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Beloved Australian Author Detained By US Border Control
Mem Fox doubts she’ll ever return to the US again
Popular Australian children’s author, Mem Fox, was recently detained by the United States border control as a result of Trump’s travel ban (or “not a ban” or “bad people” ban or whatever he is calling it now).
Everybody is arguing whether or not it is a BAN. Call it what you want, it is about keeping bad people (with bad intentions) out of country!
After nearly two-hours of exhausting interrogation, border control agents finally determined that Fox, a 70 year old woman who has traveled to the United States 116 times, was in fact not a bad person. However, it appears that irreparable damage has been done as far as the author is concerned. In a statement obtained by the Guardian, Fox says, “I felt like I had been physically assaulted which is why, when I got to my hotel room, I completely collapsed and sobbed like a baby.” She was taken aback by the “so many insults and…so much gratuitous impoliteness” she received, that at this point she “couldn’t imagine” returning to the United States again.
The writer of over 30 books, including the classic, Possum Magic, filed formal complaints with the Australian and US embassies. While Fox’s ordeal is a downright embarrassment for the United States, let us not forget that this is a frightening reality for millions of our local community members who have far less agency. If border control is treating a darling, 70 year old, visa-carrying author this way, we should be worried.
