Jessica Brösche has spent more than a month in detention center after being denied entry at San Diego from Mexico
Summary
German tattoo artist Jessica Brösche, 26, is indefinitely detained by ICE after being denied entry at the San Diego border from Tijuana.
Despite possessing a valid German passport, visa waiver, and return ticket to Berlin, she underwent secondary inspection and spent days in detention, including eight in solitary confinement.
Accused of planning to violate the terms of the visa waiver by working in Los Angeles as a tattoo artist, her ordeal is described as "like a horror movie.”
Brösche‘s friend Amelia Lofving was finally able to track her down and visited after 25 days.
Hm, we were planning to go to LA this year, but with a German passport in light of this article, Uhm, I'm having second thoughts. I wasn't that worried about problems when we went to China last year.
The 20 days detention for westerners aren't usual (while they are for others) but being stopped at immigration because they think you may work is unfortunately standard. If your lucky, they'll search your laptop as good old corporate espionage if you're not, you'll fly home with a denied stamp on your passport
I'm from the US and still have family there. There's zero chance I go unless someone is dying and, even then, I dare not bring my wife who speaks very little English. I'm glad we went before this shitstorm happened so she could at least meet my surviving grandparents once.
Oh, I'm in LA and you should definitely come; just wait until after our civil war or coup or whatever it is that happens to get things to settle down. It's a lovely city if you know where to go.
Also if it's any consolation, we've practically got ICE protests almost every day. People here are fucking livid over this shit, particularly the Latino parts of town. (Although in typical LA fashion, part of the protesting is because of a TikTok trend).
There is an ICE facility in California thats thrived by bribing local officials and has been known to detain people that are not carrying I.D., with agents believed to be going around the local neighborhoods harassing people.
It's not been about illegal immigration or violations of visas, ICE is corrupt and conducts itself in horrendous, morally heinous ways, to innocents and guilty alike.
I was at some point wanting to visit the US as a tourist, see the grand canyon etc. The last part of me that wanted to go there has changed the last couple of months.
But even before Trump won, I imagined a couple of horrendous scenarios that could happen based on things I read online. This confirms my worst fears. This does not sound like a safe country to visit. Even as a white cishet man.
According to KPBS, US Customs and Border Protection accused Brösche of planning to violate the terms of the visa waiver program by intending to work as a tattoo artist during her time in Los Angeles.
... and ...
Lofving said she asked Ice agents if Brösche could be sent back to Mexico, but they responded that her lack of legal residency would mean she would be deported back to Germany. Lofving also said she tried to get help from the German consulate in Los Angeles.
CoreCivic spokesman Brian Todd said the company sometimes uses restrictive housing for medical and mental health observation, protective custody or investigative purposes.
A horse by a different name is still a FUCKING HORSE!!!
I feel sorry for this woman, but this is the second article I've seen about this blonde and you can imagine that there are hundreds of thousands of brown-eyed women going though that and worse who aren't "worthy victims".
The value of this case is to make exactly your point: "if they're doing this to German tourists just imagine what they do to people from other less privileged nationalities". It shows the depth of the depravity.
(That there are hypocrites who would be content so long as this only happens to "those" people and not to white women is of course a given.)
I'm just hoping this story will reach more people because she is a western european (nothing to do with looks or gender) and will get people to pay attention to all the horrible stuff happening to a lot of people in these detention centers.