Yearning to Breathe Free

I'm heading off to Spain in a few hours, but I'm heading out with a raging thorn in my side. See y'all next week.

Who are we? Americans, I mean. Who in the hell are we exactly? Where do we come from? What binds us together? What do we stand for? What, essentially, defines our collective souls?

I, for one, submit that since 9/11 we've become a self-centered nation of ever-growing intolerance, willful ignorance, and cowardice. But it wasn't always like that. Once we were a brave nation, a nation of immigrants with so much pride in having built our shining city on the hill we placed a statue in our harbor welcoming the poor and oppressed peoples of the world to join us*, to find new hope and a better life. Now, instead we offer those seeking asylum here humiliation, abuse, and isolation. Are we truly so afraid we've been reduced to this?

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom is releasing a carefully constructed bipartisan report today. It sharply criticizes the shameful way we're now treating asylum seekers in the US. The administration, of course, doesn't want to hear it.

Manny Van Pelt, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within Homeland Security that oversees the detention of asylum seekers, defended the system.

"We have a robust inspections program that conducts audits of our detention facilities nationwide, and our detention facilities are accredited and subjected to regular inspection by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees," he said in an interview. "They are clean and they are safe environments. Even better, the detention system protects the public."

Mr. Van Pelt, with what little respect I can muster, may I suggest you are wholly incompetent and unfit to represent this nation. Here's a sample of what Van Pelt feels is worthy of such praise:

Before the change in the law, only asylum seekers with criminal records were detained. Now, nearly all are locked up with ordinary criminals. In 2003, 5,585 men and 1,015 women seeking asylum were jailed. To cut down on that number, the commission recommended that the airport interviewers, and not just immigration judges, be given the authority to grant asylum on the spot when warranted.

Severe psychological damage is among the effects of throwing people seeking refuge together with criminals in "stark conditions," the report said, describing 24-hour lights, chained walks to go eat, no privacy even to use the toilet and little chance to exercise outdoors. Detainees are allowed to work but paid $1 a day.

Five of the 19 detention centers examined had mental health staff, and none had guards trained to work with victims of torture or repression. In most places the treatment for those considered suicidal was solitary confinement. A footnote pointed out that isolation was "likely to exacerbate depression," not prevent suicide.

"The whole detention system is there to break you down further," one former detainee told interviewers in the report. "You are not even allowed to cry. If you do, they take you to isolation."

Cut off from the outside world and not allowed incoming calls, even from a lawyer, the detainees are at high risk for depression, the commission said, and some even said they gave up their quest for asylum because of the unbearable conditions.

Disclaimer: As some longtime readers may recall, my partner is in the US on a refugee visa. He entered the US before 9/11 and so was spared this kind of ignorant treatment. And I have to admit, I can't read these accounts without imagining some knuckle-dragging goon barking at him not to cry (he had next to no English when he arrived) or shackling him when he needed to go eat, all in the name of national security (nor can I imagine this without a vision of me lunging at the s.o.b.'s throat to beat some human decency into him). So I'm not claiming objectivity in this.

The immigration law changed in 1996, but the number of asylum seekers have dropped sharply since 9/11. Partly, it's assumed, because of the efforts of the Homeland Security department:

"We have been told that in foreign countries the Department of Homeland Security is being employed to prevent people from even getting on board airplanes," said Ms. Bansal, a former solicitor general of New York State. "We think further follow-up needs to be done."

For me, this report takes some serious shine off Bush's promise to wipe out tryanny wherever it lurks. No, we can't allow everyone who comes here to enter. Yes, terrorists would exploit a weak system. But isn't locking up political refugees with no criminal background along side known criminals tryannical itself? But wait...there's more:

The report comes the same week that asylum legislation is to be introduced in the House by Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., a Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Among other provisions, the bill, known as the Real ID Act, would make it harder for refugees to get asylum.

Can we just disassemble the Statue of Liberty now? I'm sure the scrap metal would fetch a decent price on the open market.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Not everyone agrees with this assessment of the Statue of Liberty's symbolism. All I'd ask them is, "Are you a Native American?"

Comments

[Timmy the Wonder Dog]

I, for one, submit that since 9/11 we've become a self-centered nation of ever-growing intolerance, willful ignorance, and cowardice.

