Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Another awesome US immigration experience

seldo.tumblr.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 240 posts

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#181

Post by _pferreir_ »

freyfogle wrote: post #170
_pferreir_ wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious as to how much longer the Schengen space will subsist. As EU-skeptic parties rise in opinion polls again, it will not be long till all conceivable social issues are blamed on immigrants.

You have to take a bit longer view. Several generations ago it was normal that Europeans had a major war once a generation. Every village in Germany, France, Britain has a monument in it with long lists of names of men who died. Today we can all move freely, work together, share ideas, in many cases even share the same currency, etc. That sometimes causes friction, people like to complain, and newspapers run the occa…

I totally agree with your view. As an european that sae the EEC become EU and (most) national currencies being replaced by the Euro, I am myself a supporter of tighter european integration and increasingly closer relations between neighboring countries. And I am sure that most of my fellow europeans will not like it if they ever have to start using their passports again just to go next door.

I believe the problem right now is that most european politicians fail to understand your last paragraph. They simply do not remember (as I do not, but I make an effort to imagine) what it was to be at war and the damage that this caused to Europe and the World in general.

When german leaders are quoted as calling southern europeans "lazy" and greek politicians evoke the Nazis as a defense thesis... you feel that something went really wrong. It's old wounds opening again and each one looking for the best way to put the blame on their neighbor.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#182

Post by tellarin »

lmm wrote: post #171
tellarin wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience in the EU is that, even for EU citizens, the UK and (a somewhat distance second) Spain can be quite intrusive. For the rest of the EU and Switzerland, they almost never ask anything. But I definitely agree that China seems to be the "easiest" in this sense. No questions at all. :)

When I crossed over from Kazakhstan into China I got the most thorough luggage search I've ever had (never been to the US). Everything taken apart and went through; I was carrying the card game Citadels and had to struggle a little to explain what it was (my fault - I speak neither Kazakh or Russian nor Chinese, he spoke a little English). It was all very professional and courteous, and actually over quite quickly, b…

Good to know. That's actually a border crossing I'm planning to do relatively soon.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#183

Post by adekok »

aneth4 wrote: post #174
nottrobin wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When was the last time you had to wait in one crowded room for 3 hours without being allowed to use your phone, and without a seat? The last time I was in a situation anywhere close to this was when I accompanied my girlfriend to get her visa renewed in London. We had to wait for about 5 hours in a fairly crowded hot room with pretty uncomfortable seats. But we had each other's company and while there was a sign sayi…

This is not a competition for the worst experience one can have. I've had plenty of horrible ones. Ever been detained for several days in a crowded third world jail for no legitimate reason and extorted a large sum of money to be released? Ever been stabbed by thugs too powerful for the police to do anything other than write a lie-filled police report? This is what happens every day in the actual world away from priv…

> This is a privileged person, someone who travels internationally, ...

... and who has gone through extensive scrutiny to get a green card.

Exactly the kind of person who should hit red flags at the border, right?

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#184

Post by monksy »

raverbashing wrote: post #164
precisioncoder wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the side... when crossing into the US (as a Canadian) everyone in my car was taken separately into a tiny room and grilled by an agent, and our car was searched extensively. The whole process took about 3-4 hours, all of us had clean criminal records and were just passing into the US for a day to be tourists in Maine. On our way back the Canadian agent waved us through.

Yes, I understand there are cases like these, and even worse. I guess it also depends on the location, I crossed only once, through Vermont My experiences in airports entering the US (as someone who needs a visa) have been without hassle, thankfully.

I've been through many airports' passport control and customs. I haven't had a major issue. With the Canadian/US border in NY. Thats another story. I've had to park to the side and go to a different area while the car got searched and they grilled me about everything I did during the weekend [US side]. The Canadian side was worried I'd steal all of their jobs during the weekend. This was all for a quick weekend trip to toronto.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#185

Post by jrockway »

tolmasky wrote: post #91
mscarborough wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the first rules of service industry is that you don't complain about your job in front of the customers. I haven't worked retail but have done plenty of years in restaurants. I'm not sure how you can use "you've never worked in the service industry" as some kind of trump card, as this kind of behavior could easily get you fired from any half-decent service industry position.

