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submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

For roughly 100 days, Thomas says he faced harsh detention conditions, despite agreeing to deportation

Thomas, a 35-year-old tech worker and father of three from Ireland, came to West Virginia to visit his girlfriend last fall. It was one of many trips he had taken to the US, and he was authorized to travel under a visa waiver program that allows tourists to stay in the country for 90 days.

He had planned to return to Ireland in December, but was briefly unable to fly due to a health issue, his medical records show. He was only three days overdue to leave the US when an encounter with police landed him in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody.

From there, what should have been a minor incident became a nightmarish ordeal: he was detained by Ice in three different facilities, ultimately spending roughly 100 days behind bars with little understanding of why he was being held – or when he’d get out.

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[-] [email protected] 231 points 2 months ago

Wonder how much it cost to keep him instead of just let him back to Ireland. Bunch of cunts

[-] [email protected] 155 points 2 months ago

With these assholes it's not about money, it's about cruelty.

[-] [email protected] 43 points 2 months ago

Oh sure, but they'll continually claim until they're blue in the face that everything they do is about money. So they should be continually exposed as the financially irresponsible idiots that they are.

For the people where egregious human rights violations and terrorism aren't deal breakers, wasting money is. Frankly I don't respect their opinion, however, they also vote, therefore their opinion does matter.

[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago

It's both. They are unequivocally profiting from the cruelty.

[-] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago

I still think it's about money, especially considering the size of the prison industrial complex. It just so happens that capitalism encourages cruelty when it's profitable.

[-] [email protected] 27 points 2 months ago

Sure it cost the taxpayers something, but that went directly into the pockets of the for-profit prison company. So you see, this is actually great for the economy!

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[-] [email protected] 183 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Daily reminder (especially to my Canadian homies) for the love of fuck do NOT travel to the US. They have made it clear they dont want visitors and it isnt safe for us to go there.

Do not risk it. Find any other safe country to visit and go there instead. Or stay home and see your own country.

Or if you want to visit North America, may I suggest Canada? Its nice here and we have cool things to see too. Also you wont be detained for no reason and live for months in a cage.

[-] [email protected] 69 points 2 months ago

And may I suggest Mexico? It’s a beautiful country full of wonderful food, music, and people. North America is a shit sandwich, but the bread on both ends is quite magnificent.

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[-] [email protected] 38 points 2 months ago

I know several people with dual citizenship Canadian/U.S. who have moved from the U.S. to Canada in the past several months.

I just figured out a path for me to gain Mexican permanent resident and eventually Mexican citizenship if needed. It will take some time but with how this country is going, My wife and I need an escape route.

[-] [email protected] 27 points 2 months ago

My partner and I made the decision to leave the day after inauguration. We're comfortably in Canada now.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

I hope that's far enough. As a Canadian, I'm not so sure.

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[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago

If you have an escape route available, I suggest getting it prepared now. Hopefully you won't need it, but it's better to be prepared than not.

[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago

If only the dumbfucks with the stupid slogans like "love it or leave it" knew just how difficult and costly it is to legally move to another country. Unless you have money, work in a high demand job or have family connections it's fucking difficult or close to impossible to do.

Most of the dumbfucks have no way to legally move to any other country legally.

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[-] [email protected] 110 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Just stupid all around...

"You overstayed your welcome, buddy. Now instead of letting you go home, we're going to keep you trapped here even longer."

Do you want them to stay or to go? Make up your friggin' mind! 😬

[-] [email protected] 34 points 2 months ago

They're trying to meet quotas, they don't give a shit about anything else.

[-] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago

But at this point why even bother meeting the quotas? Can't they just lie and tell everyone they deported 3 billion immigrants so that the racist rednecks will all cheer and smile?

[-] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago

It's likely that both things are happening. I'm sure there are some that stretch the numbers but there are also others who revel in the cruelty.

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[-] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I think people aren't realizing, they're racist af. They are actually doing nazi things all the fucking time now. They have actual concentration camps. The point is to get rid of anyone not white. Their lead nazi dude (white nationalist) is a Jewish person. It's just as insane as the nazis too.

