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Detained in the US for “Visiting Thailand Too Much”

richardbarrow.com

1–10 of 127 posts

Re: Detained in the US for “Visiting Thailand Too Much”

#2
He flew home to the USA but he was processed in Canada? In other words, did he fly into Canada from SE Asia and then immediately drive to the USA? Honestly, that would look a little suspicious to me if I was a customs officer.

I've flown into L.A. and Dallas/Fort-Worth a bunch of times from the Asia Pacific region of the world and never received a glance at any of my visa pages.

Re: Detained in the US for “Visiting Thailand Too Much”

#5
I have been searched by borders and customs so many times in Seattle that I think they single put Americans for special treatment. I never come with much in my luggage (I shop in the states since china is expensive), so the searches go,quickly at least.

Re: Detained in the US for “Visiting Thailand Too Much”

#6

He flew home to the USA but he was processed in Canada? In other words, did he fly into Canada from SE Asia and then immediately drive to the USA? Honestly, that would look a little suspicious to me if I was a customs officer. I've flown into L.A. and Dallas/Fort-Worth a bunch of times from the Asia Pacific region of the world and never received a glance at any of my visa pages.

Plenty of international flights connect through Canada, like Vancouver on the west coast. Also, most big Canadian airports have American immigration facilities since they have so much traffic to process, quite efficient actually.

Re: Detained in the US for “Visiting Thailand Too Much”

#7
> They even went through his laptop and copied his hard disks.

I may be completely out of line here but why can't he request a lawyer before doing this kind of stuff? Why are they allowed to dig so deep into someone without any evidence of doing something illegal?

Re: Detained in the US for “Visiting Thailand Too Much”

#8
I had a business colleague who was based elsewhere in Asia for several years. He visited Thailand every few weeks the entire stay. When he returned to the US, immigration gave him the same rundown. When he finally convinced them that he was just a young guy who wanted to have fun, they waved him through with a smile.

Re: Detained in the US for “Visiting Thailand Too Much”

#9
post #7

> They even went through his laptop and copied his hard disks. I may be completely out of line here but why can't he request a lawyer before doing this kind of stuff? Why are they allowed to dig so deep into someone without any evidence of doing something illegal?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception

Basically, the Fourth Amendment doesn't apply at the border, and they're under no obligation to allow him to contact anyone.

Re: Detained in the US for “Visiting Thailand Too Much”

#10
Borders have three uses:

1) to keep people out

2) to keep people in

3) to be able to search/detain people without cause

I've yet to see a border that I liked. In plenty of countries this now extends to a certain distance away from the border (sometimes surprisingly large), even when you are not actively crossing or have not crossed.

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