One of Our Fellow Steemit Users @Churdtzu and Friend to Many of Us Has Been Detained in Mexico.
Whatever SBD is Raised on This Post Will Go to Help Kurt in His Defense or Return to Central America.
Below is What Happened According to Geliqua Amini Who Was Traveling with Kurt.
Kurt David Robinson was just detained by the police in the middle of the night (1:10am). He was refused the right to contact the embassy, which as we know is a global human right; was told he has to spend the night in immigration "jail" before being sent back to Australia; they even refused to let me go with him to immigration; he was denied the right to a phone calls, etc.
We were on the night bus going to Guadalajara, when the immigration police jumped on & asked for our papers. Since his visa had expired, the aforementioned occurred. They stopped the bus on the highway of Kazeta de Atlacomulco, Guadalajara in Mexico.
2 officers came on the bus, then brought on the larger & more aggressive enforcer, who started yelling at me, thinking it was my passport he was holding. I led him on for a while, trying to diffuse the situation, asking what options there were, and if we could find some kind of solution.
It took him over 5-10 minutes to realize that he was holding MY visa, with KURT's passport, telling me that I've overstayed my visa.. We're not really dealing with intelligent beings..
Like I mentioned above, they refused to let him contact his embassy, denying him his human rights. By law, even if the person in question doesn't have a phone to call their embassy, it is the DUTY of the officers to contact the embassy on their behalf. All of these rights were denied Kurt. They also threatened with physical removal if he didn't "abide by what they said". I asked several times for them to calm down and listen to what we had to say, until even the other passengers got involved in defending him. But the cops wouldn't even listen, loudly repeating the word "NO" over and over again, much like the way children argue..
I even lied and said he was my boyfriend for them to let me go with, but they made me stay on the bus to Guadalajara, and took Kurt back to Mexico City.
These are the moments we need to take action.
To speak up and out for what is right. Especially when one of our friends is being targeted.
Personally, I've been on the bus with no WiFi or phone card, which is why I'm posting this now 😕 but please contact the immigration offices of Mexico City about the laws they just broke; call the Australian embassy on Kurt's behalf; spread this post; if you're in the country and can help him with information about Mexican laws and procedures.. or anything you can think of that may help his situation.
stee
I keep wondering how any of us would feel to know we weren't alone, if we found ourselves in a similar solution. Silence condones and enables injustice.
Geliqua Amini and Kurt David Robinson.
Please Pass This Around on Steemit and Traditional Social Media.
Tweeted please Retweet if you can.
Done... Hope he gets out fast. I have heard some horror stories from friends in similar situations there...
Thank you!
Thank you for taking the initiative!
nice
I made retweet on my twitter.
I really appreciate it!
Retweeted !! Lets hope for the best for him! poor dude -.-
ALso upvoted and resteemed this post!
Thanks for sharing
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Retweeted.
Well, that sucks. Mexico has the most army stops I have ever seen in a country. Not really a place you dont want to have your papers together. Any good anarchist knows you play their fucking paper game if you want to win. So sadly, I cant have that much sympathy for him. Its his own fault! even though he wasnt treated properly. He is not in his country and he is breaking their laws and rules. Its not like he was unlawfually targeted, they had every reason to kick his ass out! Just my cents, I have travelled the globe, don't fuck around if you wanna keep playing. Your only wrong when you get caught, and now he is in the wrong. If you wanna run around enjoying the world. PLay by their rules, just because you dont believe in them doesn't mean they dont. and legally I dont think they have to give you shit, they can take him straight to Mexico city for deportation. Its the law maybe he got a call there? hard to say. Either way, he made his own bed. Now he gets to lay with it.
Coooold blooded. Sounds like youre blaming the victim
Nah. Im saying there is no victim. I know what happens if i overstay my visa in the country i visit. So I DONT do it. Thats just facts. I dont consider my self a victim if i break their rules..just unlucky for getting caught.. knowingly especially! No need to play a victim card if your playing with fire and you get burned. What im gonna look at the fire like it fucked up?
Fire is an impersonal force. People have responsibility for their actions. Of course that means I could have had my papers in order, but it also means the people who did this to me are culpable.
Also, they are literally locking people up who have their papers perfectly in order. An arbitrarily rule can be arbitrarily enforced.
Consider this: which do you think is more important - a person, or a rule?
