You Have No Rights the Customs and Border Patrol Need Respect

Ever since Donald Trump ordered a travel ban against citizens of seven Muslim countries, there have been reports of heightened enforcement against undocumented immigrants and of international travelers who have a right to be in the country.

Just this weekend two stories received media attention. An Australian writer named Mem Fox was detained for two hours in Los Angeles despite having a valid visa. A French academic named Henry Rousso was detained for ten hours in Houston and was on the verge of being deported. Only swift action from American colleagues allowed him entry. There will be more and more stories like these as the Trump administration unleashes an attack on immigrants. But we can't forget that these incidents aren't new.

In 2010 I wrote about Customs and Border Patrol agents patrolling cities and towns in upstate New York for my Black Agenda Report column. They have authority to act anywhere within 100 miles of the border. Speaking of borders, the U.S./Canadian border appears to be particularly troublesome. A Muslim American writer and her family were detained there in 2013 after returning from a wedding. All were citizens, all had valid passports. But Muslims, so who cares? That same year a white Dutchman was refused entry because he had visited Muslim nations and packed a raincoat. (They actually asked him about the raincoat.)

A very troubling story emerged several days ago when passengers on a Delta airlines flight from San Francisco to New York were required to present I.D. upon disembarking from their plane. CPB claimed that a person scheduled for deportation might have been on the flight, but that raises many questions. Doesn't the airline know who is onboard? Isn't there a manifest? I wonder if such a person even existed or if this is a new way to introduce constant surveillance over our lives.

Customs and Border Patrol(CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) now feel that "the shackles have been taken off" as the Trump administration makes clear that all undocumented people are in effect scheduled for deportation. The Obama administration deported more people, at least 2.5 million than any other president. Asylum seekers from African countries were given special and unwanted attention as their claims were routinely denied.

Donald Trump won the presidency in large part because he vowed to build a wall on the Mexican border. The CPB and ICE are obviously anxious to go about the business of targeting people for removal and like all law enforcement they have no concerns for civil liberties. In fact, we have no rights at all at airport customs. It is treated as a legal no mans land and unless a targeted person has outside help like Henry Rousso, he or she is doomed to face whatever treatment the CBP wants to mete out.

The situation will be worse for legal and undocumented immigrants and for international travelers too. But this situation did not spring fully formed from Donald Trump's head. There is a long history of fascistic behaviors at these police agencies and no one was ever safe from them. All an air traveler need do is claim a feeling of unease near a Muslim fellow traveler and voila... The Muslim is kicked off the plane. And yes this happened before Trump. Continuity is the watch word on this and every other Trump policy.

Black Agenda Report and CPR News: The Corporate Media Enemy

Wednesday is Black Agenda Report day and on Thursday I talk to Don DeBar about what I have written. This week The Corporate Media Enemy. Listen to our convo here.

The media aren't Trump's friends but they don't serve our interests either. Not with the Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos also being a CIA contractor. Such is the contradiction of our age. Read and listen. A good use of your time.

Shamnesty International

I was so pleased that Netfa Freeman asked me to appear on his program Voices with Vision on WPFW. We discussed the sham in Amnesty International and its ilk as they make the case for American aggression abroad. You can listen to us right here.

Black Agenda Report and CPR News: The Human Rights Industry Protects Imperialism

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are at it again. At the moment when the United States gamble for Syrian regime change has failed, they rear their ugly heads to support the imperialists with spurious charges of human rights abuses. The U.S. and their head choppers escape their analysis.

My Black Agenda Report column, Human Rights Industry Protects Imperialism, dissects the latest efforts of these phony humanitarians to promote the U.S. effort to destroy sovereign nations. AI and HRW are the most prominent and the worst. They have a revolving door of staff going straight to the state department which is prima facie proof of corruption and collusion. Don DeBar and I also discussed that on his CPR News broadcast. Listen to us here.

Black Agenda Report and CPR News: Resist Trump, Resist the Democrats

"There can be no resistance to Trump which includes the Democratic Party. The Democrats are the obstacle to justice at home and peace abroad."

So sayeth yours truly in the current issue of Black Agenda Report. In my column Resist Trump, Resist the Democrats, I explain why the much hyped call for resistance doesn't really amount to much. Very few of the resisters want to acknowledge the degree of continuity from Obama to Trump, just as there has always been from one presidency to another. Listen to my CPR News conversation with Don DeBar here.

Hundreds of undocumented immigrants arrested across 6 US states

I appeared on Presstv to discuss the recent immigration raids and deportations. I see more continuity with Obama administration policy than difference. Lest we forget, Obama deported at least 2.5 million people.

Black Agenda Report and CPR News: Democrats Attack Trump from the Right and Trump is the Less Effective Evil

Donald Trump's victory has revealed who is real, who is fake and who is a traitor. The democrats are lying traitors, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

In the January 25th issue of Black Agenda Report I wrote Democrats Attack Trump from the Right, namely by pursuing the discredited meme of Russian influence. It is especially sad to see members of the Congressional Black Caucus eagerly following a McCarthyite tactic and praise the intelligence agencies which have done so much damage to black people. Listen to my conversation with Don DeBar here. 

This week I wrote Trump is the Less Effective Evil. At Black Agenda Report we always said that Barack Obama was not the lesser of two evils. He was just more effective at quieting democratic protest against policies that are otherwise anathema to liberals. Trump's travel ban on citizens of seven majority Muslim nations (Sudan, Syria, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen) has elicited outrage and massive protest. That is all to the good, but Obama's bombing and killing people in these same nations did not spark the resistance it should have. Don and I talked about this too. Listen up right here.