Live data from Hacker News

Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

alternet.org

11–20 of 375 posts

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#11
What is immigration control doing these days when very few people actually get stamps in passports? And if I have stamps from Somalia and Libya in my passport, why would I go to the US wihtout first getting a new blank passport? Are stamps in passport really that useful?

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#12

Something similar happened to me recently. I voluntarily left my job at a US employer, planning to move back home (to Sweden). But first I wanted to spend some time preparing for the move and waiting for my wife to wrap things up. The rules say you have to leave the country the last day of work, so I left for Canada to stay with a friend, and planned to come back on the visa waiver program. I consulted with the compa…

Kafkaesque.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafkaesque#Legacy

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#14
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe fix your country next time?

I honestly don't see what is broken here. No one has the unquestioned right to enter any country except one where they hold citizenship. This post documents one person who was turned away for what he felt was an unreasonable position but that's still up to the United States to decide. It may shock people on Hacker News to learn this, but many other countries turn people away for "frivolous" reasons or no reason at al…

Ever heard about the Schengen Area? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#16
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly don't see what is broken here. No one has the unquestioned right to enter any country except one where they hold citizenship. This post documents one person who was turned away for what he felt was an unreasonable position but that's still up to the United States to decide. It may shock people on Hacker News to learn this, but many other countries turn people away for "frivolous" reasons or no reason at al…

No one has the unquestioned right to enter any country except one where they hold citizenship. This post documents one person who was turned away for what he felt was an unreasonable position but that's still up to the United States to decide. Yes it is. And it is up to the people to decide not wanting to go to US ever again, as stated in this post. Seems like you got offended by something the writer said. All he sta…

I was responding to the assertion that this is "broken," not to the author of the original article. The author has every right to not visit countries which have wronged him and I see nothing wrong with that. What I do think is wrong is to immediately reply to someone else with a retort of "maybe fix your country."

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly don't see what is broken here. No one has the unquestioned right to enter any country except one where they hold citizenship. This post documents one person who was turned away for what he felt was an unreasonable position but that's still up to the United States to decide. It may shock people on Hacker News to learn this, but many other countries turn people away for "frivolous" reasons or no reason at al…

How do other countries doing the same or something similar justify anything?

If everybody is doing it it's justifiable!

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly don't see what is broken here. No one has the unquestioned right to enter any country except one where they hold citizenship. This post documents one person who was turned away for what he felt was an unreasonable position but that's still up to the United States to decide. It may shock people on Hacker News to learn this, but many other countries turn people away for "frivolous" reasons or no reason at al…

How do other countries doing the same or something similar justify anything?

If you accept the assertion that countries are allowed to police their borders as they see fit, sans abuse and neglect, then it justifies it on the basis of "reasonable practice." This was a discretionary entry and discretion was withheld. Then again, as I pointed out elsewhere, my angst is not with the author of the article, just the comment to which I replied.

(I happen to subscribe to the theory that, since the world is highly unlikely to do the reverse, borders should be relaxed to the point where people can move as freely as capital, but we're not anywhere close to that, either.)

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#19
> When I'm supposed to watch my words, I tend to say the wrong ones.

No kidding. Volunteering that he was in Al Qaeda territory... to take pictures of plants. Saying he's a nihilist. Suggesting that the levees in New Orleans might break again while he's visiting. Having Jewish ancestry, but denying being Jewish because not religious.

Also appears he was also traveling alone to many of these places, without any business reason. Entering the US through Canada without having business in Canada sounds like somebody trying to come in a back door, and being nervous to boot.

Even from this one side of the story I'd say the border patrol did their job just fine. I wouldn't have let him into the country in that story.

Re: Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

#20
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe fix your country next time?

I honestly don't see what is broken here. No one has the unquestioned right to enter any country except one where they hold citizenship. This post documents one person who was turned away for what he felt was an unreasonable position but that's still up to the United States to decide. It may shock people on Hacker News to learn this, but many other countries turn people away for "frivolous" reasons or no reason at al…

But for a country that proclaims it's "freedoms" it feels like a bit of hypocrisy.
Post reply on HN