Edward, I believe you need a break, I hope the weather is fine and you have a safe trip. While you are in Spain, please look into Spain's immigration policies and the huddled masses on the coast of Africa.

When you come back, we can talk about Canada and the problems they are having, regarding security risks.

[Edward]

You can comfort yourself with comparisons if you need to Timmy. I hold my nation to a higher standard. But perhaps that's just me.

[Edward]

calming down a bit...thanks for the warm weather wishes...I perhaps do need a break.

You'll see to it that this shameful mess is cleared up by the time I get back, right Timmy?

[liberal japonicus]

You'll see to it that this shameful mess is cleared up by the time I get back, right Timmy?

What, Canada? That's a bit harsh...

Have a great time Edward, and remember that you have to give us your travel recommendations when you get back. (you should have had a bleg for travel advice, maybe next time)

[Edward]

What, Canada? That's a bit harsh...

LOL.

Stop it you two...how am I supposed to maintain my righteous indignation if you're gonna wish me well and make me laugh.

I do see red when I hear of asylum seekers being treated badly here. If most Americans knew what they had to go through just to get here, they'd be more sympathetic.

[blogbudsman]

Edward "I, for one, submit that since 9/11 we've become a self-centered nation of ever-growing intolerance, willful ignorance, and cowardice."

More Edward "...imagining some knuckle-dragging goon barking at him not to cry (he had next to no English when he arrived) or shackling him when he needed to go eat, all in the name of national security (nor can I imagine this without a vision of me lunging at the s.o.b.'s throat to beat some human decency into him)."

Edward admits "No, we can't allow everyone who comes here to enter. Yes, terrorists would exploit a weak system. But..."

Frankly, I'm sure a gay man cohabitating with an asylum seeking alien has a far tougher time getting through the day than I. Should it be that way? I suppose not, but it is that way. Should Edward be angry? Well, he is, so does it really matter whether he should be or not. Is being totally pissed off at every matter that relates ever so slightly to his situation effective, or even healthy for that matter. Hardly.

Even knuckle draggers have feelings. And by the way, to revise history proclaiming how historically kind we've been to immigrants over the generations sounds warm and fuzzy, but is hardly accurate.

And recent history has shown that 'immigrants' may not be as grateful for their opportunity as those in the past. The Statue of Liberty will only continue to represent freedom for future generations if freedom exists.

So Edward, draw things out, point things out, work things out; but sir, you need to chill out. Your anger contaminates your argument. Most won't repond to a tirade.

[Stan LS]

And recent history has shown that 'immigrants' may not be as grateful for their opportunity as those in the past.

Yep. Some immigrants do not want to assimilate at all.

[Phil]

Changing the subject in the very first response? That's gotta be a record, even for Timmy.

[liberal japonicus]

Even knuckle draggers have feelings. And by the way, to revise history proclaiming how historically kind we've been to immigrants over the generations sounds warm and fuzzy, but is hardly accurate.

But Edward's point is that current asylum practices have deteriorated greatly. If we are going to 'win' the war for hearts and minds, it will be through the ruthless application of the 'idea' of America as a place which values freedom and individual human rights. Have you forgotten your New Year's Resolution so quickly?

A New Year's resolution. We need a body of nations, united, with their mission predicated on negotiating the peaceful existence of all our world citizens.

Peaceful existence requires that the weak be protected and refugee status is one important way that is done. To have it weakened by this administration is something to be angry about. The only relief that I take is that the US policy is still better than the Japanese policy. The stats show that from 1983-2002, 315 out of a total of over 3,000 applicants were granted refugee status and recently, a Kurdish family who was granted refugee status by the UN has been ordered deported back to Turkey.

[Kevin Donoghue]

Welcome to Europe, Edward. Why not stay? It has its faults of course, but I suspect it is gradually becoming more your kind of place just as America is becoming less so.

I think some European city should erect a statue with an inscription that reads: "Bring me your disillusioned angry liberals...."

[Don Quijote]

I, for one, submit that since 9/11 we've become a self-centered nation of ever-growing intolerance, willful ignorance, and cowardice.

I have to disagree!!!