That's in a private company. Here, for all practical purposes, there is no incentive for things to get better. There is no one to complain to since the "customers" here are completely antagonized and have no power, imagine on top of all this complaining! There really isn't anyone to be held accountable, period. And no, "voting" is not the way these things get fixed. if it was, the DMV would have stopped being miserab…

Isn't the whole DMV thing largely fixed? In Manhattan, they even have "express" DMVs. I have to assume the idea came about due to voter pressure rather than some altruistic bureaucrat.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#186

Post by aneth4 »

adekok wrote: post #183
aneth4 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a competition for the worst experience one can have. I've had plenty of horrible ones. Ever been detained for several days in a crowded third world jail for no legitimate reason and extorted a large sum of money to be released? Ever been stabbed by thugs too powerful for the police to do anything other than write a lie-filled police report? This is what happens every day in the actual world away from priv…

> This is a privileged person, someone who travels internationally, ... ... and who has gone through extensive scrutiny to get a green card. Exactly the kind of person who should hit red flags at the border, right?

What's your point? Nobody is arguing whether this was a mistake, not even DHS officer when asked. Nobody is saying the DHS is the most competent organization on the planet or that it can't be better. In the vast majority of cases, people enter the country without issue and in a tiny minority there is some inconvenience.

Clearly many of the people in that room were there for a reason, as some was arrested and some were denied entry.

The guy had to stand in a room for 3 hours before entering the country because he tripped a false positive. We can hope that this won't happen every time - if it does, he might have something to complain about, though still not justification for the exasperation shown in this forum.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#187

Post by pm90 »

tinbad wrote: post #133
seldo wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be awesome if they were allowed to Google me from their stations, since the Internet is very clear that there is only one male human being called Laurie Voss in the entire world, and Twitter provides daily records of my movements for anyone who cared to find out. Unfortunately, they are only allowed to look at the screen in front of them, and the few details in the USCIS database.

Actually one time, I was able to prove to one border officer that I really was the CEO of our startup by Googling our website and showing him the "about us" page. He even let me log into my Gmail account and show him proof of my company's existence (PDFs of lease agreement, incorporation documents). Maybe it's just me but I have always had really good experiences with border officers and those guys have always been f…

Yes, this is something I can relate to. The worst I've had is being ignored when I try to make conversation ("Good Morning", "How's it going so far?" etcetc), but usually they seem happy to help.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#188

Post by robryan »

bambax wrote: post #180
jacquesm wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you feel like levelling the playing field a bit with respect to your accidents of birth then I'm quite sure that those countries would be happy to strike you from their registers if you asked nicely. On the other hand, since you were given this for free and it wasn't your fault you might as well enjoy the privilege. Personally I think all immigration controls should be abolished. The world will be hell for about a…

> Borders are bad Then why do you live in a country that has borders? As per your own policy, you should be in a boat somewhere in international waters.

Things like this seem to come up often on HN. Why can't we speak out against a system while participating in it for lack of a better alternative currently?

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#189

Post by Vivtek »

jacquesm wrote: post #18

As long as you feel the benefits outweigh the downsides the only person you can complain to is yourself. You're still going there aren't you? I've had an episode quite comparable to this one and it was the last time I visited the US. I don't bitch about it, I don't begrudge the border guards their jobs or attitude (I assume they get a lot of shit heaped on them every day, not an excuse for a non-professional attitude…

Jacques, I like and respect you, but if you think that the impact on the US GDP of immigrants leaving will ever in a million years be ascribed to immigrants leaving, you are living a fantasy.

I don't blame you for boycotting, though. Not a bit.

Re: Another awesome US immigration experience

#190

Post by goatforce5 »

jwr wrote: post #123
mdasen wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the argument you're making. From the perspective of the United States, they don't need to care unless it adversely affects the United States. As such, the US can make whatever immigration it wants and it writes its own destiny and people can take it or leave it much like many offerings we see in life from companies, other people, etc. If a company is putting onerous conditions on its product, we'll switc…

Actually, United States citizenship doesn't necessarily solve the problem. I have a dual citizenship, so I can compare entry procedures. I was always baffled when US immigration asks me questions about what work I do or where I'm headed when I'm entering the country. I couldn't see how it was any of their business. In most (if not all) of the EU, an immigration officer being presented a native passport has exactly tw…

I'm a non-resident Australian citizen (ie, i've lived overseas in a variety of places for 15+ years). When I go to Australia I fill out the visitor card (because i'm non-resident) and use the Australian Citizen line at immigration.

The last few times i've been they essentially ignore the visitor card, (literally) say "Welcome home" and let me in within 30 seconds.

Hearing that after being away for years (for me) and arriving jetlagged after a long flight is pretty emotional. The immigration officers probably just have a game amongst themselves to see how many people they can get to burst in to happy tears.

Post reply on HN