191–200 of 222 posts
Anyone remember when we liked to proclaim how we had freedom in this country by using the example that we didn't require "travel papers" for internal travel?
That proclamation was forgotten as soon as the Cold War ended.
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Fair enough. I (20s white guy, mostly asleep) probably don't fit the 'needs to be questioned' profile all that much. (And I'm not certain I'd have remembered answering a basic question like 'why were you travelling' anyways...)
A 20s male is probably pretty high on the list of people to question. I would guess that if you're a US citizen, as they're only concerned with what you're bringing in rather than what you're planning to do or how long you're staying, not looking like a stereotypical foreign terrorist probably doesn't help much. As a 20s non-white guy I'm never bothered, so maybe I'm just off-base here.
If you are Nexus/Global Entry and use Clear they already have your finger print, biometrics and retina scan. Might as well add facials to that... no wait that sounds wrong. LOL
Convenience or privacy, it's a tough choice to make. I'm thankful for Global Entry / Clear having to travel most weeks for work
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The last few times I've returned to the states I haven't even had to talk to a customs agent - but signing up for Global Entry might be too much of a violation of privacy by some standards.
I think every time I enter the European Union as a citizen (crossing the border in Denmark, Germany, the UK, France, the Netherlands or Spain) I've either not interacted with anyone (electronic border gate), or said nothing more than "hello" and "thank you". Speaking to a customs official is very rare, I've only had that happen once. Do most Americans get questioned at their own border? I do, but I'd assumed that was…
also worth noting: as a US citizen re-entering the country you do not have to present anything more to a customs agent than your passport. You are not required to answer any questions at all. Where youre from, where you were, what you did, nothing, however it may result in an inspection of your bags, so it depends on whether your interpretation of liberty is based on personal convenience. Disclosure: ive done this op…
I've even got a few friendly "welcome back" when returning to the states after longer trips
also worth noting: as a US citizen re-entering the country you do not have to present anything more to a customs agent than your passport. You are not required to answer any questions at all. Where youre from, where you were, what you did, nothing, however it may result in an inspection of your bags, so it depends on whether your interpretation of liberty is based on personal convenience. Disclosure: ive done this op…
That is what I thought as well. Sometimes if I am in a bad mood/snarky and they ask me what I do for a living, I just say “computers”. They always ask me “computer what? engineer? programmer?” I simply respond back “computer! computer!” and they just angrily let me go. I do this not because I want to be mean but to show them these questions are a pointless waste of time. I mean there are thousands of people who dont…
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>Everyone already has a passport. I'm pretty sure most native born citizens don't get passports unless and until they make plans to travel internationally.
Isn’t that risky - what if you suddenly have to travel with business and there’s a delay getting a passport?
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How do we not have a totalitarian state? You can't publish evidence of state war crimes without the CIA doing a character assassination job on you (pending a real assassination). You can't travel anonymously. You can't publish anonymously. You can't make bank transfers out of the country for arbitrary purposes. You can't deposit or withdraw cash above a trivial amount without significant scrutiny which is reported to…
What you're describing is authoritarian, not totalitarian. A totalitarian state has only one political party with all others being banned.
Fun fact: the passport gates at UK airports appear to be biometric, but aren't. You step into a little gate, place your passport photo page down onto a scanner, and look into a camera for a photograph. The thing which slows folks down at passport gates (and the reason the best passport control agents don't have a jocular welcoming patter) is the hello/goodbye/talking around the manual "look at your face, look at your…