Since the collapse of the SU, the right wing has been on the march, the tools they use to manipulate the population are fear, and divisiveness. What you are seeing is the result of their tactics.

[wilfred]

Could it be that those outside NYC don't meet refugees very often? We cannot have enough compassion for them. This endless suspicion of everyone being a terrorist is the same ruse the right wing used to paint any 'undesireable' ('non-white ferners') by suspecting them of being a communist. Instead of deterring terrorism by showing concern, compassion and giving to the world the best that America can be, this Administration showed them just the opposite and in doing so became a terrorist making machine, manufacturing hatred of us world-wide which then feeds the right wing sense of paranoia, a perfect vicious circle.

[wilfred]

and have a great trip to Spain! If you get a minute the Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornmeiza Museums were just as impressive as the Prado... and the Chueca is not bad either :)

[Edward]

So Edward, draw things out, point things out, work things out; but sir, you need to chill out. Your anger contaminates your argument.

Perhaps...I'll consider that.

It's not just my personal situation that makes this unacceptable to me though Blog. I mention that only to disclose my lack of distance from the topic.

It's the slide backwards that upsets me. The reactionary actions that bespeak of nothing so much as fear. I personally want to smack the heads of Americans who let fear make them less tolerant. Suck it up. You're defined by how you behave in the worst situations, not the best. If your values are only there during fair weather, they're useless.

[Edward]

Even knuckle draggers have feelings.

;-{

It's an image I get when I hear these kinds of reports. I'm sure the guards are quite polite as they lead a crying mother who's at her wit's end into solitary confinement.

[blogbudsman]

liberal japonicus reminds me of my New Years resolution. I feel I'm quite consistentrevitalized so it can effectively deal with world situations that create refugees. Yepper! You bet.

[blogbudsman]

Not sure how I accomplished that...I feel I'm quite consistent the UN should be revitalized...and so on.

[Edward]

If you get a minute the Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornmeiza Museums were just as impressive as the Prado

I hope to visit all three wilfred. Thanks!

[blogbudsman]

The difference, Edward, is I believe we have been drifting backwards, over many administrations, in many areas, including those bravely debated on some of these pages. Either Congress has to figure out how to quit pandering every populist notion to dredge votes from the selfish and ignorant, or strong minded Presidents are going to continue to make tough decisions dragging us kicking and screaming into the future. It may end up being the blogoshere in some developing form that finally cracks the barrier between the politics of the past and the reality of the future. Information feeds moderation.

[Edward]

you come across incredibly wise some times blogbudsman...you sure you're not Ken White?

[unowhat]

What is this "Breath Free" ? Some kind of chewing gum?

You guys need to have a schoolmarm proofread your headlines before you post!

(Don't blame me entirely for being snarky. My wife came in here, curious to see what kind of Rush Limbaugh propaganda I am reading now , and pointed this out to me.)

Have a great vacation _Edward_ !

[blogbudsman]

50/50 chance!

[NeoDude]

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" (Gal. 5:22,23).

"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.... If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16,25).

Who needs the "fruit of the spirit" when you have the vengeful American spirit?

[hilzoy]

Hey Edward -- have a wonderful time. We'll miss you.

[Jesurgislac]

Have a great time in Spain. Don't get married to any strange Spaniards!

[blogbudsman]

Just did a quick google to cover my ignorance and discovered Ken White was a Tacitus contributer. I am neither.

[Katherine]

This is not a trend restricted to the United States, I'm afraid.

I think that part of the problem is that since 1996 it's been really lousy if you apply at the airport or after it's discovered that you're out of status. If you apply affirmatively and voluntarily, when you're not under the immediate threat of being deported, it's a lot better--you're not detained, there's a much better chance you'll have a lawyer, you can actually gather evidence and prepare, etc. But for that to happen, you have to sneak in without inspection, or (much more commonly) you have to overstay a short-term tourist or student visa. Since 9/11, I'm sure we've made a lot more efforts to make sure we inspect everyone entering the country, and tracking to make sure that fewer people overstay their visa, and all of that stuff. And that is understandable and necessary. (Though we apparently still manage to renew the visas of some of the 9/11 hijackers, so take that with a grain of salt.)

