Innocent Icelandic Woman Chained, Held, Tortured by Homeland Security at Airport

reply to post by biggie smalls


Thanks biggie, you beat me to it...



reply to post by zerotime


Here's a link to another article concerning the incident in the International Herald Tribune.



[edit on 9-1-2008 by goosdawg]

OP's post is interesting in that he describes her as "young, blond Icelandic"

does this infer that because of her looks she shouldn't have been questioned?

reply to post by last time here


Perhaps she looked too much Arabic, hence why they were suspicious of her. People always complained about how the U.S. govt. was going after people that looked like Arabs or so. Guess this debunks that.

reply to post by last time here


No inference intended on my part, but thanks for asking...

That's what nearly every report on this story has mentioned.

Then again does she really fit the profile of an, um...terrorist?





[edit on 9-1-2008 by goosdawg]

reply to post by goosdawg


If looks could kill, then take it seriously. Should be glad shes alive. I was expecting her to be in a secret prison along with the other ARABS and American critics.

Sadly, it`s just another one of a long (and growing) list of heavy-handed border tactics...

A friend of mine got turned back from the border over the Christmas Holidays because he had a recent speeding ticket in New York State (paid, mind you). Once you get turned back, you`ll never be able to get in again without a hassle - if they let you in at all.

These things stick in people`s minds when they plan their travel. I contemplated flying back from my recent holiday in Canada via Chicago, figured I`d grab a hotel for a couple of days and do some shopping, maybe catch a hockey game... and then I remembered that I`d be traveling with a lot of photo gear, and the horror stories that go along with that: border guards have been known to take a look at a bag of camera gear and detain you on the suspicion that you`re a pro photographer on the wrong visa. So I decided to spend a few days hanging around Tokyo.

Looks like I`m not alone, either...

...the US is experiencing a major decline in international tourism. "The global travel market has increased by nearly 20% since 2000, yet, during the same period, overseas travel to the United States has declined by 17%," he noted. The decline, said Bishop, has cost the US an estimated 200,000 new jobs, $94 billion in visitor spending and $16 billion in tax receipts.

Originally posted by goosdawg
A young blonde Icelandic woman's recent experience visiting the US turned into a nightmare of Orwellian proportions.

I agree the treatment was pretty harsh even if she overstayed her visa but what does the fact that she is blonde have to do with anything? Why point this out?

Young blondes aren't supposed to be subjected to the harsh treatments of our detention systems or officials therein?

If so let me know so I can run out and get some hair dye for my friends.

- Lee

EDIT: I just realized this may not work on my non-european/white friends. Guess they are on their own.

Of course I am being sarcastic here but hey, I do notice that these stories get more national attention if its a white blonde female involved. Those type of physical aspects are always mentioned. I kind of expect one of these stories to appear every week.

Makes you wonder if any non-white women go missing in the states and if so why it's not as publicized.

[edit on 10-1-2008 by lee anoma]

There is a huge difference in the attitudes of Security in East Coast Airports vs the West. I shudder whenever I have to go to the East. It is clearly a personal problem and not a policy problem. That does not excuse their behavior however. In West Coast Airports the Security are polite, explain everything as they proceed and seem almost embarrassed by the whole procedure. In East Coast Airports they are rude, mean, pushy and clearly enjoy bullying people.

A couple of years ago in Orlando when I was in line their were two Security people blocking the line discussing peoples attire loudly and saying things like look at him, he's got to be some kind of criminal or look how she looks, she should be stopped just for how she looks. The people doing the Security Searches were pushing people physically and generally yelling at them.

As far as this woman goes, she deserved to be disallowed from entering but she should have been well treated. That part was completely unnecessary. Since she overstayed her Visa perhaps with that kind of attitude her story may need to be taken with a grain of salt. You don't just overstay a Visa flippantly and expect to be welcomed in the future. When you visit a Country and break its laws you cant expect to be popular with the authorities. Sounds like a Spears type moment to me.

Overstay a Visa in many Countries and you go to Prison. I know people try to hide that fact because they hate America but try doing that in Mexico and enjoy a stint in a cage in the ground while you use a coffee can for a toilet. I hear other Countries are worse. I had a friend catch Hepatitis in Mexico and they arrested him, threw him in a hole in the ground for a few days and then expelled him from the Country. Why, because he caught Hepatitis in a dirty Cantina. I understand in Turkey or Iran you can disapear forever.

reply to post by lee anoma


Um..I don't know, I guess I got a thing for blonds?

In truth, the title on the original story posted here, at Signs of the Times news, used the term "young blond Icelandic woman," and I carried it over into my opinion on the situation.

If you really want to split hairs; while she may be blond, she isn't really "young," if young is to be defined as being under 30, ok?

But she still doesn't look like the "standard" definition of a "terrorist," by any measure, ya think?

So I read the article. She had overstayed her visa at some time earlier.
She was detained by homeland security.

So, she had violated her conditions of her stay at some previous point.

She was detained for about a day.

There was no torture!

Then she was escorted to the airport and put on a plane back to iceland.

Although I can understand how she would be upset, I don't think that this is a life changing experience.

reply to post by Wildbob77


Depends on your definition of torture...

Isn't sleep, food and water deprivation, a form of torture?

What happened to her, IMHO, shouldn't happen to anyone who simply overstayed their visa by a few days ten some odd years ago.

Whatever you may think, it was certainly no day at Disneyland that's for sure...

[edit on 10-1-2008 by goosdawg]

If that had happened to me, I wouldn't have thought that I'd been tortured.

I would be very annoyed.

You're right, it shouldn't have happened but it did. She lost a day of her time.

reply to post by Wildbob77


Ever been held against your will by arrogant authority figures who won't tell you why or how long the process is going to continue?

I'll be willing to bet this incident was, and will be remembered as, the absolute worst day of her life.

And you can bet she won't ever again be coming back to the good ol' "US and A" to spend her ample hard earned krónur.

Or any of her well off friends and associates.

Or, for that matter, any of her fellow countrymen who hear about her plight.

How many service industry jobs do you think that will cost us?

Overstaying Visas in the US is a common occurrence with foreign students. At least it used to be. During my college days it was common to hear about internationals overstaying their Visas after graduation. They would vacation for months, some would even for a year or two taking odd jobs and for pay under the table, and they wouldn't blink an eye because they were sure that they wouldn't have a reason to come back to the US in the future. Probably a lot of those former students are feeling the pains of their decisions these days. Surely everyone of them do not get treated as badly as the Icelander did, but hundreds or thousands of them are probably turned away at the gate on a weekly basis.