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British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

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Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#101

Post by zaarn »

foldingmoney wrote: post #98
zaarn wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The diversity of the US is largely imported, througout it's history starting from the first colonists, the US didn't have that much time to create it's own, cultural diversity to the extend that europe has yet. I don't think most people would qualify diversity as "lots of newly arrived immigrants", even those who champion diversity, they'll likely get closer to "people from lots of different life experiences".

I think the term is generally used to refer to a melting pot of cultures as opposed to a bunch of adjacent monocultures. I'm not passing judgement on either.

Europe isn't really a monoculture or a set of monocultures either. Over it's entire history, cultures have mixed and seperated all the time. I don't think the "melting pot of cultures" is any different here than in the US other than the US has less history with it.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#102

Post by cannonedhamster »

akmarinov wrote: post #97
Tsubasachan wrote: post #11

Should have used WeChat. On a Huawei phone.

They can detain you indefinitely until you give up your password, so it doesn’t matter. There are no laws at the border, even the constitution doesn’t apply for US citizens there.

To be completely accurate the Constitution doesn't apply anywhere within 100 miles of a U.S. border, which includes airports. This covers something like 60% of the population of the United States.

https://www.thenation.com/article/66-percent-americans-now-l...

https://www.aclu.org/other/constitution-100-mile-border-zone

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#103

Post by cannonedhamster »

silverdemon wrote: post #24
avocado4 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unmatched opportunities for science, entrepreneurship, education, and technology. Population that's more welcoming to immigrants than any other place in the world by far. Outdoors. Cleaner air and water. Cheap prices. Diversity. Optimistic, friendly, and humble people.

This article suggests that its not "more welcoming to immigrants than any other place in the world by far" if a single private IM can get a guy banned for life. Still a great place to visit, but I'll take a burner phone next time. Maybe a Huawei device :)

A phone without data is just as likely to raise suspicion. It's come up before.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#104

Post by foldingmoney »

zaarn wrote: post #101
foldingmoney wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the term is generally used to refer to a melting pot of cultures as opposed to a bunch of adjacent monocultures. I'm not passing judgement on either.

Europe isn't really a monoculture or a set of monocultures either. Over it's entire history, cultures have mixed and seperated all the time. I don't think the "melting pot of cultures" is any different here than in the US other than the US has less history with it.

It's different because in Europe you have people whose ancestors have lived in the same village for hundreds or thousands of years. They walk the land where their language was invented.

Maybe their ancestors aren't really as pure as they think, but it's still fundamentally different from a country where everyone is an immigrant within the last few generations.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#105

Post by RickJWagner »

jopsen wrote: post #8

Because most illegal immigrants are British, lol :) Being an illegal immigrant in the US is extremely unattractive -- decent jobs require paperwork.

But still there are 10s of thousands pouring in every month.

The promise of a better life (in the future) for you and your family is a strong one.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#106

Post by no1youknowz »

n4r9 wrote: post #99
no1youknowz wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me make a list: - Better TV. - Much Better Food. - Higher paying jobs. - Bigger cars, bigger roads. - Second Amendment. - First Amendment. - Lower Taxes (income and sales). - Ability to not talk to the Police and not have that used against you. - More likely to succeed if you start a business. Shark Tank > Dragons Den UK. - More likely to get funding if you decide to get an Angel / VC and higher amounts with lowe…

I live in London, have visited the US and have friends that live there. Almost all of these are wrong or simply things I don't value. The only one I don't dispute is the likelihood of success in business. To be fair I'd rather take the healthcare (and slightly more sane political environment). - Better TV. Who watches normal TV as opposed to Netflix? - Much Better Food. Dispute this. US food standards are demonstrabl…

I've lived in London for 10 years too. Visiting the US does not mean living in it...

- Netflix, in the UK due to licensing is a poorer subset of content.

- There are much better choices of food options available in the US compared to the UK.

- No, literally everywhere. I know many developers [around the US] who know either just PHP or Node and have $100k positions. Try living outside of London, you'd be lucky just to earn £30k.

- Outside of London a car is a necessity, the Tube does not exist outside of London. Not everyone wants to live where anyway. Try seeing the other parts of the UK for instance. You'll be shocked just how bad the public transport is.

- [Second Amendment] Nope, but how many stabbings have there been so far this year? Oh and gun crime is on the rise. Oh wait we don't have guns. Yeah I forgot.

- [First Amendment] We don't have comparable laws. Just how many times have Police interviewed people at their home for posting things on Twitter that [other] people found offensive. Even though they weren't.

