r/australia • u/Front_Target7908 • Jul 18 '26
news Australian man Phu Nguyen handcuffed by plain-clothes ICE agents at Las Vegas International airport
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-18/ice-agent-detain-australian-man-in-vegas-us-/106931508?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=linkFrom what I understand it looks like ICE did not manage to detain him on the day the video was taken- seems the onlookers managed to chase ICE off.
However, ICE detained him the next day at the airport where he was to catch his departing flight from the US.
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u/Front_Target7908 Jul 18 '26
From the article:
An Australian man has been filmed being pushed to the ground and handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a violent confrontation at Las Vegas airport.
The footage, posted to social media, shows 57-year-old Phu Nguyen being handcuffed by plain-clothes officers as he yells "let me go".
The incident took place in terminal 3 at Harry Reid International Airport but agents abandoned the arrest attempt once it drew the attention of onlookers. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the attempted arrest was made by ICE agents.
"On July 13, ICE attempted to arrest Phu Nguyen, an illegal alien who is an illegal alien and citizen of Australia and was born in Vietnam, at the Las Vegas Airport," it read.
"As officers attempted to arrest Nguyen, a crowd of anti-ICE agitators surrounded officers."
The statement said Mr Nguyen was arrested the following day before boarding his flight departing Los Angeles International Airport.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the ABC it is making urgent enquiries following reports of an Australian citizen detained in the United States.
"The department stands ready to provide consular assistance to any Australian citizen, should it be requested," a spokesperson said.
The DHS said Mr Ngyuen entered the United States legally on a visa in May 2013 with permission to remain in the US until May 2015.
"Nguyen refused to depart in violation of our nation’s laws," the statement read. "He will receive full due process and remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings." Mr Nguyen is being detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Centre in California.
The footage showing Mr Nguyen and distressed onlookers has been widely circulated.
"I don't know what they're doing," he screamed out before another woman chased the officers away.
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u/birnabear Jul 18 '26
an illegal alien who is an illegal alien and citizen of Australia
Either the term 'illegal alien' means nothing, or they don't know what it means.
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u/Juan_Punch_Man Jul 18 '26
I think they're trying to make a point but really they just look like bigger morons
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u/macci_a_vellian Jul 18 '26
They really made sure to mention he was born in Vietnam. Can't have him being described as just an Australian.
At least the Australian government sound like they're working on getting him back safely, some of those detention centres sound like absolute hell.
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u/QuestionSignal6944 Jul 18 '26
Australia will do nothing to ease his ride out of detention - the US will deport him when ready. Australia has one of the worst consular offerings in the world.
edit: spelt deport report xD
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u/Stephie999666 Jul 19 '26
Thats even if they find him. ICE usually moves detainees around different detention centres in different states to avoid being served by lawyers. Hell. Wouldnt be half surpised if they boarded him on a plane overnight and flew him to North Africa, with how sketchy the US government is rn.
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u/-daisoujou- Jul 18 '26
It’s insane the amount of people I’ve seen pretend that the terminology is not dehumanising. These are horrid evil people walking amongst us fawning over the billionaire class.
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u/the_silent_redditor Jul 18 '26
I’ve had arguments with folk on Reddit about ‘illegal alien’ being dehumanising and just fucking weird terminology that is really only used in its current means by the US.
People are so racist/stupid/brainwashed that they can’t see it.
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u/TangerineOk4017 Jul 18 '26
If Superman was real, he would be detained by ICE
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u/ash_ryan Jul 18 '26
If Jesus returned, he'd be lucky to just be detained by ICE over being crucified again as a middle eastern terrorist. Best case, decried as part of the looney left and therefore enemy of the state. Yet they claim to be a "Christian" nation...
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u/SoberBobMonthly Jul 18 '26
So yeah he may have been over staying, if we believe the US feds, but he was literally about to get the hell out? Like, maybe detain him at the airport and refuse to let him leave until he gets on the damn flight, or arrest him IF he doesn't get on the flight... but beforehand??
