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Detained in the US for “Visiting Thailand Too Much”

richardbarrow.com

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

#21

Post by jacquesm »

lambda wrote: post #20
jacquesm wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://www.government.nl/documents-and-publications/press-re...

Note that in the US, we have strict stop everyone controls at the border (with Canada no less, this isn't just a Mexican border thing), at which you need to show your passport, and we have mobile border controls up to 100 miles within the border. I used to live near a place where they frequently put the "mobile" control on an interstate in Vermont about 80 miles from the border, so I got stopped by it a lot. Of cours…

> at which you need to show your passport

And if you're a dirty foreigner you have to have your Iris scanned, a picture taken and your fingerprints taken.

I've lived on the US/Canadian border and if they make a flip-book of all the pictures they took of me over the years it would make for a neat animated study in aging.

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

#22

Post by ape4 »

jacquesm wrote: post #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.

How about the border between EU countries.

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

#23

Post by skrause »

kintamanimatt wrote: post #17
drdaeman wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhm, in light of those, isn't it risky to enter US with encrypted digital storage too?

Cross borders with blank drives. Re-image when you're at your destination. Although it can be interpreted as such, it's not a sign of guilt, it's a response to the possible threat of immigration officers on a power trip. The vast majority are absolutely fine, but there are some that overstep their bounds or work within an egregious legal framework, e.g. the Brits. If they force you to decrypt your data (as they legal…

The drive doesn't have to be blank. Just put on a fresh install of an OS and don't put on any personal files. Then reimage after reaching your destination.

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

#25

Post by WA »

ape4 wrote: post #22
jacquesm wrote: post #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.

How about the border between EU countries.

There are no borders. You just drive along and next thing you'll get is a text message that you are in a different country informing you about roaming prices for your cell phone.

If you happen to use a navigation system, it might say something like "Welcome to Italy". But that's it.

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

#26

Post by rbanffy »

jacquesm wrote: post #21
lambda wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that in the US, we have strict stop everyone controls at the border (with Canada no less, this isn't just a Mexican border thing), at which you need to show your passport, and we have mobile border controls up to 100 miles within the border. I used to live near a place where they frequently put the "mobile" control on an interstate in Vermont about 80 miles from the border, so I got stopped by it a lot. Of cours…

> at which you need to show your passport And if you're a dirty foreigner you have to have your Iris scanned, a picture taken and your fingerprints taken. I've lived on the US/Canadian border and if they make a flip-book of all the pictures they took of me over the years it would make for a neat animated study in aging.

> and your fingerprints taken

Actually, they are not taken. They are just copied. ;-)

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

#27

Post by jacquesm »

ape4 wrote: post #22
jacquesm wrote: post #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.

How about the border between EU countries.

Which one?

Between .ch and one of the surrounding countries?

Between any two Schengen countries?

Between a Schengen country and a non-Schengen country?

What kind?

On an airfield, a shipping port or a land border?

How are you moving?

With a vehicle or just you?

Who are you?

A Citizen of a Schengen country?

A Citizen of the EU?

A Citizen of the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia or New-Zealand?

A Citizen of another country?

What do you look like?

All have different rules governing what border patrols can/may/must do and the other variables determine what you're up against depending on the can/may bit. Hard to know your rights (sometimes the guards don't even know...), and your obligations.

Amongst what you could encounter:

- fixed stop-all checks

- mobile checks

- abandoned borders

- randomly manned borders

- nothing at all

EU border strategy is pretty messy. Even on the outside borders of the EU it is very much dependent on where you are what you'll encounter.

Some borders are so porous they might as well not exist, others are so locked up that even though technically cross border traffic is open in practice it's just like it was before or worse.

If you want to know about borders in the EU: become a trucker for a few years.

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

#29

Post by jacquesm »

jasonkester wrote: post #11

For all the mean things that border control agents get away with every day, I personally enjoy "Returning From Thailand" as my little opportunity to even the score a bit. "How long have you been gone?" "I don't know. A year, give or take? Who keeps track?" "Which countries did you visit while you were away? Your landing card just says 'most of them'" "Well probably not most of them really, but definitely enough not t…

Hehe, I think it works, it's making me seriously reconsider the life I'm living. Thanks for a good laugh and best of luck with your life-style. (to borrow a bit from DNA).

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

#30

Post by jacquesm »

rbanffy wrote: post #26
jacquesm wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> at which you need to show your passport And if you're a dirty foreigner you have to have your Iris scanned, a picture taken and your fingerprints taken. I've lived on the US/Canadian border and if they make a flip-book of all the pictures they took of me over the years it would make for a neat animated study in aging.

> and your fingerprints taken Actually, they are not taken. They are just copied. ;-)

Or not:

http://jacquesmattheij.com/The+belt+sander+and+the+battle+fo...

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