Bollywood Star Detained and Interrogated at US Airport
A popular Bollywood star was recently detained and questioned for over an hour when he arrived at Newark International Airport. While the law requires Customs and Border Patrol officers to inquire and detain people that they feel may be a threat to national security, most officers are poorly trained for the job. Unfortunately, the guidelines for choosing these individuals do NOT clearly state that you should not treat a celebrity this way, or any high profile figure for that matter. So the poor Customs officer who may not know politics from politico or Brad Pitt from Bruno, unbeknownst to him and those involved, chose a famous Indian celebrity to detain and interrogate.
While it does not reflect well on Homeland Security and airport staff for not keeping up with the latest celebrity hot shot, racial profiling is a divisive and discriminatory practice. It’s shameful that so many innocent people are unnecessarily accosted and treated as criminals purely because of their race, creed, or gender. Saying that though, if we the average Joe Plumber are subject to this then why should celebrities be treated any differently? It seems we tend to pay attention to this issue only when it happens to a high profile celebrity or politician. Are they immune from racial profiling? Should they be?
Read the entire article here.
ICE Deporting US Citizens
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seem to be deporting U.S. citizens without ascertaining their immigration status. ICE has jurisdiction over illegal immigrants and cannot deport or illegal detain U.S. citizens, however, more and more instances of mishaps have resulted in U.S. citizens being wrongfully deported. Here’s the latest article.
Veloz had to prove his citizenship from behind bars. An aunt helped him track down his father’s birth certificate and his own, his parents’ marriage certificate, his father’s school, military and Social Security records.
After nine months, a judge determined that he was a citizen, but immigration authorities appealed the decision. He was detained for five more months before he found legal help and a judge ordered his case dropped.
