- yubblegum 2y ago> Why are American taxpayers spending thousands of dollars detaining tourists who are perfectly willing to leave,” she said Elementary, Watson. "Private contractors" make their money billing the government. She is a source of income.
- jaltekruse 2y agoWhile I don't agree with the response and long detention. This is the artists current Instagram bio. I understand it is likely hard to get a visa for a week that allows you to work, and it is a would be a lot more convenient to serve US fans with a brief trip rather than ask them all to individually fly to Germany. But it does appear she had a public declaration of her intent to work. https://www.instagram.com/jessica.lia.tt/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/jessica.lia.tt/?hl=en Jessica Lia Blood Bank Mexico - 06.12 -25.01 Los Angeles - 26.01 - 16.01 Berlin - 24.02 -20.04 DM Edited to add back locations, she has used fun UTF8 characters for stylized letters that got stripped out by hacker news.
- kleiba 2y ago> CBP agents at the border accused Brösche of planning to violate the terms of the visa waiver program by intending to work as a tattoo artist during her trip to LA, Lofving said. I wonder what made them arrive at that assumption. My best guess: she was carrying work equipment (for working as a tattoo artist) in her luggage?!
- doix 2y agoAnother comment posted the artists Instagram[0]. I think it is pretty clear that she did intend to work during those dates. I don't get why she was detained instead of just refusing entry though. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43229866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43229866
- kleiba 2y agoI agree with this interpretation. But this still does not explain why this specific course of action was taken by the authorities, i.e., why detain this woman instead of denying her entry?
- chronos00 2y agoExactly, they even had the authority to do an expedited removal which would bar her from the US for 5 years. This would have spared her the detention while still having a deterrence effect. The detention is just pure cruelty and a waste of taxpayer dollars. While also adding to the immigration courts backlog.
- cjbenedikt 2y agoWhere is DOGE when it really could save tax payers money?
- deodorel 2y agoJust curious how is this working out if I am working for an American company in Europe and I come to us for a meeting let's say? I will be there for a few days and actually working at the local branch.
- delichon 2y agoThe moral of this story is, if you chose to say otherwise at the border, make sure that enforcement can't access contrary statements like this one.