A white South African came to America after Trump declared white folks were being subjected to persecution. One ended up in detention with all the Brown and Black people and was shocked that he was not special because he totally expected to be treated differently.
Are people in ICE detention treated badly or something? Why would he be so unhappy? (totally sarcastic questions).
The New York Times is reporting that
Benjamin Schoonwinkel, a White Afrikaner from South Africa, jumped at the chance to come to America after Donald Trump welcomed them earlier this year. He boarded a flight in September and told the U.S. border agents that he “seeking asylum.” But, he made a mistake – one that many immigrants make. He did not come through the refugee program. Instead, he entered the U.S. on a tourist visa.
That mistake would set in motion a set of events that…well, I’m not going to ruin the surprise for you!
Ok, I won’t make you wait. He was NOT allowed to enter the country. Actually, he was…but only as far as handcuffs and a secure transport van would take him: to a federal detention center in Georgia. His roommates are about 2,000 other people being held. He has been there for about 100 days so far.
When interviewed, he said (on video) that he “never expected this to happen. I expected a little bit of red tape.”
Babes, have you WATCHED the news? Did you think you were special because your skin lacks melanin?
Schoonwinkel shares living quarters with “dozens of immigrants, mostly Spanish speakers, arrested under Mr. Trump’s mass deportation effort. Like them, he wears the blue uniform of noncriminal detainees, sleeps on a metal bunk bed and earns $2 a day for cleaning duty.”
So where did he mess up? Well, the first 59 Afrikaner refugees who arrived in the U.S. in May applied for the refugee program while still in South Africa and were properly vetted. Schoonwinkel decided to skip that whole process and hop on a plane. Ironically, if anyone else was President, he would have probably been able to enter the country while pursuing the asylum case. But under Trump, nope.
His friend called a lawyer, Marty Rosenbluth, to help. The lawyer said, I kid you not, “I assumed he was Black. Why else would he be in ICE custody? It never crossed my mind he could be Afrikaner. I thought, how could this be happening?”
Rosenbluth claims that Schoonwinkel’s due process rights had been violated and that he should be allowed into the country, adding that “he had the right to make his case without being thrown into a hellhole.”
What about Black and Brown people? Do they not deserve the same treatment? Or is it just white people (do not answer, I know what Rosenbluth would probably say)?
Rosenbluth wrote emails to ICE, asking why his client was detained. He got no response.
Tricia McLaughlin, the spokesperson for Homeland Security, stated that “anyone who claims asylum at a port of entry is subject to mandatory detention while the government investigates their claims. If their claims are found to be valid, they will be granted relief. If they are found to not be valid, they are swiftly removed.”
Schoonwinkel has a hearing next month on the merits of his asylum request. Until then, he sits in detention.