Haha you missed my point. You could have!!!?? And you should have. I have been travelling the world for many years and this is the current operating system. If you want to do it semi freely you do it by playing their games. I always have entry and exit tickets booked before i arrive and carry cash,always. I stated that it was mostly your fault. Dont bitch and complain if you get caught breaking their rules... jeesus. We were not talking about anyone elese. Just you. And. I dont have sympathy for that. ....although In the future. Probably wont be this way. We will likely see each other as a global human race. Not as forigners to the planet...But we arent their yet .So make sure your paper work is in order! Haha dont see me.complaing when i was deported from the USA for breaking their rules. Take responsibility for your lack of care.
Okay. You think I'm missing your point. I think you're missing all of my points. So we'll leave it at that.
Great, your point, was? Governments are mean! They enforce their laws and regulations. haha. Sorry mate! Your inability to follow their rules no matter waht hapened afterwards, was all your fault. Untill we all move away from that, which will take a life time, you better get used to it. In fact, I am not sure how the hell you have gotten this far thinking you can just not have your paper work in order! haha Maybe we will see you in Mexico in Anarchupulco, i mean that is of course if they didn't ban you for breaking their rules too. I just think about how much paper work and lawyer crap I have to do for a business and corporation, yet here you could have just ripped down to guatemala to get a stamp, like had you been there too long? haha common man, your point became invalid when you broke their rules, regardless. SUck it up, work harder, and make sure you have your stamps and papers next time. Than you will be fine!!
Yes, you are right I made the same mistake overstaying my Visa once and I paid for it. I just can't believe they took him to Mexico City. That seems a little rough.
If he had had enough Dienero on him, maybe a diff story. Travel with cash. In costa rica it depends which cops catch you with your papers like that, If its the Gao your fucked, if its the traffic police its like 5$ haha If he was on the wrong side of a higher police force, those guys look for baby faced white boys breaking their laws hahah
A guy in the centre told me he attempted to bribe the officials $200. Didn't matter... I'm sure a lot of people in Mexico are in a similar boat thinking they can bribe or talk their way out of it, but these immigration officers seem to be different for some reason.
Same here in Costa Rica, the more they get paid, like the GAO here, you cant afford those bribes, they usually have more training, weather its military or governmental, they are trained to enforce the laws with less likely to be bale to be bought out.... any normal day cop easy, but the higher the ranking the more difficult to buy the pride
Life hey! I hope he likes pineapples 🍍
Did you know, it takes a minimum of 18 months for a pineapple to fully mature, thats longer than a damn baby! Nature, your weird
@churdtzu life's a risk carnal
Haha. No burrito in ass action for me fortunately
Thank you for your supportive to kurt
We will help as much we can ..just hang in there friend
@hilarski: My voting power is not that great. I wish i could help with this one.
@Churdtzu everything will be alright soon, don't worry!
Thanks @inviter. I'm back in Aus now, no problems
100% Upvote and resteemed.
Upvoted and resteemed!
Kurt hang in there buddy; help is on its way.
Sounds like bad news. I was in Mexico with the YMCA in the 70's. Officers wanted to look at our luggage on top of our old YMCA bus. They said we might have TV sets up there. Of course we didn't. They wanted to be paid off. One of the leaders handed over a $5 bill and they walked away. Now days that might be $50 to $500.
Usually when you visa expires you need to leave a country. Guys, what you don't understand here?
I think people are worried about what can happen while you're in custody of the immigration authorities. I know that here in Japan, there are reports of people being mistreated, abused, and even dying while waiting to be deported.
Considering he's been on Steemit since it started and a lot of us know him personally or have chatted with him online, and the fact that his rights were violated during his detainment, I think there's cause for concern.
Understand your concerns, but again: my point is that when you get visa you know the date when you must leave the country. If you follow the rules there is no reason to be detained and held by immigration authorities. Like when you buy airplane ticket. You know the dates and they don't let you on different plane on different date. I don't want to be mean here. Just try to show other side of the coin.
I totally get your point @oldtimer . I have been traveling a lot the last years and while visiting 12 countries I never overstayed. It is a little dodgy to do to be honest. But in some corrupt places it is quite common. Some countries will just charge you a fine for each day overstayed, no big issue.
I think he just got really unlucky in the end. But the point to learn from all of this is to respect the country you go, there are rules, sometimes no money can save you.
Hoping for the best for him!
Me too. Nice chat.
People are getting detained, papers or not. Permanent residents are being detained. If you think following the rules protects you, you are mistaken.
I reject this, this should not happen.! Why Mexican State no tolerance with newcomers. I strongly oppose this. in this case I will spread this information to my social media, to let the world know the unfair deeds performed Mexican immigration. and may the steemian @churdtzu give the justice it deserved.
This is so shitty thing to happen.. hope it will work out somehow.
Asked my friends what can be done in this situation.
But even if you have all papers they can just take them from you and still lock you just because they want.
