Interestingly, even US citizens aren't exempted from this. Constitutional rights seemingly don't apply at the border.
Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms
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Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms
#12Interestingly, even US citizens aren't exempted from this. Constitutional rights seemingly don't apply at the border.
the arbitrary enforcement of unclear policies makes egregious violations less noticeable—the increase of control through variance
Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms
#13'Agents requested access to his phones and to look through his photos so that they could make sure he was “not posing next to any dead bodies,” he said. When he refused, citing the need to protect his sources as a journalist, they took the phones, he said.
The phones were later returned and showed signs that the SIM cards had been replaced, he said. Giving up the contents of his private phone would be akin to a doctor giving up confidential patient information, he said.
“I’m not going to open my phone for any other country,” Mr. Ou, a New York Times contributor who was an intern for the news organization in 2010, said in a phone interview on Thursday from Nunavut, Canada. “I can’t be expected to do the same for the U.S.”
Jason Givens, a United States Customs and Border Protection spokesman, declined to comment on Mr. Ou’s case, citing privacy laws.'
facepalm
Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms
#14I clicked this expecting to read that they wanted to know if he was allowed to work there or that he needed some obscure work permit or something, however what unfolded is truly bizarre, especially the part about looking for photos with dead bodies. Tangentially: I've crossed the border from Canada to the US so many times, applied for multiple visas etc. Sometimes I feel like if the enforcement officers wonder that they themselves are ignorant of the law (I do imagine there is some complexity and nuance to approving crossings outside of the standard tourist or B1 visa) they go into random and long checks to figure out what they are supposed to do, but on the traveler side it feels like they're figuring out if you are doing the right thing (if that makes sense).
Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms
#15[deleted]
Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms
#16As a Canadian living in the US, I've had a lot of trouble with US Customs at both airports (YVR, YYZ) and border crossing (Vancouver, Niagara).
However, I don't deny that it is at times necessary for Customs officers to be more strict. I would rather the officers do their jobs correctly and prevent incidents (drug smuggling, terrorism etc.) from happening.
Although at times they do seem to be unnecessarily aggressive.
Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms
#17I'm so embarrassed how America treats people entering the U.S. It's the first experience foreigners have in our country, and we make it one of the worst experiences in the developed world. Industries that benefit from tourism should lobby the Federal Government to improve the travel experience to, from, and within the US. I personally would fly at least a few more times a year if the TSA/CBP process treated people wi…
It's usually a pretty grim experience even as a citizen reentering the US, but at least we're not required to give our fingerprints. I would never travel to a country which demanded that.
Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms
#18Interestingly, even US citizens aren't exempted from this. Constitutional rights seemingly don't apply at the border.
And CBP considers the "border" as a 100-mile strip inland around borders and coastlines.
https://www.aclu.org/other/constitution-100-mile-border-zone
Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms
#19'Agents requested access to his phones and to look through his photos so that they could make sure he was “not posing next to any dead bodies,” he said. When he refused, citing the need to protect his sources as a journalist, they took the phones, he said. The phones were later returned and showed signs that the SIM cards had been replaced, he said. Giving up the contents of his private phone would be akin to a docto…
citing privacy laws
Re: Canadian journalist's detention at US border raises press freedom alarms
#20I'm so embarrassed how America treats people entering the U.S. It's the first experience foreigners have in our country, and we make it one of the worst experiences in the developed world. Industries that benefit from tourism should lobby the Federal Government to improve the travel experience to, from, and within the US. I personally would fly at least a few more times a year if the TSA/CBP process treated people wi…
> I'm so embarrassed how America treats people entering the U.S.
The contrast between entering other civilised countries and entering the United States is one of the things I hate about travelling. Every other country I visit manages to control its borders and have a pleasant, polite entry process, but not my own! I've seen border agents scream and holler at people who clearly don't understand English: there's just no excuse for that. It's rude.
The United States and Europe are political units of approximately the same population and area; there's no reason why entry into the U.S. must be so much more miserable than entry in the E.U., any more than there's a reason why we Americans pay such relatively high taxes for such relatively little in services.
I don't know the particulars of this incident, so I won't comment on it. The man's not a citizen, so he certainly doesn't have a right to enter, but I do think that the border exception to the Fourth Amendment is terrible, and that requiring citizens to share the contents of their electronic devices without a warrant is an invasion of privacy.