Canadian Devs Are Backing Out of Attending GDC
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1. https://www.luxtimes.lu/luxembourg/us-resident-violently-int...
2. https://www.newsweek.com/rubio-touts-migrants-sent-el-salvad...
Not to belittle the anecdotal issues but without any baseline or comparison this is meaningless scare mongering. People are denied entry, detained and strip searches in every border all over the world, every day, all the time. If you think staying home is fine you'll find people are arrested at their home, even killed, by law enforcement at their home in many countries all the time.
1. https://news.sky.com/story/man-dies-after-being-arrested-by-...
2. https://apnews.com/article/germany-arrest-american-spying-ch...
Your second article points out that someone was arrested on suspicion of a crime and will go on to face a judicial process to establish innocence or guilt.
If you think those two cases are comparable to the two I provided, I'm not sure we can have a productive discussion on this matter, especially considered you entirely ignored the second point of my post.
You're ignoring my point which is that similar things happen all over the world all the time and without any comparative data they are just anecdotes.
Is the Trump administration applying a different policy? Absolutely. Does that make the US materially less safe for most of us? Open question. Almost certainly not.
So yes, we're not going to have a productive discussion when I am coming at things from a fact based view point and you are presenting anecdotes as being relevant.
furthermore, the point is to call these things out as soon as they happen in order to prevent a situation where these occurrences become statistically significant enough for you to pay attention. the idea is to prevent wide-scale violations, not to sit back and allow them to continue until it reaches a point of normalization.
From that linked article: " The US CBP denied the allegations, with assistant commissioner of public affairs Hilton Beckham telling Newsweek: “These claims are blatantly false with respect to CBP.” "
There is no "escalating number" of similar incidents. If there are then show me the numbers. It's not news that border guards occasionally get power trips and take it out on whoever happens to be there. I can find you dozens of examples over the year[s] (and if I've heard of dozens there's many more). This is out of 10's of millions or more entries. When you're arrested you also might be strip searched, forced to shower, and other inconveniences. Is it great? No. Is it new? Not really.
What we need to call out isn't the US not living up perfectly to its purported values. That's not exactly news. Civil forfeiture anyone? What we need to call out is the crazy political climate and people becoming hysterical over anecdotes. If we do see a clear pattern that things are shifting in a major way- then we'll talk. Having a fact based, not an emotion based, political discourse is the important thing.
furthermore, if you only care about statistics then abuses of vulnerable populations must be acceptable unless they hit some threshold of statistical significance. you can excuse horrific acts based on the idea that a minority is only a small percentage of the total population or that their abuse is only a small percentage of total abuse, as you're doing here. that's the point of creating a social system which protects everyone - that people who comprise a minority are not singled out and abused. murderers and serial killers also target relatively small percentages of the population, but we don't allow them to roam freely.
here is the border czar saying he doesn't care about court orders: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/donald-trump-se...
here is a Brown professor who was deported despite a court order: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/doctor-brown-university-dep...
when the government no longer cares about its own values, laws, and separation of powers, we no longer have a government of the people. this is a an existential issue, not a "wait and see" situation.
Where I'm not with you is on the mass hysteria that the world is ending and the grasping on what are anecdotes to fuel a political struggle. The American left has collectively lost their minds it seems and they want to turn their prediction that this is the end of democracy in the US into a prophecy that fulfills itself.
The latest on the Brown professor is that the judge accepted that the deportation happened before his order could reach the border agents. The CBP also responded they would not violate a judge's order. So all seems at it should be. If judge's orders are violated there are mechanisms to deal with that such as holding those people in contempt and sending them to jail. It's true that there could be a constitutional crisis if e.g. the president pardons those people but it seems we're not there yet.
There is a fine line here between order and anarchy. Let's stay on the order side. A few cases don't prove anything. We are seeing a policy shift which is what this administration said it would shift if it got into office. For the most part this policy is under their control and people knowingly voted for that. Democracy means accepting that even if it differs from what you think. We are seeing ever increasing polarization which on its own is going to lead to the destruction of democracy. This should be more worrying.
After 2001 you needed a special ID and now it is a PITA. I wonder how long before an official VISA is needed.
So much for the longest unprotected border in the world. That title probably goes to Germany and France, which is quote amazing considering their history.
IIRC the additional id requirement was introduced in 2007 (air) and 2009 (land).
1. https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2006/11/new-american-l...
2. https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2009/06/are-you-canadi...
One should note that the restrictions survived different US and Canadian administrations (there is a reciprocal requirement on Americans entering Canada) so it's not really a partisan issue it would appear.
The border is still pretty much unprotected.
My position is that Canada and the US should have an open border and an EU-like economic zone but I think the majority of Canadians and Americans don't want that or clearly it's not an important enough issue for them. Overall it's still a reasonably easy border to cross for both compared to most world borders and for many professions TN status also lets people live and work across the border.
As a Canadian emotions are running pretty hot these days. I think we should try and keep that under control. Don't get angry over what is essentially a business arrangement. People are still the same people under different administrations for good and bad. If you're feeling angry try and remember someone is trying to get you to be angry.
You are asking Canadians to put some random group of Americans' interest in front of their own self-interest. I think the ship has sailed.
With friend like these who needs enemies.
The American ignorance on this site is really starting to drive me away.
Part of the reason Canadians are boycotting American goods and services is to force us citizens to voice issue with their government.
At this point the issue remains with the American people to address their government.
What adminstration in the Canadian government is there for Americans to oppose?? Nobody even knows the source of the tarrif issue.
There seem to be down votes in the other direction, at times, but 1) they seem to get balanced back after a while and 2) the down votes don't often come with any useful commentary, often with none at all - which, for me, I also find comforting.
You've softened it considerably with the added explanation.
I think, however, most Canadians (and the rest of the world) know it's a minority opinion in the US, but that doesn't change the fact that 1) there were enough people in the US that voted him in 2) there weren't enough people in the US that voted opposing him and, most importantly, 3) it's the ensuing behaviour of "the system" that's having this chilling effect on relations - it's not individually personal.
Having said that, it's probably important for as many of the US voting public as possible to reiterate that it's not "individually personal" as often as possible to keep eroding any building notions that it could be.
No.
OTOH Victoria schoolchildren used to do cross border field trips. They ended the practice during the Trump Muslim ban to avoid trauma to kids.
It's that the rhetoric coming from Trump which, through significant threats to the on-going employment of anyone deemed to be not enthusiastically complying with these daily-updated mandates, increases the likelihood of un-justified "bad thing" happening upon attempting to cross the border to the US.
Basically, the current regime makes it unpredictable, which increases risk. Increased risk = decreased likelihood of related action.
I'm not sure how far off topic we've gone, but "Canadian Devs backing out of attending GDC" would also have a protest aspect to it due to DJT's belligerence towards Canada.
Tell me you haven't been paying attention to what's going on in Trumpistan without telling me you haven't been paying attention to what's going on in Trumpistan.
Unbelievable.