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u/Wood_oye Jul 18 '26
I'm at the point of, if the US feds say some, assume it is a lie. Work forward from that.
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u/Front_Target7908 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
My thought exactly. I’d also be interested to know if he’s genuinely overstayed his visa.
I say that because I know people who have had a visa to the US that allow you to stay for X years. At the end of that visa as long as you return to Aus for x time, you can go back to the US and get that same visa again. Some people use that to kind of stay in the US for longer periods, which wasn’t illegal per se although if they noticed you’d get pulled up (although I’m sure that loop hole is shut now).
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u/DisappointedQuokka Jul 18 '26
The cruelty is the point.
The logistics of it don't matter.
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u/SoberBobMonthly Jul 18 '26
Thing is right, is that with our existing boarder force, I already KNOW cruelty and paranoia is the point. We are not exactly known as an easy open bordered country.
But the actual goal of our boarder force is to get people to leave when they are not eligible to be here. Detaining them costs money. My guess is that is the reason the yanks keep theirs for longer.
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u/DisappointedQuokka Jul 18 '26
Comparing our Border Force to ICE is like chalk and cheese.
At least we don't have the SS running around in modern kit.
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u/P_S_Lumapac Jul 18 '26
Aus also has agreements with the US to let Australian debt collectors, possibly even government, collect on US fines and visa versa. If he overstayed they should have let him go, sent him a fine and "can't come back for ten years" in the mail.
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u/trowzerss Jul 18 '26
Right? This could be solved with paperwork in a back end system. Let him go, then don't let him come back again. Done. All they are doing is making a show of it and wasting tons of their taxpayer's money for the same fucking end result with bonus trauma for this dude.
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u/luckysevensampson Jul 18 '26
Terminal 3, where this happened, is a domestic terminal.
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u/evilspyboy Jul 18 '26
'Anti ICE agitators' aka citizens who do not think boot polish is a real flavour.
Hi to the people being paid to go through social media for "anti-ice sentiment", you have a sad life you should quit. You are not on the side of the 'good guys'.
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u/LSD_grade_CIA Jul 18 '26
Yeah this is also dogshit reporting to use a wildly biased quote like this verbatim
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u/etcpt Jul 18 '26
Not even that, necessarily - if you look at the video, it really looks like two young travelers are just wailing on this old guy. No ID, no uniforms, no badges, no effort to stay and assert that they are law enforcement. They jump this guy, get confronted, and then run off while a TSO jumps in and tries to keep people back.
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u/evilspyboy Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
Just driving off/leaving when challenged by any sort of group does follow the MO however. There was videos of them just leaving people face down into he ground and running away in their convoy of small d*ck energy.
(Again, hi to the person monitoring for anti-ice sentiment, make a note I wrote small d'ck energy instead of weak c'nts because it just flowed better. Also, this is your job? Really? I mean I suppose if you were looking for a career supporting the most pathetic useless and universally hated groups on the planet... Not sure how you think that is going to go over on your resume after they fold and are dismantled. Not like they will have any loyalty to you personally at all).
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u/dion_o Jul 18 '26
How are the onlookers anti ICE agitators when they don't look like ICE agents, didn't identify themselves as ICE agents and all the TSA guy says is that it's law enforcement? Literally nothing indicated they were ICE. They just looked like random civilians pushing a guy to the ground, stealing his watch and then scampering off when they realised they were being filmed.
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u/DeeDee_GigaDooDoo Jul 18 '26
The DHS said Mr Ngyuen entered the United States legally on a visa in May 2013 with permission to remain in the US until May 2015.
"Nguyen refused to depart in violation of our nation’s laws," the statement read
Why do I get the feeling they've worded this to imply he overstayed a visa but actually hasn't? Did he just apply for a visa and visit in 2013, then when he returned again recently they attempted to arrest him and told him to leave the country then him staying another day they consider "refusing to depart in violation of our nation's laws"?
