I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
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Traveled to Rome recently (as US citizen). Walked no more than 10 minutes from the gate, was 5th in line to one of a half dozen or so automated camera/scanner customs gates, and cleared customs within 15 minutes of landing.
Returned to the US, walked for 20 minutes through a maze of twisty passages to get to the customs hall, where I stood in line for another 30 minutes to get to one of a half dozen or so checkpoints where an agent scanned my passport, told me to stare at the camera, and eventually, maybe even grudgingly, welcomed me home.
The last time I came through American customs, it was when I was returning from a conference in Spain, and a colleague of mine got detained for 3 hours because he "looked suspicious". Man's a fucking engineer, with credentials out the wazoo, but apparently he fidgeted in line or something. Sitting there in the little space available just anxiously waiting for them to release him was harrowing, but I can't even imagine what he went through. Nobody would tell me shit; in fact, the more I asked about him, the more it felt like they were treating me like a suspect. If they'd ended up deciding that he didn't pass the sniff test, they could have taken him anywhere, and nobody would know a fucking thing about it for God knows how long.
Man, I'm getting sweaty just reliving that. Fuck I hate this country sometimes.
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Has been for quite a while, it's just that Americans have been told they're number 1 for so long and most of them don't travel so they don't see anything else.
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I'm only like half way through. This one makes me see enough red I'm having to read it in chunks. Just found out about the poor pastors JFC take a wrong turn and straight to jail and it's not funny.
No, it's not meant to be funny. It should be encouraging us to learn about explosives.
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Summary
Canadian citizen Jasmine Mooney was detained by ICE for two weeks despite having a valid U.S. work visa. Stopped at the San Diego border, she was abruptly arrested, denied legal counsel, and held in freezing cells before being transferred to a private detention center.
She witnessed systemic inefficiencies, inhumane conditions, and detainees trapped in bureaucratic limbo.
After media attention and legal intervention, Mooney was released.
Her experience highlights the profit-driven nature of private detention centers and the broader failures of U.S. immigration enforcement under Trump’s administration.
It felt like a kidnapping because it was factually a kidnapping.
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Wow, what a story. The kind of thing you'd expect from a 3rd world shithole country which I guess the USA is becoming.
having been to countries some consider third world shitholes, it's far worse IMO.
In many low income countries this would have been a $50 bribe and 5 minutes to resolve (which could mean being deported).
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Summary
Canadian citizen Jasmine Mooney was detained by ICE for two weeks despite having a valid U.S. work visa. Stopped at the San Diego border, she was abruptly arrested, denied legal counsel, and held in freezing cells before being transferred to a private detention center.
She witnessed systemic inefficiencies, inhumane conditions, and detainees trapped in bureaucratic limbo.
After media attention and legal intervention, Mooney was released.
Her experience highlights the profit-driven nature of private detention centers and the broader failures of U.S. immigration enforcement under Trump’s administration.
The reality became clear: Ice detention isn’t just a bureaucratic nightmare. It’s a business. These facilities are privately owned and run for profit.
Companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group receive government funding based on the number of people they detain, which is why they lobby for stricter immigration policies. It’s a lucrative business: CoreCivic made over $560m from Ice contracts in a single year. In 2024, GEO Group made more than $763m from Ice contracts.
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Summary
Canadian citizen Jasmine Mooney was detained by ICE for two weeks despite having a valid U.S. work visa. Stopped at the San Diego border, she was abruptly arrested, denied legal counsel, and held in freezing cells before being transferred to a private detention center.
She witnessed systemic inefficiencies, inhumane conditions, and detainees trapped in bureaucratic limbo.
After media attention and legal intervention, Mooney was released.
Her experience highlights the profit-driven nature of private detention centers and the broader failures of U.S. immigration enforcement under Trump’s administration.
Freezing cells are actual torture
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Summary
Canadian citizen Jasmine Mooney was detained by ICE for two weeks despite having a valid U.S. work visa. Stopped at the San Diego border, she was abruptly arrested, denied legal counsel, and held in freezing cells before being transferred to a private detention center.
She witnessed systemic inefficiencies, inhumane conditions, and detainees trapped in bureaucratic limbo.
After media attention and legal intervention, Mooney was released.
Her experience highlights the profit-driven nature of private detention centers and the broader failures of U.S. immigration enforcement under Trump’s administration.
She was abducted and tortured by the US government. That's the plain, simple, horrific truth.
ICE is our very own Gestapo.
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There is a place for Capitalism. Prisons, Hospitals, Insurance, police and mental health facilities, to name a few, are not the place.
There is a place... in hell
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The reality became clear: Ice detention isn’t just a bureaucratic nightmare. It’s a business. These facilities are privately owned and run for profit.
Companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group receive government funding based on the number of people they detain, which is why they lobby for stricter immigration policies. It’s a lucrative business: CoreCivic made over $560m from Ice contracts in a single year. In 2024, GEO Group made more than $763m from Ice contracts.
At this point Canada should be playing hard ball. Ban all visas from anyone working for those companies, or anyone who delivers services to those companies for as long as they work for those companies. If they lie about who they work for, the ban is permanent and they personally are not allowed to set foot in Canada ever.