It is possible to respect both security and liberty, and to separate out potential terrorist threats while making sure that people fleeing persecution, or just seeking a better life, are treated fairly and humanely. But it costs money, and it takes political will. And this is the very definition of "strong client, weak claim". And the INS budget hasn't increased by all that much, so there's been a really dramatic shift in funds from just about everything else, to enforcement. And the Justice Department was not so pro-immigrant, to put it mildly.

I have some hope that this will actually improve under the new leadership of Homeland Security and the D.O.J., as I think Chertoff is just much more competent than Ridge, and Gonzales, while he probably believes in even fewer limits on executive power than Ashcroft, probably is a lot more pro-immigrant in cases where there's no real reason to suspect involvement in terrorism. (Not just the hispanic thing or son-of-migrant-workers-from-Humble-Texas thing; I read somewhere that he had some role in convincing Bush NOT to follow the model of Prop 187 in Texas.) This may be naive of me, and obviously I have no personal knowledge of any of the four. (Chertoff did speak to a class of mine once, impressively, and my professor in that class (a liberal guy) seemed to really respect him, but that's not really much to go on.)

I hope you have a delightful time in Spain.

[Katherine]

and everyone stop writing such interesting posts, I'm procrastinating way too much! argh.

[Katherine]

" And this is the very definition of "strong client, weak claim".

Or, the opposite of that. I meant to say "weak client, strong claim."

[Sebastian Holsclaw]

This is NOT an area I've researched at all. But it has been my impression recently that there are a lot of countries which have been cracking down hard on asylum-seeking. I read a report recently about Holland suggesting that while they are generous to those already in country, they have made it much more difficult to become a successful asylum-seeker in country. Have I been getting the wrong idea?

[Sebastian Holsclaw]

See for example:
Gloom falls on Dutch asylum seekers

Somali asylum seekers killed after deportation

[Edward]

What is this "Breath Free" ? Some kind of chewing gum?

Sigh.

That's two in a row for me. I will gladly submit to a headline proofreading process. Clearly I'm unable to spell.

Regarding the spread of immigration crackdowns, that's probably a good thing overall. I agree with Katherine (surprise) that it is possible to respect both security and liberty but it takes money and political will. I'm encouraged the K thinks Gonzales and Chertoff may be more inclined than their predecessors to do something.

This report highlights easily how to make some improvements. If the law that changed in 1996 makes it necessary to detain those without criminal records, creating two environments in which to detain the two groups seems the humane thing to do. In the one for applicants with clean records, the conditions can be much better as they are less of a security risk. Again, consider what it took those folks to get here. The least we can do is offer them some comfort while we consider their cases.

[Jesurgislac]

Sebastian: But it has been my impression recently that there are a lot of countries which have been cracking down hard on asylum-seeking.

Certainly it's the case in the UK, and not "since 9/11", either; there's been increasingly a mean-spirited and spiteful attitude towards asylum seekers in Britain, which I deplore. I see it as led by a handful of right-wing news outlets (including The Sun/The Times, owned by Rupert Murdoch of Fox News fame), but that's a subjective judgement: there is certainly an increasing tendency in public speech to presume that an asylum seeker is a fake until proven otherwise.

[Jackmormon]

Sebastian, that's my general impression as well.

However, the specific conditions of asylum seekers' detention are what Edward is protesting, I think. I find the idea of detaining asylum seekers indefitively and in prison-like conditions repulsive. I've heard stories of people being held for months and years, and the legal options they have available seem really limited. So much of this process happens under the radar because these people are effectively stateless.

At the very minimum, asylum seekers should have access to lawyers and be treated with dignity (including being paid wages that bear some resemblance to fair compensation for labor). But that's the bare minimum.

[murat]

Edward,

Have a safe trip and have a great time in Madrid :) askim

[Stan LS]

Jes,

there is certainly an increasing tendency in public speech to presume that an asylum seeker is a fake until proven otherwise.

Any reason for that?

