Comment by prymitive | Hacker News Reader

Comment by prymitive | Hacker News Reader

I wonder if those stories that started appearing in the media since the Trump ban order are really showing a true change in US border control actions, or are they just a hot topic so both travelers and media are more eager to report on that. It is likely that those kind of detentions were happening for years, but they didn't got much news coverage. After all if you don't like Trumps policies you will happily read about related stories as it confirms what you already believe in.

Googling for some data yields some results, but those seem to be big immigration numbers, rather than incidental short detentions for random travelers, so it's hard for me to draw any conclusion. Examples: http://cmsny.org/immigration-detention-behind-the-record-num... https://www.ice.gov/removal-statistics/2016

I think it's best to not get carried away just because a few people got detained. It seems a bit too little to call it policy shift for border control officers, at least as long it stays just incidental issue. FUD is always quick to spread and hard to fight against.

We lack quantitative data, but the article has an expert practitioner's impression:

[Immigration attorney Jason] Mills said the treatment Mr. Rousso experienced was unusual, but representative of a shift in how some border agents are approaching their jobs.

"Now they’re looking really hard for reasons to deny, instead of reasons to admit," he said.

If the stories of deplorable and pointless detentions are true, and there are no concomitant stories of terrorists being stopped at the border or whatever (something one assumes the government would be highly motivated to report), does it actually matter that the stories were under-reported previously in the press? The important thing is that the issue gets attention and is resolved.

This^

I don't care if it was done under Obama too, it doesn't bless it and shouldn't make it okay with liberals.

Trump is still worthy of criticism by association because of his immigration policies clearly back this kind of behavior. And Obama is too if he condoned this.

This was done under previous administrations just the same. Telling a CBP officer that you're come to be "paid to lecture" is usually the kind of honesty that doesn't pay off.

CBPs are triggered by the word "work" and "get paid". For example, when you come to volunteer on a WOOOFing farm, you're advised to say you've come for a learning experience rather than "to volunteer" (= CBP hears this as "to work"): https://wwoofusa.org/how-it-works/#will-wwoof-help-me-get-a-...

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