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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

#81

Post by koolba »

iamtew wrote: post #61
Taniwha wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

They don't seem to do the check when you apply. Years ago I fat-fingered my passport number, the ESTA went through fine, but I was refused at the airport due to my typo. I had to make a new one on the spot, was no problem, but it seems that they will just approve the ESTA when applying for it, and then later refuse you if they want.

It'd be very funny if all of this boils down to him having a typo entering his info.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#82

Post by davidiach »

humanrebar wrote: post #64
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…

> 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, ... Almost all Americans think this sort of thing is nonsense. But the average American has little standing to hold the American bureaucracy accountable for its nonsense. Americans, especially outsi…

This was my experience as well back when I traveled to the US. It was quite surprising.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#83

Post by gtirloni »

efoto wrote: post #36

"Don't assume malice when stupidity is an adequate explanation." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor

My exact thoughts. The bureaucracy/machinery is so complex that it could have been any minor error in the paperwork.

For a person, this is their worst day. For a huge bureaucracy, nothing.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#84

Post by croon »

humanrebar wrote: post #64
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…

> 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, ... Almost all Americans think this sort of thing is nonsense. But the average American has little standing to hold the American bureaucracy accountable for its nonsense. Americans, especially outsi…

> Americans, especially outside overcrowded urban areas, are courteous, helpful, hospitable people that are very tolerant of other people and ideas.

Do you care to elaborate on this? That's incongruent with voting records.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#85

Post by germanier »

humanrebar wrote: post #64
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…

> 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, ... Almost all Americans think this sort of thing is nonsense. But the average American has little standing to hold the American bureaucracy accountable for its nonsense. Americans, especially outsi…

This is very true in my experience. Unfortunately, knowing that doesn't help when you want to go to a conference but see the plane taking off without you instead.

(For the record: I never had any problems whatsoever both using ESTA and a visa. However, the process feels significantly more hostile and unwelcoming compared to other countries.)

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#86

Post by krzyk »

akie wrote: post #26
sacheendra wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess its both. Newsworthy people visit the USA more often than other countries due the concentration of a lot of companies and conferences. So, I believe denial of entry happens more often than in other countries. But, there is also the running trend of focusing on bad/silly things happening in the USA.

To be honest, my experience is that US border checks are very aggressive (like, passive aggression and suspicion is the default attitude). I've seen worse, but my last entrance into the US (in 2012) featured barking sniffer dogs and open distrust – and I'm a white middle class European traveling from a European country. Don't get this much in other places.

Adding mine. I traveled to US three times, each time the border check was unpleasant.

I don't get it why they can't just do a passport check and be gone with it like the do in EU?

What's the point of the questions, last time they event wanted me to show them my return airline tickets (why? If I wanted to stay illegally I could have created those easily).

And the queues, after a long flight, the last thing you want it to stand in those long queues and waiting for hours to get to the hotel.

BTW. I'm white, but from Central Europe (Poland) - but why would I want to stay illegally in SF or Dallas when there are cheaper places with more Poles.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#87

Post by nickserv »

GreaterFool wrote: post #78
qume wrote: post #68

Just to balance the narrative here a bit, I have traveled into and out of the US many times per year for around 15 years with no problems on an ESTA. I only recently switched to a visa. After a long flight having to deal with the delay and hassle of immigration seems much worse than it is. I really hate it, and the comments here suggest others do too, but if you look at what we have to deal with objectively it's not…

> cURL has been used extensively for bad purposes What?! Sources please.

I once used it to change the user-agent and get an alternative response from an API.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#88

Post by briandear »

timr wrote: post #51
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…

So did this not happen ever under Obama? How is this a GOP issue?

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#89

Post by m-j-fox »

GreaterFool wrote: post #78
qume wrote: post #68

Just to balance the narrative here a bit, I have traveled into and out of the US many times per year for around 15 years with no problems on an ESTA. I only recently switched to a visa. After a long flight having to deal with the delay and hassle of immigration seems much worse than it is. I really hate it, and the comments here suggest others do too, but if you look at what we have to deal with objectively it's not…

> cURL has been used extensively for bad purposes What?! Sources please.

I mean, I've personally used it to access APIs from shell scripts that would have been far more maintainable in a proper Python script.

Re: Author of cURL denied entry to the USA

#90

Post by GuB-42 »

ajeet_dhaliwal wrote: post #32

The no explanation is the worst part for anything like this. Impossible to determine what to do or what reason they had, just denied. It's not just the government either, look at how some tech companies have a policy of providing no explanation for interview rejections too. It's a lack of respect for anyone but oneself.

There are some privacy and national security reasons for this too.

The reason for this refusal may come from very personal reasons. Maybe an intelligence agency discovered that he had sex with the wrong person or something like that. It is not a bad thing if the border control guy doesn't know.

The national security reasons may be if he is tied to some suspicious activity. He may not be part of it but the risks are considered too high to let him in, and you don't want to reveal classified information. In fact, there is no need to know ("need to know" is an important aspect of secrecy). The decision is "no" and the reason won't change it.

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