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Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

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Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#51

Post by timr »

y0ghur7_xxx wrote: post #40

This may be unpopular on an US-centric site like HN, but the US looks more and more like they want to isolate themselves from the rest of the world: very strict immigration policy, travelers molested by TSA on airports, ... These conferences where people around the world meet should start to be hosted somewhere else. Not in the USA anymore. Somewhere in a country that welcomes people instead of treating all of them l…

A small percentage of Americans wants to do this. Most Americans are indifferent (as in most countries), but the reactionary party has won the day, and a total lunatic is in the White House. Sadly. But this too shall pass.

Not that I disagree with your conclusion: I hope conference organizers (and other groups) do start focusing abroad. The only thing that the GOP reliably responds to is the interests of money. Start moving the tech industry abroad, and see how quickly they change course.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#52

Post by MotokoCMDR »

Absolutely no trouble at US airports. YMMV. Staff at JFK were professional, friendly and fast.

This person may not have realized an ESTA needed in advance. He could be doing the thing people often do where they screw something up, and then, irresponsibly give a vague explanation, that they can deny later, but that leaves open to interpretation the possibility that they were somehow unfairly treated, when it might have just been their screw up.

"Denied because of ESTA" --> could actually be "Denied because I didn't get my ESTA ahead of time, and follow the clearly stated requirements. Damn, I'm stupid. Everyone make sure you read the rules before you fly! My bad."

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#53

Post by geff82 »

y0ghur7_xxx wrote: post #40

This may be unpopular on an US-centric site like HN, but the US looks more and more like they want to isolate themselves from the rest of the world: very strict immigration policy, travelers molested by TSA on airports, ... These conferences where people around the world meet should start to be hosted somewhere else. Not in the USA anymore. Somewhere in a country that welcomes people instead of treating all of them l…

As someone who just filled out their DS-160 visa application and paid money for the application and now being left alone due to the new "travel ban" (wife and mother in law Iranian) I just say: let this country be alone for a while. I don't know when the US government (and the voters) will gain back consciousness and be part of the international community again in a positive way. Other countries are much more open right now: Germany, France, Canada... and they even all have working Internet! And there is even no strong need to reside in the US to do online business there, as the big platforms (Appstores...) are open for most other countries.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#54

Post by pjc50 »

TekMol wrote: post #4

My feeling is that I read stories like these pretty often. That somebody was denied entry or arrested or humiliated while entering the USA. Is this because it happens more often in the USA then in other countries? Or is there some kind of reporting bias at play?

There is a reporting selection factor: this is happening to "tech people", including white middleclass people from the rest of the West who aren't used to being treated like second-class non-citizens or being victims of a bureaucracy they can't appeal against.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#55

Post by raverbashing »

icebraining wrote: post #49
raverbashing wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bias (not sure how it's called, maybe a type of "survivor bias") You don't hear about the thousands admitted without an issue in the US every day. But of course those that aren't admitted show up here May I also note some (tech people) display an increased level of naiveté in dealing with border people.

You don't hear about the thousands admitted without an issue in the US every day. But of course those that aren't admitted show up here Yes, but that bias applies to every country, it doesn't justify the US bias of these reports.

Correct, even a small percentage is indicative of an issue

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#56

Post by daemin »

pricechild wrote: post #33
Capt-RogerOver wrote: post #28

He seems to have tried to enter USA using ESTA. ESTA is not a visa, it's a visa-waiver program. It's specifically created as an easier method of entering a country, but as a trade-off, it says in the terms that they can deny it for any reason with no questions. This does not mean that the person cannot enter the country per se, it just means they need to apply for a real visa.

It's frustrating they couldn't warn him prior to the hour of travel? I find it difficult to believe they'll have rejected him for something they couldn't have contacted him about days or weeks ago. With ESTA they've got perfect contact details too? I assume he's lost the price of the flight? Travel insurance wouldn't repay it?

At least they told him before he flew over. They could have done that when he actually landed, and he would have been denied entry there, then shuffled back onto a flight.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#57

Post by ckastner »

What puzzles me is that the ESTA application was approved in the first place. If they were going to deny him entry, why approve it?

Could there be a more benign explanation for this issue? For example: his ESTA approval expired (it's valid for two years), or the data entered on the ESTA form did not exactly match his passport data (special characters, middle names, etc.)

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#58

Post by raverbashing »

Capt-RogerOver wrote: post #28

He seems to have tried to enter USA using ESTA. ESTA is not a visa, it's a visa-waiver program. It's specifically created as an easier method of entering a country, but as a trade-off, it says in the terms that they can deny it for any reason with no questions. This does not mean that the person cannot enter the country per se, it just means they need to apply for a real visa.

It's one thing to be denied for it upon application, the other one to have the authorization revoked after it was given in the first place

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#59

Post by the_mitsuhiko »

Taniwha wrote: post #46
kyrra wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was at his local airport in Sweden. To quote some tweets: "They denied me entry on ESTA with no explanation. Already at check-in in Sweden. =( or rather instead of check-in" "I only got to the airport locally. My passport was flagged somehow so the airline wouldn't let me check in, called to ask why... So they say" Edit: ESTA is this: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/ So the DHS denied him for some reason.

but when you apply for an ESTA you get told you've been 'approved' - you use this as a basis for booking a flight and travelling, if they're going to take it back without telling you (they have your email address) that really sucks, kind of passive aggressive

> but when you apply for an ESTA you get told you've been 'approved'

FWIW, the last esta before the current one was not immediately approved for me. I did however get a mail after a while that it was approved and i get consistently mailed a month before it expires.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#60

Post by rebolek »

kraftman wrote: post #7

My guess would be that the US found some dodgy software that happened to make use of cURL, add flagged him as part of it, given what he's previously said about receiving emails from people that have found his details in other software: https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2016/11/14/i-have-toyota-corola/

My guess is that DHS denies entry to random people just to hit some internal quotas.
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