In 2007 I crossed the border on bus going from Montreal to NY. The girl I was travelling with was accused of illegal importation of fruits because she was carrying an apple for the trip.
What happened to her?
How a French scholar was treated at US airport
131–140 of 266 posts
Re: How a French scholar was treated at US airport
#132The article gives me anxiety. It gives me anxiety that people can be held at our borders for hours and sometimes days (in my country non the less). All because some junior border officer did not understand the visa type well enough. How can they not even apologize? How can they not even acknowledge these types of errors. Will they do this to us when we travel abroad on a tourist visa?
These articles should have been written a decade ago. The media is being honest all of a sudden now that they don't like the government. These aren't new happenings.
Well, a lot of US people actually like it that foreigners are given a "special treatment". As I heard some respond to situations like this: Entering the United States is a privilege and not a right.
Re: How a French scholar was treated at US airport
#133I am about to visit the US soon. I am planning not to bring my personal phone and computer. It feels like I am going to visit China, not the US. I would probably not personally pay for a trip to the US now.. I don't want to pay a lot of money in order to be rejected at the border.
Do not come to the US for any reason. Also, request that your government treat all US visitors exactly the same as this. Until people start to see how awful treating people like trash is nothing will change, it will only get worse. My job depends (somewhat) on foreign tourists coming to the US, I would rather lose my job than read these embarrassing stories.
More ill will and poor behavior doesn't result in things getting better.
Re: How a French scholar was treated at US airport
#134I wondered why a “French scholar” would have so much trouble. Near the end, he reveals: “ Maybe it's my birthplace, Egypt [..]”, which, if indeed he looks Egyptian and not French, goes a long way towards explaining it. Racism is a thing.
Apparently he's Jewish, and left Egypt decades ago due to anti-semitism there.
Re: How a French scholar was treated at US airport
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
UK is not Europe.
The UK is part of the continent of Europe. It's also still a member of the EU for the time being.
The UK is actually an island off the continent of Europe. If we are being pedantic. It may belong to Europe culturally in some respects but geographically, it does not.
Re: How a French scholar was treated at US airport
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
These articles should have been written a decade ago. The media is being honest all of a sudden now that they don't like the government. These aren't new happenings.
Well, a lot of US people actually like it that foreigners are given a "special treatment". As I heard some respond to situations like this: Entering the United States is a privilege and not a right.
Yeah. That may or may not be the US's prerogative, but it's dishonest media to act like its new.
Re: How a French scholar was treated at US airport
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, it most definitely is part of Europe, and it is currently still part of the European Union too.
Member of the European Union, not member of the Schengen Area... UK has always been whimsical and not reflecting the "European" values... thus, UK is not Europe. They're free to run things the way they like, but please don't keep telling that UK is Europe... especially after they chose and got the Brexit... not a single true european will endorse its mistakes.
the soviet union and eastern block were europe too, stop creating absurd distinctions.
Re: How a French scholar was treated at US airport
#138I think the appropriate outcome depends on whether they were going to be paid by the US institution. If you're going to get paid, you need an appropriate visa. Unfortunately some institutions don't understand this/don't want to understand this/tell you "it's fine, we do this all the time." But if you say the wrong thing at the border, you'll be denied entry and it'll get noted down for the next time you try and enter…
Sure, but how does that apply to this article? He was going to get paid and had an appropriate visa.
The only appropriate visa to get paid is a work visa, like H1B, O1 or J1. He didn't have one, his J1 is expired. His situation is peculiar because as a scholar there is an exception. But if it had been to, say, tech talk at a conference, you can't get paid.
So I think it's relevant to the article because that's probably what the CBP agent was thinking. And the fact that he'd have been doing it for 30 years doesn't change anything.
Otherwise as French we don't need a visa just to visit the US, we are on the visa waiver program (ESTA).
Re: How a French scholar was treated at US airport
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do not come to the US for any reason. Also, request that your government treat all US visitors exactly the same as this. Until people start to see how awful treating people like trash is nothing will change, it will only get worse. My job depends (somewhat) on foreign tourists coming to the US, I would rather lose my job than read these embarrassing stories.
Please don't encourage ill treatment of US citizens overseas. Americans who travel outside her borders are not the people making these decisions, tend to be much more worldly than the average citizen, and are the first to be horrified at these developments. If you want to make the US change, speak the language we speak: lawsuits. Sue, sue, sue. Call your embassy and demand that they pressure the White House to retrac…
They might not be making the decisions but they are the only ones who can affect them. How can foreigners demand that the US government changes its policy?
Re: How a French scholar was treated at US airport
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
The UK is part of the continent of Europe. It's also still a member of the EU for the time being.
The UK is actually an island off the continent of Europe. If we are being pedantic. It may belong to Europe culturally in some respects but geographically, it does not.
Geologically however : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Plate