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by josephg 6 days ago
> At the least in the USA, often the constitution is upheld

Some of ICE’s detainees may have different opinions on that point.

The UK may endow her citizens with fewer rights. But I have a lot more trust in British due process. British civil servants seem much less … capricious than Americans.

I was almost denied entry to Hawaii once because I told the CBP agent I didn’t have any cash on me. (My money is in a bank account, obviously). He went on a big rant about how expensive Hawaii is. I think he was worried I’d end up homeless. (Even though my visit to hang out with my then employer.) Over the years I’ve heard so many stories from other Australian friends about wild and unfortunate encounters with US police and officials.

By comparison, the British government seems far more civilised. If something happened while visiting the UK, I have much more confidence that everything would be resolved in a fair and reasonable manner.

3 comments

I had the same experience visiting the US - this was 15 years ago so I imagine it’s much worse now.

Got subjected to hour long questioning because I only had a little cash on me and told them truthfully that I would travel the country so I didn’t have one place to stay for the entirety of the trip (because I was TRAVELLING).

I since learned that my first mistake was to tell them the truth but alas.

After asking me about every single detail of my life they eventually let me in.

It’s a pity, such a great country being ruined by kleptocrats.

> By comparison, the British government seems far more civilised

Henry Nowak would disagree.

I mean, the argument is that ICE detainees are not citizens and thus don't get the protection, similar to foreigners engaging with CBP at the border
Have you looked at which sections of the constitution say "citizen" and which say "person"?
I didn't say I agreed with the argument, but it does seem to be interpretable like the Bible.