Edit: Also, to fill their prisons to hand out prison contracts and get slave labor. This is also a money grab.

[-] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago

The goal is to make people afraid. Fear is a feature, just like violence.

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[-] [email protected] 105 points 2 months ago

Thomas, a 35-year-old tech worker and father of three from Ireland, came to West Virginia

See? That's the problem here.

Really, people, do NOT go to the US.

[-] [email protected] 30 points 2 months ago

Do NOT follow the country roads.

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[-] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago

I'd be interested to see what Republican policies have done to the US tourism industry. I know it's taking a hit, but how much I'm not sure. I know I wouldn't come here by choice.

[-] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Gonna be even worse now too with the National Park Service cuts: there are so many foreign tourists at the parks. As there should be too! Our National Parks are amazing!

[-] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago

Our National Parks are amazing!

For now.

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[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago

People are only still going to the states because they had trips planned before the shit hit the fan. Once those trips are over, tourism to the states will be near zilch

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[-] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago

I'm in a red state tourist town and our overall visitation is down over 30%. That said, international visitors only account for about 3% of tourism in this state, so there's much more involved with that loss than just the international travel.

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[-] [email protected] 102 points 2 months ago

For your own personal safety, never travel to the United States.

Never travel to countries where the secret police just kidnap people off the streets.

[-] [email protected] 80 points 2 months ago

"he's been here too long, keep him here longer!"

The most conservative thing I've read all day

[-] [email protected] 29 points 2 months ago

Detaining people isn't free either, we also paid to keep them here longer. The whole thing is immensely stupid.

[-] [email protected] 30 points 2 months ago

Only if you believe their words, which you absolutely should not. A for profit prison management company got paid for 100 days detention when they would have gotten 0 if they let this guy leave.

Everything working out as planned.

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[-] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago

You forget that the camps are private, so they need to keep him there to get paid. 100 days seems like about enough.

[-] [email protected] 67 points 2 months ago

Every country should have travel warnings against visiting the Untied States

[-] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Canada doesn't even have any new warnings. They have the regular "gun ownership" and stuff they've had for years, but not a single word about the new administration. US travel is still listed as "green". Travel to the UK is "yellow" for fuck's sake.

Yes, according to the Canadian government, it is less safe to travel to the UK than it is to the US. And that's after admitting that about 55 Canadian citizens are in US custody at any given time.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadians-ice-detention-1.7577584

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[-] [email protected] 44 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

And he was locked up before Trump took office.

Nobody is safe from the system if they get pulled into it

This applies to all aspects of the US "justice" system. Once it has a hold of you, it's extremely hard to get out.

[-] [email protected] 19 points 2 months ago

While visiting his girlfriend Malone’s family in Savannah, Georgia, Thomas experienced a mental health episode. After a conflict in their hotel room, someone called the police. Though Malone didn’t support the charge, Thomas was arrested for allegedly “falsely imprisoning” her.

Yes, it was before, but, there is a little more to it. It was a mental health episode and the police were called. One would think they would just have an air marshall fly back home with him, But the US is really not good at mental health problems.

[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago

Regardless, imprisoning him for months is completely indefensible.

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[-] [email protected] 41 points 2 months ago

You gotta be pretty in love to travel to a backwater nation like the US. Traveling to WV though, that's beyond insanity.

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[-] [email protected] 40 points 2 months ago

Irish are non-white again. We're going back to the 1800s, baby.

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[-] [email protected] 21 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

And folks here in the US are making jokes about the FBI demanding polygraphs and loyalty tests, overlooking the fact that this is happening (along with the vulgar overfunding of ICE) in anticipation of a greater and more extended fascist crackdown. It's the deliberate removal of any conscience from our governing system, and we all can look at history and understand why that's happening and what it means for the future.

Just don't come here.

[-] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago

Stop traveling to that shithole.

[-] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

"Armoured cars, tanks and guns! Came to take away our sons! But we must stand behind the men, the men behind the wire!"

Latinos and Irish united in their fight against immigration officials!

[-] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago

At least this (probably) white guy, who speaks the same language, got to suffer on taxpayers' dollars. What a relief. /s

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this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2025
1015 points (98.9% liked)

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