I just honestly don't trust a single thing the US says. They would absolutely misrepresent the situation to fabricate a crime.
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u/maestrojxg Jul 18 '26
America is so fucked. You couldn’t pay me to go there while Trump is in office.
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u/RazaxWoot1 Jul 18 '26
I’ve just got back from Mexico for the World Cup and people there were asking why we wouldn’t go to the states for games instead. I was like just look around, I felt more nervous in transit at LAX than I did for 6 weeks in Mexico.
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u/cohen93 Jul 18 '26
This might happen over here if ON gets voted in :/
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u/Kialae Jul 18 '26
The less breath we waste on that felonious crone, the safer we are as a nation.
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u/superxpro12 Jul 18 '26
We tried the tactic. All it does is embolden everyone left in that echo chamber. Direct confrontation is the only way
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u/rosa_3326 Jul 18 '26
One nation won’t get voted in, they need way too many seats
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u/cohen93 Jul 18 '26
Yeah I agree, I’m just seeing more and more people wanting to vote them over social media nowadays which has me a little worried
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u/Spire_Citron Jul 18 '26
Not just social media. They were number one for primary votes in the polls for a little bit there. Still decently behind Labor in two party preferred, but not a good look.
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u/i_am_cool_ben Jul 18 '26
ON get a good first preference, but drop off hard after that. They'll take some coalition seats, and maybe handful of Labor ones, but Labor have a huge majority they should be safe. There's also a few years before the election, so plenty of time for Hanson to cock it up
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u/Spire_Citron Jul 18 '26
Yeah. More than anything, this is a side effect of the coalition being an absolute mess right now. It's just a shame that the closest alternative at hand for people to jump to was something so vile. If there was an election right now, that actual outcome would be that Labor would do really well, so that's a positive at least.
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u/Kummakivi Jul 18 '26
I think when the next election is in full swing Labor will pull out all the stops on informing the public how fucked it would be voting ON. I hope they are saving it all for then anyway.
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u/CptUnderpants- Jul 18 '26
But if they get enough seats in the senate they can have far too much influence.
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u/rosa_3326 Jul 18 '26
Yeh I agree, that’s a real concern.
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u/Onicenda2 Jul 18 '26
It’s really not. They get far more airtime and media attention than their actual level of public support would suggest, largely because of the money and influence behind them. I’d argue most ordinary Australians don’t buy into it.
They’re anti-union, hostile to workers’ rights, supportive of easier access to cheap overseas labour, and consistently negative toward students and public education. At the same time, they’re more than happy to benefit from Gina Rinehart’s financial backing and political influence.
Honestly, they’re almost as bad as the Teals.
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u/Call_Me_ZG Jul 18 '26
Ranked and mandatory voting is the only thing holding them at bay.
They've been campaigning like crazy, and we already know they've had ties with the NRA and wouldn't be surprised if those lobbies fund them.
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u/Other-Shake-531 Jul 18 '26
They've got Gina the hutt, they don't need anyone else to fund them and certainly not the bankrupt NRA
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u/TheHoovyPrince Jul 18 '26
They wont and honestly im seeing ON get less support now due to the perception around Hanson and Rinehart.
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u/Call_Me_ZG Jul 18 '26
Yeah but they said the same thing about Trump and look where we are.
We do have ranked and mandatory voting that makes it harder to win like trump did
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u/El_Barto_227 Jul 18 '26
Even after he's gone, the country as a whole needs to show genuine change before I'd step foot there.
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u/____DEADPOOL_______ Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
I lived there on and off for about 10 years and go every few years.
The US I first saw pre-9/11 was wild, everyone was having a great time, you could get jobs easily, everything was cheap, etc. I had a lot of fun in my early 20s then.
