{"id":7811,"date":"2018-07-11T08:55:25","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T06:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7811"},"modified":"2018-07-11T08:59:50","modified_gmt":"2018-07-11T06:59:50","slug":"woman-questioned-outrage-ensues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/7811\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman questioned, outrage ensues"},"content":{"rendered":"

This<\/a>, according to the BBC, constitutes a “Handmaid’s Tale” moment:<\/p>\n

Dr Acosta, who is chief executive of the Young Women’s Christian Association, and her daughter had been on a tour of Europe when they arrived back to Texas on Sunday.<\/p>\n

“There was a huge line of people,” Dr Acosta said. “We walked up to the customs officer. He lifted our passports.”<\/p>\n

Dr Acosta said her daughter was “like velcro” with her as she was very tired after a long flight.<\/p>\n

“I was asked if Sybonae was my daughter and I said yes. Then they asked why, if she was my daughter, I didn’t have the same last name.<\/p>\n

“I told them I had already established my career and earned my doctorate with my last name Acosta so I had decided not to change it.<\/p>\n

“One said I should consider changing my name to reflect that I am her mother.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In some countries – Russia, for example – it is forbidden for a parent to take a child abroad without the written permission of the other parent. This is to stop one parent from just disappearing overseas with the children. As a policy, it’s sound enough, and the expats with kids in Russia soon got used to it. The US doesn’t expressly forbid lone parents travelling abroad with their children without such a letter but:<\/p>\n

A CBP spokesperson said: “We strongly recommend that unless a child is accompanied by both parents, the adult travelling with the child have a note from the child’s other parent.”<\/p>\n

Dr Acosta says she didn’t have a note from her ex-husband. And she was taken into a separate area for questioning.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Again, rather routine and sensible. And if the mother had a different name from the kid, how are they supposed to know the child is hers? Hence the questioning.<\/p>\n

“They thought I might be a human trafficker,” she said.<\/p>\n

A CBP spokesperson said: “On December 23, 2008, President Bush signed the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to combat human trafficking.<\/p>\n

“In instances where the relationship of a minor and accompanying adult can’t be immediately determined, CBP may ask additional questions to determine relationship.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A bit of a pain, maybe a little humiliating, but hardly the stuff of dystopian nightmare depicted in The Handmaid’s Tale. But her reaction speaks volumes:<\/p>\n

“I proceeded to tell them that they were perpetuating an institutionalised, misogynistic system which required that a woman take her husband’s name. I am furious.” Dr Acosta said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh please. Your daughter has her father’s name. Why? Are you<\/em>\u00a0perpetuating an institutionalised, misogynistic system?<\/p>\n

Dr Acosta said her “biggest fear” was her daughter would be separated from her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I doubt that: if you were, you’d not have gone off on a rant about\u00a0institutionalised, misogynistic systems which require that a woman take her husband’s name: you’d have answered the questions calmly and rationally. You might also have foreseen the difficulties of travelling with a minor who does not share your name, and obtained a letter from your ex-husband.<\/p>\n

One Facebook user wrote: “You should be furious. What if she had been adopted or you had remarried? I did not take my husband’s last name either and it infuriates me when people imply I am less of a wife for not changing my name!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You may do what you like with your name, but if you’re travelling alone with a child whose name doesn’t match yours, expect trouble at borders.<\/p>\n

A CBP spokesperson said: “We strive to ensure that travellers are processed fairly and efficiently, as we endeavour to make certain that all individuals attempting entry into the United States do so in a legal and secure manner.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Handmaid’s Tale, indeed. Shame on the BBC for publishing this crap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This, according to the BBC, constitutes a “Handmaid’s Tale” moment: Dr Acosta, who is chief executive of the Young Women’s Christian Association, and her daughter had been on a tour of Europe when they arrived back to Texas on Sunday. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[79,44],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7811"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7811"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7813,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7811\/revisions\/7813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desertsun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}