General Discussion

Last edited Sun Jul 1, 2012, 09:54 AM - Edit history (1)

In the second article the TSA states "The agency is not responsible for enforcement of immigration law, but two agents from immigration and customs enforcement were also at the bus station during the sweep." Is immigration in Iowa so bored they just latch on to any operation that gets them out of the office? Or were they there to take into custody any suspected illegal immigrants the TSA uncovered in their whatever? Is a greyhound station or public transit of some sort really the best place to look for the "no visible means of support, mcmansion and late model car" cases you describe?

Well, since you seem to be all-in... As far as I can tell these VIPR squads are just grunts for federal law enforcement doing the leg work they don't really want to with another departments budget.

And if you don't believe me, I don't really care. The episode was over in seconds and not quite the suspenseful stand-off you seem to be imagining, if they escalated the situation they would have looked ridiculous. It didn't even shock me at the time as I have witnessed all sorts of bullshit from the TSA including other instances of racially insensitive language at LAX which appeared to be directed at affluent female Mexicans. And on another occasion Asian passengers were being referred to as "retards" for failing to immediately comprehend poorly communicated instructions that included vernacular one might not be expected to have encountered in their TOEFL studies.