# Welcome to America **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 23, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029 "2007-12-23T17:39:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/1 "2007-12-23T17:39:07Z")
[A young blonde Icelandic woman’s recent experience visiting the US](http://www.sott.net/articles/show/145536-A-young-blonde-Icelandic-woman-s-recent-experience-visiting-the-US) In a nutshell: A young Icelandic woman and some friends decide to go to New York for a bit of shopping. Unfortunately this woman overstayed her visa by three weeks in 1995. Having visited New York after that incident with no difficulty, she did not foresee any problems. > [@](#): > > I was photographed and fingerprinted. I was asked questions which I felt had nothing to do with the issue at hand. I was forbidden to contact anyone to advise of my predicament and although I was invited at the outset to contact the Icelandic consul or embassy, that invitation was later withdrawn. I don’t know why. She waits five hours before being taken to another holding area to wait another five hours. Then she’s chained and driven to a jail where, fourteen hours after she landed, she is given porridge and bread. Nine hours in a cell. Eventually she was chained up again and sent back to Iceland. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/2 "2007-12-23T18:02:01Z")
You’ll notice she didn’t have a chance to blow anything up while she was here. Homeland security works! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![PharmBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@PharmBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PharmBoy)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/3 "2007-12-23T18:25:48Z")
Well, this does not shock me in the least. The rule seems to be: harass the non-Arabs in the crowd, but let the Arabs go. I was in O’hare a few weeks ago and my colleague and I were pulled out of line for “special questioning”. Both of us are U.S.-born white males. While I’m standing there silently seething, I see at least 3-5 Arabs, with the head-towels and everything, go right through without any extra checking. So in this bizarro context, sending a Icelandic women in chains for overstaying her visa 12 years ago makes perfect sense. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/4 "2007-12-23T18:29:44Z")
There has to be more to this story. That is just bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/5 "2007-12-23T18:39:48Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] There has to be more to this story. That is just bizarre. [/QUOTE] It might sound bizarre for a US domestic, but I’ve read dozens of stories like it over here, all following 9/11. There was some British professor who had the same thing happen at LAX, and there’s another Indian-heritage (Hindu) academic from the UK who’s given up on US conferences, because every time he arrives in the US he gets detained. [Here’s yet another](http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1231089,00.html) from 2004. [Similar stuff](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/22/pnr_terror/) happened to the singer Morrissey in the same year. And then there’s the Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam debacle. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/6 "2007-12-23T18:41:54Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] There has to be more to this story. That is just bizarre. [/QUOTE] [IcelandReview Online](http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16539&ew_0_a_id=297194) [International Herald Tribune](http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/14/europe/EU-GEN-Iceland-US.php) ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/7 "2007-12-23T19:06:24Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] It might sound bizarre for a US domestic, but I’ve read dozens of stories like it over here, all following 9/11. [/QUOTE] I mean, I don’t think what happened to her is outside the realm of possibility, considering the current political climate. Hell, I get grilled and singled out for searches fairly often when I travel, and I am a tiny Asian female with a spotless visa record. (When the SARS scare happened, I was detained several times simply because I had a South Korean passport - even though I’d been in Europe for a good month before the whole thing happened.) Still, stories like this make me shake my head in disbelief. Gee, I feel so much safer knowing Homeland Security is catching those sneaky Icelandic women trying to tiptoe into the US so they can raid Bloomingdales. Your comment about US domestics amused me, though, because it reminded me of a time when I was driving with a bunch of friends from Boston to Toronto. We had to pass customs, of course, on the border. Two of us (a girl from Scotland and myself) were familiar with the whole post-9/11 travel climate and answered the questions politely but briefly, but the other two guys, who were Americans, tried to _make jokes_ with the official questioning us. (“Do you have any weapons?” “We’re just a bunch of English literature majors, ha ha.”) My Scottish friend and I wanted to slap both of them. Thankfully the official seemed somewhat amused, but that little incident made us realize how paranoid international travelers have become out of sheer necessity. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/8 "2007-12-23T19:12:10Z")
There’s nothing funny about it. It’s a shitty way to treat visitors. Not just the pretty yound blonde woman, but all those who come here to see our country and are treated like criminals. Even those who simply want to pass through. **Maher Arar** , for example. I’m ashamed, and I want to move. Problem is, to where? Oh well. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/9 "2007-12-24T05:50:29Z")
