Graphic artist Rebecca Burke was on the trip of a lifetime. But as she tried to leave the US she was stopped, interrogated and branded an illegal alien by ICE. Now back home, she tells others thinking of going to Trump’s America: don’t do it
The following is like something out of a dystopian comedy. “Oh, you have your foot in the US. I’m going to arrest you as your husband watches helplessly…”
There were other tourists, too. Bana, from Romania, was on holiday in Canada and visited Peace Arch park, on the international boundary between the US and Canada. She told Becky she had been taking selfies with her husband when a US border official told her they had strayed into American territory without the right visa and took her into custody.
By following the various markers, visitors follow the international border, even across the entry road. Park visitors need to keep an eye out for cars, but can otherwise wander on foot between the two countries.
Nothing screams “freedom” like being in the crosshairs of some hypervigilant ICE psycho’s rifle as he imagines pink-misting you and your husband for sightseeing.
So this park/border is near where i used to live and the reason it’s called “peace arch” is there’s a literal arch with a gate that’s left wide open. The inscription on the arch is “may these gates never close” as a symbol of the alliance between the US and Canada.
I used to think, as a kid, just weld it open.
The statement always read more like “please don’t close the gate, America” when i got older.
To be honest - I somehow missed the oddity and symbolism and of people getting arrested at a peace arch. It was only after looking at a Bluesky comment that I thought to myself “How did I miss that???”
The following is like something out of a dystopian comedy. “Oh, you have your foot in the US. I’m going to arrest you as your husband watches helplessly…”
-–
Caption - emphasis mine.
Not anymore!
Nothing screams “freedom” like being in the crosshairs of some hypervigilant ICE psycho’s rifle as he imagines pink-misting you and your husband for sightseeing.
It’s like something out of a dystopia
n comedy.Just fucking shove that dork to the ground and run back into kanada
So this park/border is near where i used to live and the reason it’s called “peace arch” is there’s a literal arch with a gate that’s left wide open. The inscription on the arch is “may these gates never close” as a symbol of the alliance between the US and Canada.
I used to think, as a kid, just weld it open.
The statement always read more like “please don’t close the gate, America” when i got older.
To be honest - I somehow missed the oddity and symbolism and of people getting arrested at a peace arch. It was only after looking at a Bluesky comment that I thought to myself “How did I miss that???”