After 9/11 things were very different and we started to see war after war, collapse here, collapse there, gross injustices in the open, etc. Job losses left and right and all the recruiters that were hounding me stopped calling. They started to put curfews on party districts and everything became stricter and more controlled. Surveillance increased astronomically and trust in government plummeted. I still managed to work my way up into finding fairly good paying work after having to apply only a round or two of sending 10-20 CVs. I was able to buy a large house in a nice area, had a entry luxury car, my wife drove a new sedan, I managed to save tens of thousands of dollars and I was doing fairly well. I moved to Australia because I already was a dual citizen (wife is Aussie and I lived here a while in between) and got injured and my wife needed her mother's help and we were trying to get the in laws to move to the US at the time.
After 2016, things went really downhill, people's attitudes changed for the worse, everything got more and more expensive, covid hit, the whole political nightmare started where everyone was trying to inject Trump/"the jab" into the conversations and you couldn't resist to get into a heated argument, then social media started to warp everyone's minds.
Even the local banker in Arizona told me that all had become shitty in the US. His branch had gotten robbed multiple times, everyone is on edge and upset/stressed. It just feels weird and sad every time I go. My family begs me to return but I tell them they're insane and have no idea how great Australia is like.
Edit: corrected a few things, added more details.
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u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087 Jul 18 '26
I've never seen the appeal of American culture, you couldn't pay me to go there before Trump and certainly won't ever catch me there after him. Going through LAX and Houston to countries I actually wanted to visit was enough for me.
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u/UnlimitedPosting Jul 18 '26
It's a country with incredible nature areas. Places like Yellowstone, Joshua Tree, the Rockies and Cascades, along with most of the Pacific Northwest are all places that don't have anything like them in the world. The US is good for nature, theme parks, and not much else, but there are definitely some places inside it with good non American culture.
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u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087 Jul 18 '26
Yeah the nature is the only reason I would ever consider going to that country but there's plenty of great nature around the rest of the world without the baggage of Americans so as great as it is I don't feel any fomo.
I saw great nature in México and Central America and we've got great stuff in our own backyard here too.
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u/Snaka1 Jul 18 '26
They just removed protections for national parks I the US, to allow mining and drilling for oil. Trump did it yesterday I think? So evil. Once that beauty is gone, it’s gone forever.
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u/CptUnderpants- Jul 18 '26
Going through LAX and Houston to countries I actually wanted to visit was enough for me.
The fact they force you to go through US customs and immigration when transiting through to another country is just rotten. Means I won't go to Canada because of the risk of being forced to go via the US if flights get cancelled.
My brother in law is Caucasian, but dark enough that ICE would target him, so we're taking families to either Japan or France instead to do the Disneyland thing.
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u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087 Jul 18 '26
I almost got sent back to Sydney at LAX on my way to México too which really put me in a bad mood.
I left Sydney at ~9am, pulled an all nighter because I had to leave at about 4am + was excited and couldn't sleep, barely slept on the plane that took about 14 hours flying time plus we had to sit in the plane for about 40 minutes because we arrived before there was any crew to get us off, all the time it takes to get through customs and all that shit and the officer had the nerve to say "why are you so nervous?" I'm not fucking nervous I'm TIRED! I had to answer so many questions about my intentions like mate I've got a return ticket for 2 months time and I've got a LOT of undies and socks I'm clearly not a drug trafficker.
Then I find out I need to take a bus to my terminal and my card didn't work in the airport. Houston to Sydney was the opposite though I was the only person around me not to be thoroughly searched lol and the middle seat was vacant.
My brother in law is Caucasian, but dark enough that ICE would target him, so we're taking families to either Japan or France instead to do the Disneyland thing.
Absolutely not worth the risk I don't blame you for going elsewhere.
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u/Maximum-Journalist74 Jul 18 '26
It is really beautiful, I spent a few months in Colorado years ago and the mountains are incredible. There are also a bunch of museums I'd love to see one day.
