Reply to If you are a visible minority, is it safe to go into DC?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My family and I are non-white Europeans living in MD and we go into DC once a week.

I am rethinking our entire US life, not just the DC visits. Our kids were born here - this is the only nationality they identify with. We have lived here for 20 years on a series of work visas. Currently we are waiting on our green card application, and have a valid work permit... but I am very worried that despite our legal status, and absence of any outstanding issue during our decades-long stay in the US, ICE can detain us and deport us for any reason, such as a minor traffic violation.

I don't think getting a ticket for coming to a rolling stop at a stop sign, for example, should be grounds for sleeping on the floor for several days before being removed from the country. Reputable media have reported on other Europeans deported for ridiculously petty reasons, despite coming into the country legally, having no visa overstays, being legally allowed to work on the appropriate, non-expired visa, and paying all appropriate taxes.

I am on a daily medication and I am pretty certain that given reported overcrowding at ICE holding centers in the DC area, this medication will not be given to me correctly in detention. So I could literally die in detention - not because any ICE agent wants my death, but because they're stretched too thin to provide adequate care to their detainees. Also, they don't care.

Living in the US for internationals of legal status like me is becoming very stressful. I feel we're in a dystopia and that too many people are normalizing this state of affairs. No, it is not normal. Part of me wants to stay in the hope that this is just a temporary hardship that will get better in 3 years. But another part of me thinks I am risking my life if I don't have access to medication in detention. The human brain has a very hard time calculating the risks of an event that has a low probability of happening, but the consequences of which will be severe if it does come to pass. I am still trying to figure it out.

Maybe I have to travel with 3 months worth of meds on my person?

[/quote]

That sounds extremely stressful. If I had the ability, I’d get out of the U.S. in a heartbeat. Why do you stay here?  I’m NOT trying to minimize the fact that this is the only culture your kids know. That’s huge. But if you have the legal right to live and work in Europe, why not move and help your kids assimilate?  Safer cities (in terms of gun violence), more rational politicians… I’m envious of your European passport!!![/quote]

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