I am ashamed to be American. With my living in the UAE I always get singled out for extra security and harrassment… no jail yet, but with this government, who knows what they will do next? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/10 "2007-12-24T06:14:33Z")
[QUOTE=Desert Nomad] I am ashamed to be American. With my living in the UAE I always get singled out for extra security and harrassment… no jail yet, but with this government, who knows what they will do next? [/QUOTE] You mean harrassment in the US? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/11 "2007-12-24T06:26:19Z")
Hey, if the US doesn’t want Icelandic women, I’d be happy to take care of them… ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/12 "2007-12-24T06:29:21Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Hey, if the US doesn’t want Icelandic women, I’d be happy to take care of them… [/QUOTE] Do you have an unused room? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/13 "2007-12-24T06:42:02Z")
Obviously it was because she was blonde. And young. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/14 "2007-12-24T13:17:48Z")
This is all about cavity searches and horny security guards. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/15 "2007-12-24T13:45:48Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] You mean harrassment in the US? [/QUOTE] Yes. Sorry, that came out pretty vague. Living here, I take my holidays in the region so I have lots of stamps from Oman, Yemen and other Gulf countries. I am always treated fine here in the Gulf - in Dubai I can bypass immigration entirely as I have my fingerprints stored so it is just a matter of touching the panel to get through the “e-Gate”. In the US however it is a different story… along the lines of: who do you work for? why are you working there? what is your address? do you have any bank accounts there? what do you earn? how long are you planning to be there? do you maintain contacts there (uh… duh)? what were you doing in Syria in 2000? do you think you might go back to Syria? is there anything else you’d like to add? Then we often spend time going through my bag in detail. It is a real hassle… I am an American citizen and find it more troublesome to get into my own country than any other. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/16 "2007-12-24T14:19:25Z")
Decades ago, a friend of our family visited from England. He was a hippy type, and during his stay in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia police grabbed him and held him for hours. Then they beat him badly, drove him to a dangerous part of the city at night, and dumped him in an alley, without his wallet, no ID, no money. He has never been the same since, and of course will not visit the US again. After seeing this story from the point of view of the victim, I wouldn’t be too surprised at much of anything like this I hear. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/17 "2007-12-24T15:59:00Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] Obviously it was because she was blonde. And young. [/QUOTE] Well, she’s 30. So she, as they say, ain’t no spring chicken. 😉 But that she’s blonde and pretty is maybe why we’re all talking about it. also it seems that she has a government that goes to bat for her. We (humnaity) need to find a way to stop this shit. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/18 "2007-12-24T16:02:23Z")
[QUOTE=Desert Nomad] Yes. Sorry, that came out pretty vague. Living here, I take my holidays in the region so I have lots of stamps from Oman, Yemen and other Gulf countries. I am always treated fine here in the Gulf - in Dubai I can bypass immigration entirely as I have my fingerprints stored so it is just a matter of touching the panel to get through the “e-Gate”. In the US however it is a different story… along the lines of: who do you work for? why are you working there? what is your address? do you have any bank accounts there? what do you earn? how long are you planning to be there? do you maintain contacts there (uh… duh)? what were you doing in Syria in 2000? do you think you might go back to Syria? is there anything else you’d like to add? Then we often spend time going through my bag in detail. It is a real hassle… I am an American citizen and find it more troublesome to get into my own country than any other. [/QUOTE] I was pretty sure that was what you meant. There seems to be something very wannabe militant about a certain portion of our society. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/19 "2007-12-24T16:07:56Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] Two of us (a girl from Scotland and myself) were familiar with the whole post-9/11 travel climate and answered the questions politely but briefly, but the other two guys, who were Americans, tried to _make jokes_ with the official questioning us. [/QUOTE] Anyone from Britain has known to not mess about with security questions for decades, not just since 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029/20 "2007-12-24T16:19:40Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Anyone from Britain has known to not mess about with security questions for decades, not just since 9/11. [/QUOTE] And Canada. Back in the late eighties or early nineties, a member of Parliament was detained at a Canadian airport for joking about a bomb. But I know too many people who have been hassled at the US border: they were born in the wrong country\*, or had the wrong appearance\*\*, or were going to take part in activities that tended to undermine xenophobia\*\*\*. These days I recommend that people avoid the States unless it is their final destination. Which is damn sad. [sub]\*Iran. \*\*Long hair, a beard, and rainbow decorations. \*\*\*Esperanto language camp.[/sub] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-america/431029.md?page=2)