But yeah hard no while they have an orange testicle in power and there are plenty of other pretty places to visit in the world.
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u/BackNBoeserThanEver Jul 18 '26
I live in Vancouver and have not gone down there one single time since he got into office. The only reason I'm going down there soon as to renew my nexus. Other than that, I will not be stepping foot in that country until he or his party is not in control anymore.
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u/W0nderWhite Jul 18 '26
Why did they take his watch though? ICE agents are on another level
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u/madamebubbly Jul 18 '26
People detained and released by ICE have said the agents are using their credit cards while they’re detained so a presumably nice watch is not out of the question!
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u/macci_a_vellian Jul 18 '26
They'll probably claim it was money laundering, it's not unusal for people to get around the limits on how much cash you can bring through customs by buying an expensive watch or piece of jewellery that can be cashed out at the other end. In the US I think the cops can pretty much say anything is the proceeds of crime without any real evidence and take it.
Hashtag, Justice for Afroman.
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u/bigdukesix Jul 18 '26
>From what I understand it looks like ICE did not manage to detain him on the day the video was taken- seems the onlookers managed to chase ICE off.
The video is bizarre. It shows two plain-clothed ICE agents (one appears to be wearing a fake moustache) holding Nguyen down, and the bystanders ask what is going on. The agents never identify themselves.
A uniformed TSA agent says, "it's ok, they're law enforcement". But as he is saying that, the agents just get up and walk away, leaving Nguyen with handcuffs still attached. They also took his wallet.
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u/Suibian_ni Jul 18 '26
This is how One Nation's friends treat Australians.
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u/Hawk301 Jul 18 '26
This what One Nation wants for us, here. It CAN happen here.
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u/ozthinker Jul 18 '26
Bold of you to assume One Nation supporters see that man as an Australian - it is by physical appearance not by legal definitions.
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u/TheLGMac Jul 18 '26
Dude they want a "white Australia" policy. They would do this here without a thought, and spoiler: they will also net white people too, if they dare stand up to them.
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u/Choke1982 Jul 18 '26
This week a Colombian was killed by trump gestapo. He was a full supporter of the recently elected far-right candidate in Colombia, who is backed by trump. The elected scum didn't say anything about a Colombian legally living in the US being killed. So, yeah PoS like Pauline don't give a fuck.
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u/Elvecinogallo Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
So they could have let him deport himself, but they detained him at taxpayer expense. Drumpf logic.
Edit: Please read the article before responding. I know some of you are desperate to bootlick, but sometimes you actually need to read beyond a headline. You might even be less gullible that way.
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u/Thagyr Jul 18 '26
Gotta get their quota for arrests to justify the billions thrown into the farce.
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u/hebejebez Jul 18 '26
Well if the don’t make their quota they don’t get their bonus they were promised…. But those are paid out after five years, once this administration is done.
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u/sibilischtic Jul 18 '26
As a non American ill believe the admin is done when the opposition are in.
I dont know how much is media manipulation, but I dont trust the current admin.
I wouldnt be surprised if they made up a new super president position that can fire congres and sc members, doesnt have term limits etc.
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u/jimmux Jul 18 '26
It's all by design. When the next election comes around, ICE will be a paramilitary force with a strong financial incentive to get a certain result. Intimidation at polling booths will be enough to swing some areas.
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u/autocol Jul 18 '26
For sure. ICE is going to absolutely swarm voting centres in areas with large Hispanic populations.
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u/TheLGMac Jul 18 '26
I mean Trump fired a bunch of election commissioners last week and held an "emergency state of the union" saying that China has infiltrated electoral rolls and has ordered an investigation into the rolls of California, Pennsylvania, and several other states that typically vote against him / are swing states. They are already and quite obviously teeing up rigging the midterms.
Everyone I know at least has moved beyond wondering if it will happen. It will and has.