[Dianne]

I periodically volunteer for PHR, doing physical exams of people applying for refugee status in the US. The exams are done in order to document evidence in cases where the potential immigrants claim to have been abused in their home countries. Almost invariably, by the time I finish talking to these people I wonder why the INS is trying to keep them out: They are, almost without exception, intelligent, energetic, ambitious, and very interested in integrating. (Incidently, they are also generally truthful in their accounts of why they left their home countries and why they fear to go back: I haven't yet seen anyone whose physical exam didn't agree with their story, including some tricky findings that a person without a background in medicine wouldn't know to fake.) In short, exactly the people that any country would want as immigrants--so why is the US government wasting time and money trying to keep them out? It should be trying to recruit them!

[Stan LS]

Almost invariably, by the time I finish talking to these people I wonder why the INS is trying to keep them out

Are you a case worker or do you just administer physicals?

[Sebastian Holsclaw]

BTW, I think I highly liberalized asylum program would be great for America (it probably acts as a safety valve for dictators so I don't know if it is damaging for the people who stay, but that is a different topic.)

[Stan LS]

Of interest:

In January this year I walked into a police station in Harwich, under the assumed name of Mihaela, claiming to be seeking asylum in Britain from Moldova.

It was the start of a six-month journey through Britain's official asylum system and the underground world of benefit cheats, forged identity documents and illegal employment that accompanied the process

...the rest...

[Jesurgislac]

Stan LS: Any reason for that?

Racism, bigotry, the usual canards. There's facts and figures here - it's not an official site, but the figures jibe with my memories of figures on official sites, and are much more clearly presented. Benefits for destitute asylum seekers are meager - just about above starvation level.

[Dianne]

Stan: I just do the physicals, although the lawyers usually let me know how the cases go. It may be that I only see the ones who have the strongest cases, but I don't think so. Just getting to the US from, for example, Sierra Leone, Tibet, or Somalia, especially for a person from an oppressed group who probably doesn't have much in the way of money or resources, is a serious accomplishment. Anyone who can do that can probably also learn english, get a job, etc. Again, it seems a waste of time, money, and human talent to try to keep these people out.

[Stan LS]

Dianne,

I just do the physicals, although the lawyers usually let me know how the cases go.

I was just wondering how you knew how the cases went.
By the way, my family was granted asylum in 1989.

[dutchmarbel]

edward
with so much pride in having built our shining city on the hill we placed a statue in our harbor welcoming the poor and oppressed peoples of the world to join us

Ah well, it was a gift from the French population so definately outdated anyway ;-)

Bon voyage, and totally of topic but it made me smile and maybe you too so purely for entertaining purposes: My newspaper carried a tiny story this morning about two communist (male) rebels in the Phillipines getting married. Dressed in the communist flag, holding a bullet in their hands to symbolize their dedication to insurgency, accompagnied by their comrades . Unfortunately no picture ;-), but I laughed at the unexpected places the case of gay marriage pops up.

[dutchmarbel]

Sebastian:
I read a report recently about Holland suggesting that while they are generous to those already in country, they have made it much more difficult to become a successful asylum-seeker in country. Have I been getting the wrong idea?

Nope, it is all over Europe but I think we are really bad in that area (now, if you had followed all the AI links I provided elsewhere you would *know* this of course :^) ). I hate it, but it is a populist conservative point and people who are against it are seen as wussy lefties (in the Netherlands I am a left leaning centrist on the whole, I support our libdems).

It is partly against *all* immigrants. I imported my British husband from Belgian, he allready had a job here and I allready owned a house, and we still had to fight 6 months of bureaucracy and red tape, including a few catch 22 procedures, just because we wanted to get married (they could not refuse a permit to stay or to work because he was an EU subject). But it is worse for the non-western immigrants. We have a right wing government at the moment, and I regularly feel as frustrated as the non-Bush voters here. Amongst others because of the asylum/refugee treatments, they are horrendous.

[crionna]

an EU subject

Is "subject" the official term?

[Stan LS]

But it is worse for the non-western immigrants.

Why do you think its worse for the non-western immigrants?

[Stan LS]

dutch,

Could things like this be the reason for it being worse for the non-western immigrants?

[Stan LS]

English translation here.

[dutchmarbel]

"an EU subject"
crionnaIs "subject" the official term?

pffftt.... I was quickly translating from Dutch here. EU citizen is probabely the accurate term.

"But it is worse for the non-western immigrants."

stanWhy do you think its worse for the non-western immigrants?

