“Racism” and “acts of violence” are awfully vague and hardly justification for warrantless searches, imo.
I just came back from holiday in Australia. First time there.
It was a bit surprising how “anti-immigrant” they are. And it’s front and center.
The general conversation when meeting someone would go along the lines of “where are you from? What brings you here? Oh! California, so beautiful! How’s your immigrant problem coming along?”
This happened with sooo many people, it was shocking. And most of them were dumbfoundedat our reply along the lines of “don’t believe the news. We’ve lived 30 minutes from the border for decades. Immigrants, illegal or not, aren’t really a problem. Most work hard to try to make a better life for their families, just like anyone else”
Australia also recently (I think) enacted a zero tolerance policy for immigrants. One infraction, and you’re deported. Or work visa revoked. Something like that.
This is likely going to be abused on these protestors, peaceful or not.
I recall an Aussie on here claiming Australia was one of the least racist countries on the planet a few months back. Had a good laugh at that one
The zero tolerance thing came from a taxi driver, so definitely taken with a grain of salt. I think he implied that run ins with the police had a high likelihood of resulting in deportation, which I think was via termination of a work visa. He was an immigrant himself, so I don’t know if that’s just his consumption of some iffy media.
But I will push back that it’s not just an “American racism is well known” thing. Maybe their comfort in bringing it up to a stranger, but I had many conversations with the overarching theme of “there’s a job crisis in Australia, and immigrants are causing problems, both because they’re taking jobs, and because they’re causing tensions”
I remember one claim that Kiwis were frequently rough and rowdy, which I found hilarious given their representation in media. But I guess blue collar migrant workers anywhere can be a little rough around the edges.
