A while back, when I was still traveling internationally for work, I was coming home from Cartagena. I flew coach, the flight wasn’t full, and the young woman in my otherwise empty row was chatty.
Normally I’d put in headphones and avoid eye contact, because that’s the kind of selfish a-hole I can be, but this young lady had ‘vulnerable’ stamped on her forehead. She was petite and visibly nervous. She kept looking at a photo of someone, maybe her sister or mom, then putting it to her chest, then looking out the window, then back at the photo. Had she turned the photo toward the window to share the view, I’d have changed rows. She didn’t.
Her English was as broken as my Spanish, but we managed to exchange small talk, mostly about immediate things: what’s on the menu, our flight attendant is pretty, and does that man’s snoring behind us sound normal? It gave her comfort to talk, so I kept it up and we never went beyond the trivial.
Eventually I guess we both fell asleep, or at least I did, because the next awareness I had was the captain on the loudspeaker announcing our approach to Chicago.
Since it was an international flight, after we got our luggage, we both headed for US Customs. We walked together, her decision, and she got in line right behind me. I pressed the search button and got treated to a pat-down and hands on the stuff in my suitcase. I hadn’t smuggled anything in, nothing to declare, all was well. But once I was free to walk on, I overheard the customs agent behind me, speaking to my new friend.
One of the features of adult life in America is awareness of the ego of others. It’s an American pastime—or maybe it’s just my own- to diagnose the root cause of social pathologies when surrounded by them. A woman in a grocer’s aisle talking too loudly, arguing on her cellphone, likes the sound of her own voice. A man blaring music loud enough to shake the car windows next to him didn’t get enough (any?) attention as a child. The woman wearing excessive mascara and a pushup bra lacks self worth. Etc., etc., etc.
These are innocuous, every day annoyances from people around us. They don’t affect us personally, and, let’s be real, judging strangers lets us avoid judging ourselves. But on occasion, because we have to renew our drivers license or pay property taxes at the window of a government worker, we all experienced men and women with tiny chips of power. You know them instantly. They exaggerate their own authority over minuscule matters, including you, either to convince themselves or us. They crave agency. Their self-importance is so consuming one wonders what it’s like to live with them and hopes they live alone, no pets.
Well, this guy, on this day, at Customs, was that guy. He was fine with me, but sniffed out my friend’s vulnerability like a vampire sniffing out blood. I don’t remember what he said, but he was unnecessarily aggressive. She was Peruvian, and there was evidently some problem with her paperwork. He raised his voice and repeated whatever question it was he had. She started shaking, he relished her fear, and put his face close to hers, the better to smell it. His stance changed to a strut, and my memory may embellish here, but I’m pretty sure he thrust his thumbs into the top of his belt and tipped back, southern sheriff like.
I’ll never know what happened to her, whether she was trying to enter the States illegally, her nervousness admitting some perfidy on her part. But the unnecessary aggression of the customs agent got my back up. I stepped back toward the line and called back to her, “Are you okay?” She looked at me with giant eyes but didn’t respond. The Customs agent did. He left his target frozen in place and strutted toward me, relishing the plot twist. “Who do you think you are? Are you some kind of lawyer?” “Yes, in fact.” “Are you trying to be her lawyer?” “No, I’m trying to be her friend.” “Well, friend, unless you want to go where she’s going, what makes you think any of this is any of your business?”
To my eternal shame, I shot him a snarl and walked on. I like to tell myself it was because I was traveling on my client’s dime, and needed to get to the office. Or that I didn’t know immigration law so WTF did I think I was doing? But the truth is, I was intimidated. He was the worst kind of creep, a man of low intellect and high power. He enjoyed his authority. It was personal to him, so he made it personal for everyone else.
Reading about all the people Trump is having seized at the border, on mere suspicion or an unfortunate tattoo, I admire the travelers’ advisories issued by our allies. Citing instances of foreign nationals being detained for days or weeks, or expelled at the US border, our allies have begun warning their citizens about traveling here. Denmark, Finland, Germany, and the UK are among many countries that have recoiled from ICE’s heavy hand and warned their citizens not to come, or, if they do, to be aware of what kind of place they are entering. Canada issued its advisory on April 4, warning about potential detentions. Denmark’s travel advisory, like those of France and Finland, warns people thinking about traveling to the US that they will be forced to declare a gender on ESTA and visa applications and that it better match whatever it says on their birth certificate.
Germany warns its citizens about excessive documentation requirements and heightened border checks, and spells out the chip of power dynamic: “Neither a valid ESTA authorization nor a valid U.S. visa constitutes a right to entry into the USA. The final decision regarding entry is made by the U.S. border official. It is recommended that you bring proof of your return journey (e.g., flight booking) upon entry. There is no legal recourse against this decision. German diplomatic missions abroad are unable to influence the reversal of a denial of entry.” The UK warns people that, “even a slight overstay of their visa upon entry or exit can lead to arrest, detention, and deportation.”
These warnings are not limited to tourism. International student enrollment, which exceeded 1.1 million last year, will drop dramatically this year, as will the tuition those universities relied on. Research scientists working in the U.S. are looking to get out. Foreign CEOs have turned away from investing here.
Watching the men with shaved heads corralled and assembled like cattle in El Salvador’s CECOT, where Trump is imprisoning people on mere suspicion, I appreciate the travel advisories. Reading about the two young German travelers who spent 14 days in detention for failure to make hotel reservations before they landed in Hawaii, I recall that my happiest trips were like the one they had in mind: unplanned, unmapped, and free.
I respect the travelers’ advisories from our allies, even as I know they will grow more severe. I worry about universities losing tuition, our labs losing scientists, and small innkeepers losing tourism dollars. I think about Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the gay makeup artist sent to an El Salvador dungeon, remember the young lady on the flight from Cartagena, and cry at what America has become.
Sabrina Haake is a 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1st and 14th A defense. Her columns are published in Alternet, Chicago Tribune, MSN, Out South Florida, Raw Story, Salon, Smart News and Windy City Times. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.
