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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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[-] 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!

this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2025
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