One of the most traumatizing things I've ever gone through in my life, and the reason that since then I always feel very uncomfortable next to officers or law enforcement, was during a time I was crossing the border to the US. Here's a thread:

During my time in esports, I had to travel a lot. I'm Chilean, but the US has the big events

I've always followed the regulations of visiting the US with utmost respect & I am "legal" with no criminal record.

What is a 2 min interview to cross the border, turned dark very soon

Without notifying me why, I was instructed to step aside into a small room that was outside of the view of everyone in line during border control. I asked to get my luggage from the carousel, and they told me that I cannot. Once in this room...

--Which was very small, and had dozens of Latinos in it, an officer yelled at me to surrender all my belongings, my backpack and my phone. They then forced me to unlock my phone and proceeded to take it somewhere else. They then told me to go wait...

--- I waited for multiple hours, there was no bathroom, no water, no anything. My heart was beating out of my chest and I didn't know what was gonna happen. I couldn't ask for
help or anything, I was stuck in this "limbo" of sorts and I've never felt more helpless in my life.

After what seemed like forever, the officers called me up and started asking me extremely specific questions, like "who is this person you talked
to -name- on X date, and why did you say -random thing-?" and "What did they mean when they said -something-?"

Keep in mind these were random things,
like a friend asking if you wanna get food, or just miscellaneous things. They went through my email, through my text messages, everything. After being yelled at in what seemed to be more like a forceful interrogation, they then told me to..

Grab my things & get out. They let me cross the border, thankfully, but whatever they tried to find to deny me entrance, they couldn't find. As I grabbed my phone
from the officer who had been yelling at me, they said "1 mistake, and I'll be the one to kick you out of my country"

I cried on the way to my friends house from the airport and ever since, I haven't told anyone the full story. To this day I still feel scared every time I go through TSA or fly anywhere despite me owning a home here in the US. It makes me feel paralyzed in front of officers...

The people that are supposed to protect you, are who I fear the most.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I'm feeling a bit of encouragement to tell my story from seeing so many people tell theirs with law enforcement
in social media.

I figured this could help others tell their story, and social movements hopefully can one day spark change.

What scares me the most, is that what would have happened if things turned violent or for the worst? I feel I got lucky that day, but maybe others didn't in that room.

I hope one day things change for the better, and despite me feeling thankful for my luck, I still wonder to this day what happened to the other people in that room. I hope everyone is okay.

Much love for reading this and letting me get it out of my chest. Thank you.