Travelling through the US?

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

A reason to be a little apprehensive:

Flyers Passing through US Have Few Rights, Arar Judge Told.

I've always thought of the border as a kind of human-rights black hole; this is just scary.

At most, Mason told the judge, a foreign passenger detained while travelling through a U.S. airport might have a limited right to protection from "gross physical abuse."

But in a motion filed this week, the U.S. Justice Department argues that even if torture does occur, U.S. officials can't be sued under the Torture Victims Protection Act because it only applies to foreign individuals committing or allowing torture.

...

In legal briefs written by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Justice Department has defined torture to mean "pain consistent with major organ failure or death."

So anything this side of that goes, then?

I pity what a gay pot-smoking Arab might have to go through.

[timouse]

niffermouse and i caught this story on CFMT toronto's South Asian News program. they interviewed an indo-canadian polysci prof at u of t who had just cancelled his holiday plans in to the US as a result of this decision. the upshot is that any non us citizen transiting through the US can be picked off a plane and detained for an unlimited amount of time without charge.

at this point, if jerry & brent were both ressurected and the GD started touring again playing small clubs for a $5 cover charge, i'd still be hard pressed to travel across the border.