I'm the Canadian who was detained by ICE for two weeks

I have a close relationship with a Chinese national that is going through the US immigration process.

His view on situations like this are enlightening.

He knows the difference between true dictatorships and political wranglings in the news. No system is perfect, and bad things happen to good people every day.

In this circumstance, it looks like this person didn't follow all the appropriate rules related to the entering the US. (visa issues)

My Chinese friend does not understand why people try to break the rules, get caught, and cry foul. Your treatment in his home country would be considerably worse. He is following all the laws to get US citizenship. Should his due diligence be considered a waste of time?

I also had a relative that overstayed her visa in a foreign country and was constantly afraid of being deported. Why should the expectations of foreigners in US be different from every other country in the world?

> treatment in his home country would be considerably worse.

If you enter PRC on bad VISA you chill at the airport transit area and deported on next available flight. None of this for profit multi week detention to milk ICE contracts.

She was refused to enter the US, which is fine, this is the US rights to deny if you don't follow due process. But she didn't try to hide it or overstay her visa, she was coming through the border and was forthcoming about applying for the visa.

But instead of sending her back, they put her in jail for 2 weeks. Could have been longer without media attention. There was no process for her, once within the walls, to get herself out.

> Why should the expectations of foreigners in US be different from every other country in the world?

Are you telling me this is common in any other country in the world to be denied entry and then put in jail instead of just be sent back?

The norm pretty much worldwide is that if you present yourself at a border crossing and are found inadmissible, you are refused entry and turned around. Some people have wrongly used the word "deport", but that isn't what it is: Technically she will have never even been in the country until granted entry, so she should have just been refused entry.

She didn't sneak into the US and get caught walking through the desert. She didn't overstay an expired visa. She did what she was legally required to do and presented herself at a lawful border crossing to apply for the necessary visa. And for those who note that she previously had been refused the same visa, by her story the conditions of her visa had changed leading to a new, unrelated application, which again is how it is supposed to work.

And when they refuse that visa, thus denying entry, they say "sorry, you can't come in" and you have to go back to where you came from, which in this case was Mexico. Even if she flew in on an international flight and they refused entry they would make her stay in the international terminal (which is technically not "in" country) until a flight out happens.

That she was quite literally arrested on some unknown pretence is bizarre, and seems like the "feed the private prison" ploy.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/article-canadian-...

Of course police in the US are now demanding that Canadians answer the question "Canada or the United States", so zero Canadians should be travelling in that country. Law has broken down into some bizarre, hyper-partisan charade, and the end result is going to be civil war.

because fear of being deported is not the same as "fear of being held in a for-profit prison without being given any information"

And if you come back and try again at a different location? Customs checks aren't perfect so it makes sense to up the consequences if you are found to be trying to work around them.

Detention for being in the country without a visa is not uncommon around the world.