(via Syracuse University's Web site) On Wednesday, amNewYork looks at a Border Patrol practice of asking for proof of citizenship on Greyhound buses and Amtrak trains within 100 miles of any border, including the Canadian border. We talked to one upstate professor who was questioned by Border Patrol agents four times while traveling by bus. Here's an extended version of a Q&A running in the paper: Silvio Torres-Saillant Professor in the English Dept. and director of the Latino-Latin American Studies Program at Syracuse University, a citizen originally from the Dominican Republic who was questioned four times by Border Patrol agents. What do you think about the fact that you’ve been questioned four times now? 35 years of continuous residency in the United States, the highest university degrees, a significant job at a prestigious university, some books under my belt including the majority of them in English, will not suffice someone else’s trappings of foreignness and not belonging. Some people continue to be suspect regardless of how they’ve lead their lives. Do you feel you’ve been targeted because of your looks? I think so. ...
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(via Syracuse University's Web site) On Wednesday, amNewYork looks at a Border Patrol practice of asking for proof of citizenship on Greyhound buses and Amtrak trains within 100 miles of any border, including the Canadian border. We talked to one upstate professor who was questioned by Border Patrol agents four times while traveling by bus. Here's an extended version of a Q&A running in the paper: Silvio Torres-Saillant Professor in the English Dept. and director of the Latino-Latin American Studies Program at Syracuse University, a citizen originally from the Dominican Republic who was questioned four times by Border Patrol agents. What do you think about the fact that you’ve been questioned four times now? 35 years of continuous residency in the United States, the highest university degrees, a significant job at a prestigious university, some books under my belt including the majority of them in English, will not suffice someone else’s trappings of foreignness and not belonging. Some people continue to be suspect regardless of how they’ve lead their lives. Do you feel you’ve been targeted because of your looks? I think so. ...