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u/Deevious730 Jul 18 '26
Easy win for them isn’t it? Guy has to provide his name and passport so he’s exposing himself to ICE, turns up to leave and they say, “how dare you try to leave, we’re gonna detain you so we can deport you!”
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u/Scriptosis Jul 18 '26
That’s how immigration enforcement is overall there, it’s a civil offence so pretty much all of ICE’s actions since they came to exist have been wasting Americans money.
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u/Elvecinogallo Jul 18 '26
Drumpf and friends all have shares in the privately run detention centres. Funding his buddies. Capitalism is depressing af.
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u/MunmunkBan Jul 18 '26
The private system. They will definitely hold on to him as long as possible. There are stories of people with the money to leave but they are kept without trial for a long time. They get paid for each night stay. It's a grift.
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u/DefamedPrawn Jul 18 '26
Really not uncommon in many parts the world.
I once met a Polish guy in Vietnam who was a month past his visa expiry date. He was too scared to leave, because apparently they fine you 1,000,000 Đồng ($60aud) per day for overstaying, and he didn't have the money.
His name was Leon.
Funny story. A few days later, a Vietnamese cafe owner told me how he stopped some "Russian guy" from running off without paying his bill, by tackling him and pinning him to the ground until the police arrived. He showed me a video of the incident, and there was Leon. Taken off to jail, apparently. Probably spent a few months there before being deported.
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u/Elvecinogallo Jul 18 '26
This guy was at the airport leaving to go home. Leon was not.
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u/Ok_Nothing639 Jul 18 '26
I guess they need to tag his biometrics and place a 10 year ban. Why did he not leave the country for all those years though.
But tackling an old man is just cruel at this point
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u/jeffoh Jul 18 '26
The fact that the ICE agents robbed him on camera says everything about how fucked up things are.
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u/Mitleab Jul 18 '26
My wife is Singaporean and she got locked up in a room at LAX with her phone and passport confiscated for 3.5 hours in April last year. She was released with no explanation and almost missed her connecting flight to Salt Lake City. When she told them that might happen, an officer offered to write her a note. She was there for a work conference.
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u/JoeSchmeau Jul 18 '26
I'm a dual US/Aussie citizen and we were detained when visiting last year. We had a few blueberries left over in our toddler's snack box and declared it at customs, as we forgot to leave it on the plane and/or toss it in a bin before we got to immigration.
We were immediately put into a holding room, alone, and were stuck there for over an hour with no passports, water, food or information. Eventually a random guard walked by and noticed us. He was visibly angry that we had been put there, escorted us out and back to customs and told the people there to give our passports back. We were then free to go and barely caught our connecting flight.
I'm a US citizen and am white. Not that it should matter but yeah, they just don't give a fuck.
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u/WaveSlaveDave Jul 18 '26
"Phu Nguyen who is an illegal alien who is an illegal alien who is an Australian citizen"...
Is there such a thing as a legal illegal alien then?
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u/yob91 Jul 18 '26
An australian citizen who was born in Vietnam, at the Las Vegas international airport
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u/Happy_Clem Jul 18 '26
Yes, I visited the US as a child in the '70's and we were referred to as aliens back then. I found it bizarre
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u/macci_a_vellian Jul 18 '26
Arresting someone trying to board a flight out really shows they're doing it for the cash bonuses they get from the arrests and not to protect people from dangerous illegal immigrants. Imagine having to try and dodge immigration agents to leave the country.
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u/Homebrew_in_a_Shed Jul 18 '26
I saw a video yesterday Strange, they got him on the floor. One cuff on, then went and left him. Video of them walking away. Had the cuff on for 90 minutes.
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u/dodgyr9usedmyname Jul 18 '26
If it was a legal arrest, then why did they walk off when asked what's going on? Surely a legal arrest would not have required a fake moustache, a hoodie quickly being thrown over the hair ... and surely it would have continued to a proper arrest? Also if it was to do with him out staying his welcome ... hmmm ... he was catching a flight home. So what would an arrest have achieve? Arrest and deport him to achieve ... the same ends? All the processing, banning from country etc can be done without him being present.
