I’m glad to hear that over a year later America is still being overly paranoid.

A Muslim cleric meets a grim warning from a U.S. immigration officer: “We don’t welcome you here.”….

….“Tell your community we don’t welcome you anymore,” Umar Dogar says he was told repeatedly by an immigration officer as he and five others tried to cross the Rainbow Bridge on Oct. 4…..

….A Seneca College professor in the group said FBI officers questioned him about his religious affiliations, associates and family. They photocopied the contents of each man’s wallet, including an address book, said Zafar, 49, who wanted only his middle name used….

…The second time, at Buffalo last Sunday, the sense of humour became expendable. “I’m not a terrorist,” he protested. “I don’t know bin Laden.”

It didn’t save him from another session of fingerprints and photos. He got a document to prove he’d been fingerprinted, but each entry point requires the same procedure….

…Ahmad Baksh, a Toronto lawyer who often meets with clients at the border, has heard the stories. “If they appear to have a beard, in some cases, and they are brown, they encounter situations going over the border. That’s delays, harassment, undue questioning….

…Naramsin Gabriel, 37, an Iraqi-born Canadian who works for Ford in Windsor, has told Ford he doesn’t want to do any more training in the U.S.

“Maybe I’m being paranoid, but I’d rather be paranoid than incarcerated,” said Gabriel, whose family immigrated to Canada when he was 4….

(Full Story)

Listening to:

Vibe: irate

LJ ItemID: 191255