I'm annoyed with the direction things are taking with immigration (middle east, Mexicans)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Immigrants do not get a huge windfall at the expense of the natives. They cannot even receive benefits until they have been in the United States for more than five years.
That not entirely true...Years ago when I worked at a distribution warehouse, there were lots of African immigrants working there, I became friends with some of them during my time there, I learned they did not have any taxes taken out of their paychecks for the first 5 years. I saw a few of their pay stubs too, they got everything they earned hourly, not even local taxes were taken out.
"Something valuable" is the definition of "windfall", yes, we know. You're still not making much of a case that there's an expense to the natives, but... You know what, never mind. Wasn't that interesting to begin with.
That not entirely true...Years ago when I worked at a distribution warehouse, there were lots of African immigrants working there, I became friends with some of them during my time there, I learned they did not have any taxes taken out of their paychecks for the first 5 years. I saw a few of their pay stubs too, they got everything they earned hourly, not even local taxes were taken out.
That right there is weapons-grade BS. Difficulty level: I am an actual immigrant.
That not entirely true...Years ago when I worked at a distribution warehouse, there were lots of African immigrants working there, I became friends with some of them during my time there, I learned they did not have any taxes taken out of their paychecks for the first 5 years. I saw a few of their pay stubs too, they got everything they earned hourly, not even local taxes were taken out.
Then the employer would be in big doo-doo for not deducting taxes.
America was, and is still a Country of Immigrants.
You may deny this truth, but it does not make it any less true. We are the "Great Melting Pot" and a nation of Immigrants.
I come from a Deep red state, yet I remember learning this in school. Didn't you?
This doesn't mean that we shouldn't have more selective immigration or reduced immigration.
Immigration that leads to a cultural divide is not a good thing. Neither is having millions of immigrants who can't speak the national language.
Then the employer would be in big doo-doo for not deducting taxes.
It's an urban legend, not the first time I've seen it either. Almost always 5 years, sometimes 7.
It's the IRS for chrissake - has anyone ever heard of the IRS shrugging and saying "Oh, that's quite all right, we don't want taxes from you" to anyone not in the political donor class?
We are no longer a nation of immigrants. Our natural born citizens way outnumbers our immigrant population. Time to drop that stupid label once and for all as it's being used as blackmail to allow in every Tom, Mohamed and Jose to come here both legally and illegally. We are a nation of Americans plain and simple.
How should we know what the issue was?
She's your friend. Why don't you ask her what it was actually about and tell us? Otherwise this reads like just another tedious TDS meltdown thread.
You're totally correct, as I have admitted that I shouldn't have opened up this thread without knowing the details. I'm still waiting to hear them from her.
Prior to arriving at immigration, she filled out the paper asking if she was bringing back food. When she got to the immigration person, they asked if she had brought back food, she said yes, and they told her to go to a different line where they made her open up the suitcases and take everything out. At that point they started asking what the food was, what was in it. They also asked why she had recently travelled to India. They took her passport and cell phone, and for the next six hours they asked the same questions over and over. They would ask, then leave, then come back some time later and ask the same thing. She says it was about 30-40 times like this. The final time they came back, they gave her the cell phone and passport back and told her she was free to enter the country. They let her keep everything that she had brought.
The next day at work she relayed the story. The political people she works with at Stanford told her they want to make a lawsuit against and that they'll help her with it if she wants. Whether she goes through with it, I don't know.
Those are the details from her. My thoughts on it are as follows: At first, when the discussion of food came up, I thought that was the reason. I've heard recently that the U.S. Governments has been increasing the list of things being restricted from other countries, including South America. Some of the tariffs against China are also being applied to Colombia and other places. So I thought probably she brought back something that is no longer allowed ... But, the fact that they let her keep everything and that they had detained her for six hours .... I can't think of it being anything other than pure harassment. Now the question is: why the harrassment? Is it racially based? I don't know. All the rhetoric against Mexico I can see all Latinos being lumped together. Is it general harassment against all immigrants? I don't know. The anti-immigration sentiment these days is running pretty strong. Or, is it that there's a certain quota of "harassing" that the INS people need to fulfill (much like police quota of tickets at the end of the month) and she just happened to be the unlucky one picked out for it that day? I don't know.
Prior to arriving at immigration, she filled out the paper asking if she was bringing back food. When she got to the immigration person, they asked if she had brought back food, she said yes, and they told her to go to a different line where they made her open up the suitcases and take everything out. At that point they started asking what the food was, what was in it. They also asked why she had recently travelled to India. They took her passport and cell phone, and for the next six hours they asked the same questions over and over. They would ask, then leave, then come back some time later and ask the same thing. She says it was about 30-40 times like this. The final time they came back, they gave her the cell phone and passport back and told her she was free to enter the country. They let her keep everything that she had brought.
The next day at work she relayed the story. The political people she works with at Stanford told her they want to make a lawsuit against and that they'll help her with it if she wants. Whether she goes through with it, I don't know.
Those are the details from her. My thoughts on it are as follows: At first, when the discussion of food came up, I thought that was the reason. I've heard recently that the U.S. Governments has been increasing the list of things being restricted from other countries, including South America. Some of the tariffs against China are also being applied to Colombia and other places. ... But, the fact that they let her keep everything and that they had detained her for six hours .... I can't think of it being anything other than pure harassment. Is it racially based harassment? I don't know. Is it general harassment against all immigrants? I don't know. Is it that there's a certain quota of "harassing" that the INS people need to fulfill (much like police quota of tickets at the end of the month) and she just happened to be the unlucky one picked out for it that day? I don't know.
I'd like to hear other people's opinions.
This makes me think of a recent incident involving the woman and the apple. There are similar overtones and so the initial fuss isn't that surprising. It's the six hours that's a puzzle.
Also, it's a surprise that a woman who travels as much as she seems to wasn't aware that bringing food in can be problematic. But I just now realized that I'm haven't reviewed the regulations in years (if that) but generally understand agricultural and animal products to be problematic. We often have cookies and chocolate to nibble on - which per the below website are fine except even those need to be declared which I've never done.
We have global entry and enter via kiosk with no customs forms to fill out. But I still click off that I meet all the restrictions. From now on, I'll dump all the uneaten goodies on the plane.
But back to OP's friend. It's hard to say. I mentioned this thread to a friend at dinner tonight who said his stepson once was kept overnight in Miami. His family had to fly home without him. He had a generic name and apparently was on the Watch List and something triggered an intense interrogation. (No possibility of profiling in this case; this guy is a descendant of someone who came over on the Mayflower.)
Sometimes it can just be a matter of a bully who has some power and is in a bad mood.
I'm so sorry for your friend; it must have been upsetting.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