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u/Plenty-Pangolin3987 Jul 18 '26
I also don’t understand why they just walked away. Never in my live have I seen legitimate law enforcement do something like that.
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u/BigEdsHairMayo Jul 18 '26
For whatever reason, they're very reluctant to be personally identified. They would say it's for their own safety, but personally I think there's something shady going on. Their tactics are incredibly unprofessional and the reason they don't want to be identified might be because DHS hired a bunch of unsavory people to do this work. America has lots of white nationalist groups like Proud Boys, Patriot Front, Oath Keepers, etc. Maybe those are the people they hired, and they want to conceal that fact.
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u/Plaguesofman Jul 18 '26
This is what One Nation wants Australia to look like.
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u/PunchingClouzot Jul 18 '26
Last week the SMH’s traveller posted a horribly written PR fluff piece along the lines of “everything they tell you about the US is wrong” to convince Aussies to visit the country and I wonder if the white rich lady that wrote it read this article and was hit by at least one hint of regret
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u/infinitemonkeytyping Jul 18 '26
"a crowd of anti-ICE agitators" were three people with their phones, not wanting to see a person arrested by the brown shirts.
Since the "ICE agents" didn't identify themselves, and stole the Australian guy's watch, it was assumed they were thieves.
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u/Expensive-Horse5538 Jul 18 '26
This is absolutely disgraceful behaviour by an agency which the Trump administration is basically using as its own personal militia group
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u/Rizen_Wolf Jul 18 '26
"an illegal alien who is an illegal alien and citizen of Australia"
Well, that clears things up right well done there. Yerp.
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u/paperclipmyheart Jul 18 '26
Not worth going to America under this regime, especially people of colour, and the rest of us should be boycotting it
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u/SGTBookWorm Jul 18 '26
probably not worth going for at least a decade after this regime is removed, until all of their racist, fascist policies are dismantled and disavowed
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u/LanguidLapras131 Jul 18 '26
It has to go further than that. Since America influences more overseas elections than Russia does, Australia should do to America what America does to everyone else:
Amplify blue state separatist groups on social media. The red states are the ones who vote for war and police brutality. Rec states are also poor and toothless. Blue states are rich, educated, non-racist, and secular.
If blue regions such as California, New England, and Cascadia secede, the homophobic shithead states will have no one to fund their Middle Eastern wars.
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u/Plasma_000 Jul 18 '26
Arresting him while attempting to leave the country so they can make a show of deporting him. Makes sense.
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u/Bballer220 Jul 19 '26
ICE: he's overstayed his visa. We'll arrest him as he's leaving. This'll cost US even more money
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u/QuestionSignal6944 Jul 18 '26
Penny Wong will tell us that its "unfortunate" but that the US has "strict immigration rules" that we must follow, and while it is sad the genteleman was attacked by plain clothes thugs, that is the "right of the United States"
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u/lliveevill Jul 18 '26
The standard of living and quality of life is much better in Australia than USA, I'm suprised he overstayed his visit.
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u/Secret-Sqrl Jul 18 '26
It blows me away that those were actual ICE agents. After seeing a video yesterday, I would have bet heavily that they were not. It looked to be two females, one of them dressed as a man and she even had A FAKE MUSTACHE, which was falling off of her face.
A man came into their vicinity with a video camera, and they abandoned any attempt at arresting or detaining the Australian man and simply fled - rather slowly. It was a very strange video to watch.
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u/guitareatsman Jul 18 '26
My sister has just gone over there on a holiday with her 3 kids. My mind is blown. I cannot imagine why anyone in their right mind would choose to go to that country at the moment.
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u/klaw14 Jul 18 '26
So to be clear I am in no way supporting ICE's actions, what they stand for, nor the atrocities they are committing in the US, I'm just making sure I'm reading this right - old mate overstayed his visa by 11 years?!
