13-year old Tore Gudmenson,
who was badly beaten after he was separated from his parents
and locked in a crowded cell.
"Why do they hate us? Is it because we come from a Scandinavian country? Or is it just because we are blonde and blue-eyed?"
Janel Nilsson,
undocumented Swedish immigrant,
now in detention.
The well-known recent ICE crackdown on illegal European and Scandinavian immigrants
has reached levels of intensity that are shocking even to
some supporters of the agency.
All over America, undocumented Scandinavian immigrants are being rounded-up, sometimes strip-searched, and then hauled away after being arrested for lacking either proof of residency or citizenship in the US. Parents are being separated from children by the hundreds, and children are being locked up in cells under inadequate, or even, as some say, cruel conditions.
Undocumented Immigrants from the countries of Sweden,
Denmark, Norway, Finland, The Netherlands, and even, ironically, Iceland,
are seen as being especially targeted. As a result, critics of ICE have
accused The Agency of waging a "war on Scandinavian Immigrants."
The photo-essay below documents the plight, and some of the words, of a few of these immigrants, who came to America only to find work, or safety, or freedom from painful, oppressive aspects and institutions of their home countries like Single-payer healthcare, high wages and free education. Nearly all of them had never had any run-in with American Law Enforcement since arriving here to start new lives in this country,
albeit without Official Sanction.
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This Swedish illegal immigrant woman, identified only as, "Krista",
was severely beaten after her infant daughter was hauled away by officers.
She is currently incarcerated in an unknown location.
Freja Vestergaard, a Danish
illegal immigrant working as a bank-teller, is taken from her
workplace, and partially stripped for search, by ICE officers.
During her arrest, she was ridiculed and laughingly
called, "Goldilocks" as she was handcuffed.
Katrin Jónsdóttir, originally from Iceland,
Is roughly handled as she is taken by Ice officers in Cleveland. One officer
tries to discourage the photographer. Just prior, he was heard mocking her
nationality as she was handcuffed saying, "You won't be hearing any Bjork music in that cell you're going to, Blondie".
Rolfe Lehtonen, an undocumented alien from Finland
working as a golf pro, is arrested and prepared for detention
in an unspecified location. Lehtonen complained of
being punched several times by ICE officers for no reason,
before he was taken away.
Fashion-model-trainee Olga Svensson is hauled away by officer
after being snatched from her workplace by ICE officials.
She was not even allowed to change her clothes.
With their parents being held in a distant location,
These 2 undocumented and unnamed Finnish children
were held in a small cage for 12 days until being transferred
to a temporary foster home, pending deportation.
Reportedly, officers felt sorry for the kids, and fed them
Finlandia cheese from a local deli as a special treat
to keep their morale up.
This boy, identified only as, "Jonas" yells for water from his cell,
in which he had already been held for several weeks,
and in his rare case, alone.
These 2 Dutch sisters (names legally withheld)
attending a public school in Des Moines,
were taken from their junior high school
during lunchtime and held
in a separate location from their parents,
who were processed some 200 miles away
for no specified reason.
Marta (last name withheld), after one of her many beatings
during her detention. "Kid's got a nasty mouth, she asks for it",
said one of the guards at her facility.
She is still there after nearly 3 months, while her father, who is
a crime suspect, and her only parent, is held for questioning.
Astrid Jonasson, who was brought to America from Sweden as a child, but never pursued documentation, languishes in her cell,
in which she lived for 5 months before deportation.
"This is more depressing than you could imagine.
And when I am sent back to Sweden, I will have no life there."
ICE officer Dick Pounder, adjusts his equipment before a raid
on a Swedish bakery. Says Dick, "Unfortunately, many of those
delicious pastries are made by illegal hands. We are not racist---We are
equal-opportunity incarcerators. Hey, it's those illegals who broke
the law in the 1st place."
ICE officer Zack Trench prepares for a raid in Solvang, California,
sometimes referred to as, "Little Denmark" for its high Danish population,
and its allegedly large number of Danish Illegals working there.
"The fact we go after, and sometimes need to beat or
rough-up defiant illegals with blonde hair
shows we at ICE are not racist at all", says Trench.
11-year old Danish girl Frida Jessen, taken in
the recent raid on Solvang, cries out for her mother,
Mathilde, who was working illegally as a hotel manager,
along with her husband, Gustav, when both were apprehended.
Fortunately, she was one of the lucky ones, and was only
separated from her parents for about 3 weeks.
Finnish undocumented immigrant, Elke Tikkanen:
"In 6 weeks I will have my hearing and probably be sent back
to Finland, where I will be forced to participate in Finland's cruel
Single-Payer healthcare. Why is America refusing to give me asylum"?
Cocktail waitress Sonya Hedberg is pressed to the ground
during a routine weapons search, after being taken
from her workplace at an upscale lounge in Chicago, as
a crowd gathered nearby, filling the air with cries of,
"Blondie, go home" and "Go back to Russia"!
(Sonya was born in Sweden).
Later, Sonya was quoted as saying, "These officers enjoyed
arresting me, I could tell. I know I broke American Law,
but these officers are sadists."
Icelander Gunnar Sturluson is taken to the police wagon
by officers.
Said Sturluson:
"I understand I am here without proper papers,
but I am not an illegal person, because no one is an illegal person!"
Police suspicions were aroused by Gunnar's fair skin
and strawberry-blonde hair.
How long can this go on?
Badge of honor, or badge of horror ? 
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