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The reality became clear: Ice detention isn’t just a bureaucratic nightmare. It’s a business. These facilities are privately owned and run for profit.
Companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group receive government funding based on the number of people they detain, which is why they lobby for stricter immigration policies. It’s a lucrative business: CoreCivic made over $560m from Ice contracts in a single year. In 2024, GEO Group made more than $763m from Ice contracts.
If a doctor has his license suspended and is not able to practice medicine in a normal hospital/doctors office, they are allowed to keep practicing medicine in prison systems. Poof, cut the costs of real medical doctors by employing those no one else can/will.
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Gotta love (A Bit of) Fry and Laurie.
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Summary
Canadian citizen Jasmine Mooney was detained by ICE for two weeks despite having a valid U.S. work visa. Stopped at the San Diego border, she was abruptly arrested, denied legal counsel, and held in freezing cells before being transferred to a private detention center.
She witnessed systemic inefficiencies, inhumane conditions, and detainees trapped in bureaucratic limbo.
After media attention and legal intervention, Mooney was released.
Her experience highlights the profit-driven nature of private detention centers and the broader failures of U.S. immigration enforcement under Trump’s administration.
[N]o matter how flawed the system, how cruel the circumstances, humanity will always shine through.
Even in the darkest places, within the most broken systems, humanity persists. Sometimes, it reveals itself in the smallest, most unexpected acts of kindness: a shared meal, a whispered prayer, a hand reaching out in the dark. We are defined by the love we extend, the courage we summon and the truths we are willing to tell.
idk this woman, but I'm so proud of her for using this media attention to do the right thing in a horrific situation.
The pictures of letters her cellmates gave her to get to their families, the moment where a wife sees her husband in the detention cells after being separated with no contact for weeks, the dehumanizing assembly line pregnancy tests.
It's a hard fucking read, but everyone should take 10-15 minutes and read the whole thing. This is basic knowledge of the system everyone in the world should be aware of, told by someone who has less to fear in reprisals than most of the folk who manage to escape.
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At this point Canada should be playing hard ball. Ban all visas from anyone working for those companies, or anyone who delivers services to those companies for as long as they work for those companies. If they lie about who they work for, the ban is permanent and they personally are not allowed to set foot in Canada ever.
Why would those employees ever go to Canada to work or study (to need visas). There's nothing to swing at.
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Wow, what a story. The kind of thing you'd expect from a 3rd world shithole country which I guess the USA is becoming.
Inhabitant of a 3rd world country here
I don't think "kidnapped and tortured by the government" is a thing we've done much of since the US stopped funding our far right dictatorship in the 80s (and the military immediately fucked off and 'let democracy take its course' when the funding dried up).
.... Let us not speak of what our criminal factions get up to though.
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Wow, what a story. The kind of thing you'd expect from a 3rd world shithole country which I guess the USA is becoming.
1st/2nd/3rd world terminology becoming increasingly outdated as America becomes aligned with Russia and Europe and Canada distance themselves.
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1st/2nd/3rd world terminology becoming increasingly outdated as America becomes aligned with Russia and Europe and Canada distance themselves.
Yeah, I was thinking that myself as I wrote my comment.
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Summary
Canadian citizen Jasmine Mooney was detained by ICE for two weeks despite having a valid U.S. work visa. Stopped at the San Diego border, she was abruptly arrested, denied legal counsel, and held in freezing cells before being transferred to a private detention center.
She witnessed systemic inefficiencies, inhumane conditions, and detainees trapped in bureaucratic limbo.
After media attention and legal intervention, Mooney was released.
Her experience highlights the profit-driven nature of private detention centers and the broader failures of U.S. immigration enforcement under Trump’s administration.
Sure wouldn't be a shame if something happens to Damon Hininger, current CEO of Core Civic.
"I've worked at CoreCivic for 32 years, and this is truly one of the most exciting periods of my career," CEO Damon Hininger said on the company's earnings call.
Throw these parasites in their own prisons.
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Inhabitant of a 3rd world country here
I don't think "kidnapped and tortured by the government" is a thing we've done much of since the US stopped funding our far right dictatorship in the 80s (and the military immediately fucked off and 'let democracy take its course' when the funding dried up).
.... Let us not speak of what our criminal factions get up to though.
So I've always wondered,
Are criminal factions avoidable in whatever country that is?
Like here in the US we always hear random horror stories about Mexican cartels, but we almost never hear about crimes elsewhere in the world. Honestly, I've kind of assumed that crime is a made up American thing to put minorities in jail.
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What an f'ing disgrace. She went to an American government office to apply legally for a visa. The absolute worst consequence should have been "we're sorry, we can't process your Visa and you'll need to return to your home country."
That's it.
This is a minor point compared to her suffering, but also, what an f'ing waste of taxpayer money. Some private facilities got good money I'm sure to lock this innocent lady up.
We were reminded by the last two months or so that it's only a waste of taxpayer money if it doesn't go directly to the pocket of some rich dude.