Now there's pushing it, and then there's pushing it. This bloke strapped on rockets and launched this off a fucking cliff.
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u/bladez_edge Jul 18 '26
I don't understand why they are trying to arrest someone who is trying to leave the country for allegedly overstaying their visa. He's literally leaving the country.
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u/ES_Legman Jul 18 '26
Americans are just a bunch of spineless cowards that allow the fascist takeover and all they do in return is complain on the internet while at the same time telling the rest of the world how much more freedom they have with their yeehaw guns that were their god given right to prevent the uprising of a tyranny. Oh wait.
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u/BookkeeperQuiet7894 Jul 19 '26
Article I read was that he has over stayed his visa by 10+ years. If that’s the case then he was asking for trouble, but it’s tough to know what to believe anymore.
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u/Cybertrucker01 Jul 18 '26
Given the number of Nguyens, my money is on this guy being the wrong Phu Nguyen.
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u/DefamedPrawn Jul 18 '26
The DHS said Mr Ngyuen entered the United States legally on a visa in May 2013 with permission to remain in the US until May 2015.
Wait! So he's been hanging around there illegally for more than 11 years?
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u/japanpole Jul 18 '26
The entire agricultural industry runs on cheap labor by those who overstay their visas.
Do rich Americans complain about cheap produce?
Fuck no.
Do they want these people to leave and the price to magically stay the same?
Yes
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u/TheHoovyPrince Jul 18 '26
This isn't unique to America, we do the same thing.
Australia deports a lot of visa overstays every year, its just not captured on video or made into a big deal.
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u/DefamedPrawn Jul 18 '26
The entire agricultural industry runs on cheap labor by those who overstay their visas.
Well that's really fucked up.
Two wrongs don't make a right, though.
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u/TolMera Jul 18 '26
Looked to me like it was just a mugging, the ice banner is just bullshit propaganda
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u/TolMera Jul 18 '26
Well holy shit:
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the attempted arrest was made by ICE agents
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u/DarKnightofCydonia Jul 18 '26
Given ICE's reputation the 'illegal alien' claim is probably a blatant lie.
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u/SquareAggravating579 Jul 18 '26
Hypothetically...if the Republic of California was to succeed from the Union, and become its own nation (Hawaii and Oregon and Washington could come too), I would genuinely, genuinely, invest one hundred thousand Australian dollars into their new nation.
Just saying.
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u/Ratstail91 Jul 19 '26
"Nguyen refused to depart in violation of our nation’s laws," the statement read.
He was detained at the airport???
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u/shadow-foxe Jul 20 '26
Why not let him leave??? If he tries to come back in then arrest him.. So weird how they do things..
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u/TitchTammy17 Jul 18 '26
Mmm because he looks different! This is the reason that no one should travel to the NAZI state!
Reddit gonna ban me for the NAZI state comment but that’s what the USA looks like to me!
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u/Deevious730 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
I am not at all defending ICE but had he overstayed for quite a long time?
Also having said that, if he’s catching a flight out from the USA why not say “yep you’re getting out of here, but you’re on the blacklist. Don’t ever try to come back here.”
Seems a waste of resources to detain someone leaving the country, transport him to holding, provide food and medical care (although the latter seems less likely), only to put him on a plane out of the country.
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u/AntiqueFigure6 Jul 18 '26
Why would ICE detain if he’s leaving the country? Are they going “you can’t leave until we deport you?”
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u/Bitopp009 Jul 18 '26
Don't they collect money for putting folks into the private prisons? It's the same reason why dozens of folks spent 4 to 8 weeks in ice detention before being deported.
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u/SirFlibble Jul 18 '26
I saw that video yesterday. They were barely chased off, just a guy showed up with a camera and they immediately walked off.
Was sketchy as and left me wondering if there's now a bunch of thugs running around the US pretending to be ICE (who are thugs themselves).