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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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[-] PlaidBaron@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks 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.

[-] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 weeks 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.

[-] Texas_Hangover@sh.itjust.works -1 points 2 weeks ago

I hear the cartels are doing a great job on running things.

[-] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 weeks ago

How many tourists to Mexico are having problems with cartels vs how many tourists to America are having problems with ICE?

[-] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 weeks ago

Respectfully, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I live on the border, am in Mexico several times per week, and have traveled the country pretty extensively. Most areas of Mexico are as safe as any city in the rest of the western world as long as you’re not intentionally fucking around and finding out.

And I’ll say this—you’re way less likely to get a mass shooting at a Walmart in Mexico than you are to get one in America.

[-] damnedfurry@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

You're literally 4 times more likely to be murdered in Mexico as in the US, according to both countries' own statistics.

Edit: lol, imagine downvoting a plain fact.

[-] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Those statistics can be misleading. I spend a huge amount of time in Ciudad Juarez, a city known for violence. What the base murder rate doesn’t tell you is that over 90% of the murders are by cartel members to other cartel members, which means that only 10% or less of the murders are happing to a random bystander.

Furthermore, Mexico has extremely strict weapons laws which means it is very unlikely for bystanders to get caught in the crossfire of a “good guy with a gun”.

That’s what I mean by you’re relatively safe if you aren’t fucking around and finding out—just like how New York City was a lot safer back in the day if you weren’t interacting with the mob.

I’ve been all over Juarez at literally every time of the day and night walking alone, and I’ve never been threatened by anyone. Just last night, I walked several miles totally alone at 2 AM. I’m not saying that nobody ever gets in hot water there, but it is far from a guaranteed danger. By contrast, I experienced many more threatening situations both day and night in NYC while spending about an equal amount of time there. I know these experiences are anecdotal, but they are also first hand accounts from someone who has actually been there rather than just reading the news.

And if you’re a tourist visiting a popular place like Roma Norte in Mexico City, you will not only be very safe, but you’d be hard pressed to not have an amazing time.

[-] damnedfurry@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago

What the base murder rate doesn’t tell you is that over 90% of the murders are by cartel members to other cartel members, which means that only 10% or less of the murders are happing to a random bystander.

And what makes you think the type of murder breakdown isn't similar in the US? Most of the murders there are gang violence etc. as well.

The fact that Mexico's raw number of annual murders is higher than the US's, despite being a much, much less populated country, is not something that can just be handwaved away.

There is a reason Mexico's net migration rate is negative.

[-] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Fine, I’ll concede and move passed the murder rate.

We are talking about the risk to travelers. America currently has a government sponsored effort to detain people who are visiting here, sometimes even when they are here legally. Mexico is not doing that. The risk to travelers is pretty damn clear right now.

Edit: Just to be clear, I don’t think that the gang violence rate breaks down differently for the US—before this latest ICE takeover, I would have said it is safe for travelers here too.

[-] damnedfurry@lemmy.world -2 points 2 weeks ago

We are talking about the risk to travelers.

Where the travelers are traveling to, and away from, generally tells you all you need to know about where the overall quality of life is better.

Again, Mexico's net migration is literally negative. If two bordering nations have one nation that has a net loss of population to emigration, and the other has a large net positive from immigration from the bordering nation, saying that the former is "bread" and the other is "shit", sounds pretty ridiculous on its face.

Not to mention that it comes with it the heavy implication that you know better than the majority of those who actually undertook the endeavor of leaving their home country behind in search of better surroundings.

[-] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 weeks ago

Right, the US isn't going to murder you, they'll just deport you to some other country you've never been to and that country will torture and murder you!

[-] BullCrapDetekta33@lemmings.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Maybe they wouldn't have so much power if the yanks weren't busy buying them coke

[-] skankhunt42@lemmy.ca -1 points 2 weeks ago

This is beautifully written. 🤌🤌

[-] damnedfurry@lemmy.world -2 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah, never mind that the murder rate per 100k in Mexico is quadruple what it is in the "backwater" US (25.2 vs 6.3). It's flawless and beautiful, and the US is just horrible and worse in every way than there and everywhere else, "shit", as you said.

Wonder why so many people are trying to immigrate there, then, hm. Also, Mexico's got more people trying to get out than get in, how strange.

Ah, what do all those people know, anyway? They're just making the decision to completely uproot their lives and go to another country for fun, not because they're desperate for a better life!

[-] chuitz@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

No, sir, you may not. I'm currently in Canada travelling with a group of people. Several times we heard strangers passing by were mumbling "f**king tourists". We tried to ask the last one what did he just say, he avoided to answer, we told him to shut the f**k up, and after that he attacked us.

[-] mika_mika@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

You can say fuck in the internet, it's okay.. the Canadian can't hurt you here.

[-] The_v@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks 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.

[-] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 weeks 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.

[-] chaosCruiser@futurology.today 0 points 2 weeks ago

That’s an unusual situation. Normally, Mexicans are trying to get a US citizenship, not the other way around. In any case, I wonder how long does it take for US citizens to apply for political asylum elsewhere.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

mexican born , are tyring to flee to the usa, but american citizens to mexico, probably more common than you think. i have met college students who stayed in mexico permanantly after thier semester was over in the us, this was a long time ago though. its quite common apparently. hard to justify staying in HCOL country.

this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2025
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