Lots of things. Multiple anecdotes about how hard it is to 'import' someone from outside the EU. Most Dutch think this helps against allochthones bringing their family in and forget that the poor Dutch person who falls in love with f.i. an American will face the same difficulties.

And unemployment under allochthones is much higher. This morning for instance there was a graph in my paper comparing the unemployment figures of OECD countries. According to the official figures we are the country with the highest difference between unemployment figures for autochthones (one of the lowest, lower than the US, only Luxembourg scored lower) and allochthones. I scanned it for on my own blog, you can find it here.

People who take refuge here are not allowed to work till they have their permit -which may take years! They have to live in asylum seekers centra till a decision has been reached - again, that might take years.

[Timmy the Wonder Dog]

You'll see to it that this shameful mess is cleared up by the time I get back, right Timmy?

Absolutely Eddie!

Phil you ought to read some history before making any comments, especially on immigration.

[Gary Farber]

It was interesting to learn what "allochthone" and "autochthone" mean, as these are not words familiar to me in English. I did find an explanation here, but I don't altogether trust it, as it also refers to such meaningless nonsense as "the new international webster's comprehensive dictionary of the English language" as if that meant something, and was a cite.

I suspect I don't really understand the point of the terminalogical distinction, or its cultural context in Belgian politics, though. Actually, I'm pretty sure I don't really understand.

Google's results, by the way: "Results 1 - 10 of about 45 English pages for allochthones"

This is not what we'd call confirmation that anyone uses these terms in English, I'm afraid.

"...who falls in love with f.i. an American will face...."

I'm guessing that "f.i." means "for instance," but this is purely a guess, as I've never before seen such an abbreviation.

(Please be clear that neither of my comments are any sort of complaint; I merely offer them as datapoints; $DEITY knows no one should quiz me on my Flemish or French or, in fact, any non-English language that doesn't happen to be Pig Latin.)

[Slartibartfast]

Dweeb award to Farber for gratuitous use of global, OS-independent environment variable.

[Gary Farber]

I'd like to thank all the little people....

Especially since I also don't speak/write/read any computer languages, either (I had a few hours of introductory BASIC in 1975, and we've now exhausted the history of my formal computer education); I just pick up a few bits and bytes here and there.

But, you know, once you can fake sincerity, it's all downhill from there.

[243]

One would think that $DEITY would be a constant, albeit global in scope, but not a var....

[Catsy]

But it has been my impression recently that there are a lot of countries which have been cracking down hard on asylum-seeking.

Quoting Sebastian, but responding more broadly to the many people that I saw offer this kind of response.

Why?

Not why have countries been doing this, but why is this the automatic response? It's utterly irrelevant to the point of the post. Not only is a hardened and more critical attitude to asylum-seekers not at all the same thing as keeping them in unnecessarily draconian conditions, but why are we setting such a low bar for ourselves? We don't look to Syria or Japan or the UK for leadership on how to run our economy or conduct an election; why should the fact that other countries are cracking down on asylum-seekers have anything to do with acknowledging that the way we're treating them is shameful and needs to be fixed?

(It needs to be pointed out that I'm not yelling at /you/ Sebastian. I saw your follow-up comment about needing more liberal immigration policies. Your quoted comment just provided the catalyst and best sound byte to represent what I was replying to.)

[liberal japonicus]

Gary
Maybe you don't realise this, but I believe that dutchmarbel is not a native speaker of English, so I think the teasing comes off a touch méchant, though I am sure you do not intend this at all.

The terms have arisen because we have more and more situations where we have groups of multi-generational 'migrants' (note that the term 'migrant' implies non-fixedness, whereas many of these groups have been in their respective countries for at least three generations.) The German Wikipedia suggests that it has to do with 'mentality' if I am reading it correctly. Assigning these people a particular level of rights is, to my mind, the pressing problem of this century (no, it's not terrorism IMHO)

In googling, here is an interesting doc about the refugee situation in Belgium. (caveat, it's a word doc)

[Catsy]

Unless it were DEITY$, in which case it would be an undeclared global string variable.

...as I suddenly decline to threadjack by laying out how the Deity data type would be declared.

[Charles Bird]

Let me preface this by wishing you a great trip, Edward.

