Non-punitive my ass. The German tourist was put for eight days in solitary confinement: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/ice-german-t...

This is nuts.

> Brösche had her German passport, confirmation of her visa waiver to enter the country, and a copy of her return ticket back to Berlin

Sounds like all her paper work was good to go...

> she was still pulled aside for a secondary inspection by a US Customs and Border Protection agent.

Ok, that sucks but not too crazy...

> Brösche said she then spent days detained in a cell at the San Diego border before being taken into custody by Ice. The agency brought her to the Otay Mesa detention center, where she’s now been for more than a month.

What?

> 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.

Ok, let's say that's actually the truth. Let's say she told them "yeah I'm gonna work here". Ok, she's in the wrong, worst case but being detained for A MONTH?!

> According to ABC’s 10News, she was forced to spend eight days in solitary confinement in the facility.

?!

> Lofving also said she tried to get help from the German consulate in Los Angeles.

I wish they would have reached out to the Consulate to see if they'd supply any information about what's going on here. Maybe its policy for the consulate to not have any comment about cases though... not sure.

Cases like this make me wonder how long it will be before the first "digital nomad" or simply workaholic gets detained, after admitting they might check the email and have a Zoom call during their vacation.

Accused of planning to violate your visa in the future, how do you even defend yourself against that accusation? "She's thinking about doing something bad in the future"

Feels like the thought police...

there's never backstory given, we're just supposed to automatically feel bad and never get to have a real story about why that decision is made.

this is less of a defense of ICE than more of a push for transparency so we don't have to deal with low information appeals to emotion.

>there's never backstory given

There's no backstory that justifies indefinite detention without due process.

Sounds like due process was exactly what she got. Are you suggesting everybody gets a trial before they are deported? Or that the US has to allow you to enter if you do so legally, determined by trial? Either will result in much, much longer deportation times.

> Are you suggesting everybody gets a trial before they are deported?

Well, yes, because that's precisely what due process is?

If "everybody" doesn't get a trial before a judge, if _you_ happened to be taken by ICE[1], how would you manage not being deported?

By proving you're a legal citizen? But how do you do so if there's no due process?

[1] (for whatever reason; today it's on the suspicion to be an "illegal", based on whatever the guys smell; but tomorrow?)

Getting a trial for a visa violation is not what happens outside the US either.

Usually not a the border, no, because there it's an administrative thing, but then you are sent back to your originating country.

However, if arrested within the borders, yes, it becomes a different matter where you _are_ going through a judicial process, to assess whatever should happen, and why exactly (and to document the process).

What reason is there to think that there is any more backstory? More transparency might yield new information, but it might not. The situation might simply be exactly as it appears.

The backstory is that she illegally entered from mexico but CBP is in the US, Mexico won't take her back so ICE has to arrange deportation. Unsurprisingly there are no return flights from bumfuck border town to Germany so she is detained (and interrogated, her Instagram shows her giving tattoos to people in mexico) and sent to San Diego and detained until ICE arranges a flight. ICE prioritizes mass deportations so a single person likely gets put at the back of the queue.

A sane border would just block illegal entrance. But pretending that ICE should be optimized for single person expedited deportation is just stupid. While in CBP you may not be allowed to contact your lawyer the 60 days she was in ice custody was completely fair game, but she didn't for some unknown reason.

>I imagine in many cases, lockup could be avoided entirely with a court summons (which if violated would justify arrest).

This goes for most arrests, probably damn near all of them when it comes to nonviolent crimes.

Yeah, I can't imagine any honest and sane person describing solitary confinement as "non-punitive". What ICE is doing is both cruel and expensive.