- The safety net for a single man in the UK is a pittance. We don't all have mortgages and kids. Having a poor and highly taxed society means less opportunity for everyone.

- We don't have comparable laws when taking to the Police.

Happy you replied though. Much better than the downvotes for those in the UK and won't be able to understand how life is different elsewhere.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#107

Post by zimpenfish »

no1youknowz wrote: post #106
n4r9 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in London, have visited the US and have friends that live there. Almost all of these are wrong or simply things I don't value. The only one I don't dispute is the likelihood of success in business. To be fair I'd rather take the healthcare (and slightly more sane political environment). - Better TV. Who watches normal TV as opposed to Netflix? - Much Better Food. Dispute this. US food standards are demonstrabl…

I've lived in London for 10 years too. Visiting the US does not mean living in it... - Netflix, in the UK due to licensing is a poorer subset of content. - There are much better choices of food options available in the US compared to the UK. - No, literally everywhere. I know many developers [around the US] who know either just PHP or Node and have $100k positions. Try living outside of London, you'd be lucky just to…

> but how many stabbings have there been so far this year?

In the latest figures, there were 726 murders between March 2017 and 2018 in the UK[1] for 66M people (1 in 91k).

In the US, 2017, there were just over 17000 murders[2] for 325M people (1 in 19k).

Stabbings and gun crime in the UK is going to have to go up a hecking long way before we get anywhere close to the US.

[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeand... [2] https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-...

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#108

Post by golergka »

hnarn wrote: post #91
golergka wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I doubt that "friendliness" is really something you see drastic differences in around the globe So, you have never been to Eastern Europe or CIS countries.

Does your definition or "friendliness" assume that you speak the local language? Because if the answer is yes, I have no doubt you can find equally friendly (and rude) people in Eastern Europe as you can in Beijing, London, Cairo or New York. You may have a different opinion but I believe that there is a basic level of humanity anywhere in the world, and that this level often has an inverse correlation with material…

I was born and live in Eastern Europe. I have also lived in Israel for a few years, and have visited other countries for significant period of time.

People here are much less trusting and are much more aggressive to others. It is actually LESS visible if you're a foreigner, because people are also concerned with self-image, and don't really perceive you as a threat or a contender for anything.

As an American who doesn't speak Russian, you'll get a much better treatment from stranger on a street than another Russian would.

> I believe that there is a basic level of humanity anywhere in the world, and that this level often has an inverse correlation with material wealth.

Every possible crime statistics contradicts this. Poor countries in general view violence as something more normalised than advanced ones.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#109

Post by golergka »

n4r9 wrote: post #100
golergka wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I doubt that "friendliness" is really something you see drastic differences in around the globe So, you have never been to Eastern Europe or CIS countries.

I know someone that spent several weeks walking and hitch-hiking around Georgia. Everywhere he went, the locals welcomed him in, gave him a place to stay and invited him to dinners full of local food, local wine and raucous toasting. His single bad experience was in a hostel with another foreigner who turned out to be a racist arsehole.

As I answered to another reply, you would also get a much better reception as a foreigner than as a local. Especially if you're tourist with money. Not because they make a cynical decision to appear hospitable, they're sincere in their sympathy to you: you're not a threat or a competitor to them, unlike another local.

Re: British man banned from US because of text to American girlfriend

#110

Post by username90 »

ralph84 wrote: post #35
CloudNetworking wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He wasn't denied a visitor visa, he's been banned for life and that can't be overturned. Quite different. He also has a girlfriend in the US, so that's over for him. That's life changing. BTW, he doesn't exactly need a visa, he was on an ESTA.

ESTA doesn't waive the requirement to prove non-immigrant intent when applying for admission. If he really was banned for life there's more to the story than his inability to prove non-immigrant intent (e.g. fraud, criminal history, etc.). Even people present in the US illegally for extended periods of time are not banned for life.

Lying about anything at all to an immigration official is enough to grant you a lifetime ban to the US. I guess they took his message as lying about intent of visit in his application which they could label as "fraud".

Edit: Added source. All that is needed is that they believe you lied to a U.S. government official and they can ban you for life.

It can basically be considered fraud if this is true:

> When making the false representation, the person intended to deceive a U.S. government official authorized to act upon the request (generally an immigration or consular officer).

And this is the consequence:

> The person will be barred from admission for the rest of his or her life unless the person qualifies for and is granted a waiver.

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-j-chapter-...

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