David tells me a story about before he moved to Australia. David is Italian. It was not long after the September 11 attacks in 2001, he had been travelling / living in Mexico and had grown his beard long, and wore a poncho.
David was in transit, travelling through Buffalo, US. David describes the Americans as “crazy”. He was on the train for many hours, and one morning, he was woken at 4am in his carriage by an imigration officer kicking his leg.
David was an Italian citizen legitimely travelling to New York. His English was poor.
He was roused by the immigration officer who was angry and commanding English demands that David could not understand.
Within minutes, David was detained by the immigration officer. He was put in a detention centre in Buffalo and detained for 28 days before he was released. During this time, David was unable to call any of his family, lawyers or legal representatives or the Italian consulate.
After 28 days, the error was discovered and David was released. He describes bunk beds, hiding food, and the nightmare that living in a detention centre, falsely detained.