Good luck man i really hope he will be freed soon!
This is very sad
Now we see how immigration acts in Mexico. When immigration overstep their boundaries they get punished in the US. I'm sure it won't happen in Mexico.
Hope Kurt is alright. I will resteem this post, hopefully it will spread and reach mexico.
I felt bad about what happen. If only this happen in my country, I might be able to do something.
Lamentablemente hay autoridades que cometen abuso de poder ,y lo hacen con extranjeros,no por cumplir la ley sino por sacar dinero @hilarski ,lo indignante es que no dejen que se comuniquen, eso es sospechoso y deplorable.
Si, fue lo peor de la situacion. Afortunadamente tengo amigos afuera que me apoyaron y contactaron a la embajada. Gracias por tener empatia.
Hi hilarski - I'm Sharon from fitinfun and tsu. I just got here and have not posted yet. I'm trying to learn and find friends and will do my first post soon. I saw you on Ron C's tsu post today, so I followed you and came to see what you have going on.
This post hits me close to home as I am in Bangkok now for over a year and visas are a big part of my life now. I'm thinking of moving on to Malaysia just because of the Thai Visa issues. I never had to think of visas before and now they have moved in to guide my life. I hope I never get to the point of wandering around without the proper one. It's hard enough just trying to get them in the first place. So much red tape, uniformed personnel, deadlines, costs, travel time, and hoops to jump through. I'd say visas are the hardest aspect of my life today.
I used to live in San Diego, so I have a lot of second-hand knowledge of the Mexican legal system. Once my son and his friends got to be late teens and early 20's many incidents occurred with them at the TJ border crossing and beyond. It's not like home even if it is right there over the fence where you can see it, and all your friends have relatives that live there.
I'm keeping Kurt in my prayers, watching for updates, and hoping that the Mexico City officials are more used to dealing with this situation. What a mess. At least he has people who know what happened so they can track him and hopefully people have contacted his Embassy for him.
It's very nice to see a fellow tsuser even when this post is not an upbeat one. Just the fact that it is here, gives me even more positive feelings about Steemit and I am glad I got the chance to see it.
Take care,
Sharon
Thank you @fitinfun we really appreciate it. Also welcome to Steemit, I know my friends from Tsu are going to rock this community. I had fun times on that platform but it pales in comparison to this.
That's so good to hear and you are not the first to tell me that. i'm glad I found this place :)
Thanks so much Sharon. Nobody really wants to go through a bunch of bureaucracy, and it's disproportionate to limit freedom over some paperwork. All I was trying to do was live my life. Thanks for your compassion.
I'm so glad to hear from you, Kurt. Checking your blog now. Answered prayers :)
Man that's messed up. Important to notify the Australian embassy in Mexico straight away so they can get it sorted out and make sure he's treated alright.
Got held in a third world country's lock-up overnight because of some visa issues before being deported. Not fun.
Retweeted. Hope he's alright and it gets sorted out soon!
Thank you sir for your compassion. Yes, I was very grateful for the embassy's assistance.
sorry to hear about that mate hope we can get him home safe
Re-Steemed to try to spread the word.
the nightmare of all travelers to foreign countries, being detained without due process - even of local laws. resteemed to help spread the word, hope this situation gets cleared up quickly and you both can continue on your way
Well i wish all the best for your friend
ther are no human rights i mean only few
countries in this world live to this moral code
and laws ! In south America the only thing what
helps is if you pay money that change peoples
behavior that are against you or if you are
protected by some big friends ! Thats the way it is .
Human Rights, i wish! and not speaking for animal rights
thats the situation on our planet sad but true :(
Dont give up fighting for a better world
and for your friend !
Don't some people in the liberty movement already have decent connections in Mexico? For example, The Dollar Vigilante? It would help if we can find someone with existing connections of course.
I've contacted the Australian Embassy to make sure they are aware of the situation too. This is the email I found:
[email protected]
Is there a better one for the actual embassy in Mexico?
P.S. I retweeted as well. Sending it out on Steem again won't help much since I'm new here though. ;-)
If you overstay your visa and get caught and they won't accept a bribe there really isn't anything anyone can do. He'll be sent out of the country through Mexico City. Mexico, just like most countries, is really stamping down on illegal immigration... it's all a part of the globalist plan to make sure all the human livestock is stamped, taxed, geolocated and controlled.
It's a shame that they will not let you renew the visa while there, even if it meant a large fine. Thanks for your reply, @jeffberwick!
I'm definitely noticing it in Panama. Traveling from one end to the other of this tiny country can have up to 2-3 redundant paper checks. Luckily, a lot of the police just take a quick glance at my passport and move on to look for some Venezuelans or Colombians.
