If Travelling To The United States, Be Very Afraid

Last month, I wrote about the terrifying saga of Jasmine Mooney. A couple of recent videos remind us, through her story, of the perils travelling to the United States entails.

If you need further convincing, you may want to watch a longer interview with Jasmine Mooney.

Then there was the horrifying detention of Rebecca Burke.

She was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) for 19 days in what her father described as “horrendous conditions”. Now, to be fair, Burke had the wrong paperwork: she hadn’t realised that she needed a working visa instead of a tourist visa in order to exchange domestic chores for accommodation with a host family. But getting imprisoned for almost three weeks over a mix-up and then being led on to a deportation flight – in chains! – back to a country that is supposedly a close ally, is obviously extreme.

Moore and Burke's stories are but two of many.  They are undoubtedly part of the reason behind Canada's travel warning for those considering going to the formerly friendly nation.

Canada has updated its advice to those travelling to the United States, warning travellers they may face “scrutiny” from border guards and the possibility of detention if denied entry.

 The updated advisory notes that if denied entry to the U.S., citizens could be detained while awaiting deportation if they fail to meet entry exit requirements.

“Individual border agents often have significant discretion in making those determinations,” the advisory said. “Expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including of electronic devices. Comply and be forthcoming in all interactions with border authorities.”

The warnings seem to be having an effect.

At least one institution — the Universite de Montreal — put out a memorandum to staff and students about what to expect at the U.S. border and to take precautions including leaving sensitive research data at home and to register with the school on a voluntary basis before travel.

The CBC offers this warning:

U.S. Border Patrol officers can look through a mobile phone, check comments made on social media and examine a laptop without a warrant. They can also take devices or download all of their contents.

Border guards are supposed to be scanning for evidence that a traveller might commit a crime in the U.S. or violate the terms of their entry visa, but negative statements about the country or its president might make them look harder.

From the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Adam Schwartz says finding something 'damning' on a person's phone could be as simple as someone writing,

'I am angry at the president of the United States' or 'I'm proud to be Canadian and it makes me mad that the United States has just imposed tariffs on us or whatever it is".

Given the current climate south of the border and the fact that they are embracing protocols one normally associates with authoritarian regimes, the prudent choice for all Canadians is to avoid any unnecessary travel there until further notice. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behind Bars No More

 

As we have become increasingly aware these past several years, institutional investments matter. And as public awareness has grown, so has pressure for the big funds to divest from ethically and environmentally suspect parts of their portfolio, be they holdings in fossil fuels, tobacco, firearms or gambling, to name but a few.

For teachers, the pressure to divest is not new. Well over two decades ago, there was a group of us who tried to convince the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to take its money out of Maple Leaf Foods. At the time, the food-processing giant was in the midst of crippling wage cuts (about 40%) at its Burlington Ontario plant. 

The response we got was disappointing. We were told that the Plan had a "fiduciary responsibility' to its members to make as much profit as possible. Matters of principle could not be taken into consideration.

Fortunately, that amoral strategy is changing in Canada, thanks to grassroot pressure by union members.

A Canadian Crown corporation has sold off its entire stake in the American private prison industry following a public campaign by the union that represents the majority of federal employees.

The Public Sector Pension Investment Fund (PSP) bought more than 600,000 shares of CoreCivic and the Geo Group, two of the largest providers of private prisons, jails and immigration detention centres in the United States, in the last half of 2020.

In late February, days after a Toronto Star story exposed those acquisitions, PSP moved to sell off its shares in the two companies, according to a letter signed by PSP president and CEO Neil Cunningham.

“We believe it’s a victory,” said James Infantino, the pensions and disability insurance officer at the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). “We got out of an investment that our members abhor, so that’s in itself something to note and hopefully, it’s something that we can build on.”

A victory it is. If you know anything about the private prison industry in the United States, you know that its profits come from cutting corners (understaffing, denial or delay of needed medical care for prisoners, inferior food, etc.) If you are interested in the topic, an excellent book is American Prison: A Reporter’s Undercover Journey Into The Business of Punishment, by Shane Bauer. Given that a disproportionate number of people in prison are Black and Latino, it is difficult to see private prisons as anything other than a system of modern slavery.

Indeed, there is a thought-provoking documentary on Netflix called 13th, which looks at the sad history of incarceration that followed the abolition of slavery and continues to this very day. 

There is no way of avoiding the fact that inmates in both public and private prisons have become mere fodder for a cold, cruel and very calculating capitalism that should make everyone feel ashamed. An awakening public conscience is one reason to feel at least a modicum of hope that things may be changing. 

It is to be hoped that other institutional investors soon will no longer be behind bars.