I, for one, submit that since 9/11 we've become a self-centered nation of ever-growing intolerance, willful ignorance, and cowardice.

Seems like those who have that point of view tend to look for stories to reinforce it. Let's get the timing straight. The law was enacted in 1996 in the wake of the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist attack. Why didn't you say "since 1996"? You can't not wonder about the political motivations behind your selection of timeframes.

One other thought. Perhaps we've been at a similar level of self-centeredness, intolerance, ignorance and cowardice for some time, the difference being that 9/11 has revealed it thus. The reason I take issue with your statement is that the study was not comparative. It takes an assessement as of a certain period in time. We may very have taken a harsher approach to asylum seekers since 9/11 but that was not one of the four main questions the study tried to answer.

Reading the executive summary before the NY Times entry, my first impression is that we are faced with another bumbling inefficient bureaucratic system with insufficient resources that is unable to consistently implement its own standards. I welcome the recommendations.

[dutchmarbel]

Gary

I know you are aware of the fact that English is a foreign language for me and I am kind of mystified by your post - or rather by what you try to accomplish with it.

My English is not perfect. I have to choose between never commenting, so that I cannot make a mistake, or posting and hoping that others will forgive my occassional abuse of their language and ask for clarification if I am hard to understand. I do not mind being corrected (I try to improve my English) but your post seem to linger on ridiculizing and is rather short on offering alternative (proper) English words.

"Then you should say what you mean" the March Hare went on. "I do," Alice hastily replied: "at least - at least I mean what I say - that's the same thing you know"

[Phil]

And you, Timmy, ought to actually know something about people before you deign to condescend to them. Unless you're an idiot, which we're both sure you're not.

Would you like to talk about U.S. policy now, or is deflecting the talk to Canada more useful for you?

[Anarch]

"allochthone" and "autochthone" mean, as these are not words familiar to me in English.

FWIW "autochthone" was familiar to me although I confess I couldn't remember the definition without looking it up. Given the derivation of "autochthone", "allochthone" isn't too hard to figure out. YMMV.

[Anarch]

Incidentally, Gary: didn't you say that you had edited Piers Anthony? Did you help edit "Chthon"?

[crionna]

pffftt.... I was quickly translating from Dutch here. EU citizen is probabely the accurate term.

No offense intended Dutch. Really. I was just wondering if that was a term that was used in the EU constitution.

Dang, Sebastian was more polite after being called a racist than you were in responding to a simple question. Unlike many here I don't find scoring points on "the other side" or haranguing people for trivial stuff much fun. I'm trying to learn something.

And what I'd like to learn right now is whether Edward is OK or not. Anyone heard from him?

[dutchmarbel]

No offense intended Dutch. Really. I was just wondering if that was a term that was used in the EU constitution.

Dang, Sebastian was more polite after being called a racist than you were in responding to a simple question. Unlike many here I don't find scoring points on "the other side" or haranguing people for trivial stuff much fun. I'm trying to learn something.

My bad, sorry. Pffft is to be read as a "wait, I knew this, what was it... think... think...." sound (soundless whistle), not as the "Jeez, what a dumb question" sound you feel it is.

Please ask if you have questions: it is just that the correct English world for it is not always my strong suit ;-)

[liberal japonicus]

Pffft is to be read as a "wait, I knew this, what was it... think... think...." sound (soundless whistle), not as the "Jeez, what a dumb question" sound you feel it is.

Actually, the pfft is probably what we call a raspberry or a bronx cheer (which comes from a placename that was originally a Dutch word, having been part of New Amsterdam)

Interesting that writing out the sound would be perceived as more rude that writing the smiley, which might be :^PPP

[crionna]

No sweat Dutch. Guess I was just too testy this am. Sometimes all the point scoring crap here gets to me. Hearing that a bomb went off where Edward might be and not knowing if he was injured made me less polite than I'd like to be. Sorry.

[dutchmarbel]

Hearing that a bomb went off where Edward might be and not knowing if he was injured made me less polite than I'd like to be. Sorry.

yeah, got me worried too. I googled lots, found no answer, and told myself sternly that it was maybe weird to expect him to run off in his first nicht there to find an internetcafé. He might not even have been aware of what happened the day itself.