UK: Border Agency officials 'illegally targeting' bus passengers

Ratcheting it up a notch or two....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/05/border-agency-targeting-bus-passengers

Well, anyone apart from a cop who tried to "physically prevent" me from getting off a bus until I showed ID, whether in Liverpool or anywhere else, would be at some risk of getting busted in the snoot. I wonder if I would be liable for an assault charge if they had laid a hand on me first? Being realistic, I don't think it is very likely, as my complexion is relatively pale.

Wow, that is really disturbing.  It just oozes authoritarian government requiring presentation of identity papers at all times.

Being realistic, I don't think it is very likely, as my complexion is relatively pale.

I'm just gonna keep a couple of cans a Stella on me at all times...

I'm just gonna keep a couple of cans a Stella on me at all times...

Snerk.  I don't always have id when travelling on a bus, so I guess I would be out of luck.

How is it that in the short span of a few days UKBA finds itself negatively in the media, not once, not twice, but thrice? 

Four times. I just saw an item that they're being sued by a language school for listing them as a sham. No link or details...I just saw it on a news ticker. Or Twitter or something.

The language school thing was on Radio 4, so I imagine it will be more widely reported soon enough.

Well, anyone apart from a cop who tried to "physically prevent" me from getting off a bus until I showed ID, whether in Liverpool or anywhere else, would be at some risk of getting busted in the snoot. I wonder if I would be liable for an assault charge if they had laid a hand on me first? Being realistic, I don't think it is very likely, as my complexion is relatively pale.

Unfortunately, this is the sad truth. I never thought there would be so much racism in a country as diverse and "forward thinking" as England.

Unfortunately, this is the sad truth. I never thought there would be so much racism in a country as diverse and "forward thinking" as England.

What the Sam Hill are you talking about? Britain is hardly perfect, but it has, statistically, the highest rate of interracial marriage of any country in the world. Do you have ANY idea how racist most other countries are in comparison?

Go East, young man.

It has been widely noted on this forum that England officials especially the UK Border Agency have more times than not selected persons of color to investigate when entering their country. I am well aware of racism...I'm an American in the south. And I was responding to the comment that was made in this thread in which the person said they were of "pale skin" therefore they probably wouldn't be pulled off the bus and their immigration status checked whereas someone of color would be.

Unfortunately, this is the sad truth. I never thought there would be so much racism in a country as diverse and "forward thinking" as England.

I don't think racism is endemic in Britain; it is there, of course, as it is everywhere. I just meant that I think UKBA border police are more likely to ask people for their papers if they look like they are from Iran or Ethiopia or China than they are if they are Anglo-Saxon looking. Please don't use my words as support for any kind of tirade.

Trem, what could be more racist than being stopped by a government official and asked for "your papers" because you look Ethiopian? I mean short on internment of genocide?

Trem, what could be more racist than being stopped by a government official and asked for "your papers" because you look Ethiopian? I mean short on internment of genocide?

I wasn't supposing that the UKBA is like the Little Rock police in 1953, that they hang around bus stations looking for non-white people to harrass; what I imagine can happen is that they might get intelligence that a group of people from a certain country are travelling to a certain town by bus on a certain day or days. Traffickers will have got them in the country and provided them with bus tickets and addresses to go to, or there might be a courier there waiting, unaware that their operation has been cracked. So the border police have a pretty good idea what to look out for in terms of appearance, clothing, demeanour, etc. This is their job. To the extent that they might target people more likely to be from that country they'll be more likely to ask some people than others. That's all. Whether this is "racist" in the sense that some people seem to be supposing, and whether this is pointer to the state of British society, is arguable. It's probably not a good thing.

Trem, it is a minefield.