Thanks man. When I first talked to the embassy they mentioned your email and I had to chuckle. The consulate was a bit confused about the attention I was getting with emails and blog posts. It felt good to know people were out here thinking of me and doing their best to help. That was really the thing that helped me stay positive... I can't emphasise enough the difference that it made emotionally and psychologically. Thank you so much.
It was the least I could do. If no one heard from you soon, I would have started digging deeper and pulling favors!
And what should I do? Should we spread the information as widely as possible?
Holy shit! I hope you get out soon Kurt. You're one of my favorite posters. This is fucked up. Hang in there.
Thanks Ken. All good now, chilling in Sydney drinking tequila with my brother. Hope youre well
Good to hear! Yeah, now would be a good time for a drink, understood. Looking forward to your next post.
This is great news. I know you didn't want to get deported, but I'm glad things went well.
Really bad news.. I hope everything will be sorted soon.. stay strong @Churdtzu we are with you in this matter
Wow very hectic. I have some friends down under. I will hit them up a whatsapp to try push some more action.
This is dreadful to here.
I wish his Visa wasn't expired :(
I've upvoted, it's not much but it's the best I can do.
Good Luck and I hope @Churdtzu can return!
All the best. Hope this ordeal can end soon
"But the cops wouldn't even listen, loudly repeating the word "NO" over and over again, much like the way children argue.." and "We're not really dealing with intelligent beings.." I know exactly what you mean. They just want to exploit their position...
I can't really help, but I will upvote and resteem!
That's horrible. There is a lot of corruption over there but hopefully he comes across someone honest. Best of luck!
Thanks for making this post Randy. While I was in the immigration centre I was thinking a lot about the people out here thinking of me, and that helped me stay grateful for what I have on Earth.
I'm now back in Aus and it seems like I won't need the money. If most agree, I think we should send it to the Free Ross campaign to support a fellow who is still without his freedom.
Resteemed.
I know some political activist types in Australia so I will contact them and ask for their assistance. He hasn't helped himself in allowing his visa to run out but his Embassy should have been contacted on his behalf.
Thanks for taking the time @cartographer. The immigration centre is pretty bad with access to communication, but eventually they allowed me to talk with the embassy.
Still, there are a lot of my friends and fellow travellers in that centre in Iztapalapa without good food, proper access to clothes or communication. In the following days Im going to contact some human rights organisations to put pressure on Mexican immigration to improve things, and encourage others to do the same
Thank you @cartographer!
You're welcome ;-)
I sent two people a message through Facebook so I'm hoping they will see the message soon and be able to do something. I am just looking online for the laws that state that a person cannot be stopped from having contact with their Embassy overseas. Searching Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and anything else I can find ;-)
Sorry, I am trying not to spam this post. I have found an article in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. I have written a short post with details:
https://steemit.com/diplomacy/@cartographer/vienna-convention-on-consular-relations-right-to-contact-with-embassy#comments
Retweeted, resteemed, prayer sent 🙏
Oh man, it sucks when unreasonable people are in positions of power. I hope he's released soon.... I resteemed, hope it helps
This really is a real shame, I am very sorry, the situation, thank you very much for sharing this information. Reesteemit to contribute to the dissemination
I hope this is resolved soon
We have it up on twitter and facebook, and will resteem as well.
Randy @hilarski let me know if there is anything else we can do to help.
Upvoted and resteemed, hopefully this post will get more attention and we all together can help you guys the best we can!
Upvoted. How good of you to have his back! If we all had a friend like you, the world would be a better place :]
That would be awesome! We need to watch out for each other.
Damn what a situation brother. Prayers your way and hit you with the max. Hope it gets sorted out soon. Some of The guys I went to high school got locked up over there on their senior trip and made national news. It took a month in their case to get out, but that was back in the 90's and they where screwing around breaking the law in Cancun.
Any update? Has anyone heard from him?
RESTEEMED.
You are a good friend!
Hope he getsout fast, visa overstay are always a problem, the extend to it depends on the country
This post received a 1.2% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @lichtblick! For more information, click here!
Gush!
Our prayers are with him.
Jose Rodriguez
3 hrs ·
Update on Kurt David Robinson. I went to immigration offices to ask for his status after being detained for his expired visa. They say he most probably is in Agujas immigrant jail in Iztapalapa. Someone has to go phsysically to ask for him, they dont give information over the phone. I currently can not go now and would be able to later in the aftwrnoon. If someone can go before here is the info
Estación Migratoria Las Agujas
Jacarandas 726, El Vergel, Ciudad de México, CDMX
01 213 263 8773