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Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

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

#191

Post by misterjangles »

Fuxy wrote: post #102

Apparently traveling in a lot of countries is grounds for suspicion in the US. Well if you have multiple citizenship you can always just choose which passport you're going to use so how useful is that really?

If you've been traveling to Yemen and Somolia and all over the Middle East to places that do not have good relations with the US - then it wouldn't be a terrible idea to "lose" your passport and get a replacement without all the stamps before entering the US.

These stories get everybody riled up but in reality are a tiny fraction of people who enter. I have a story too - when I was visiting Amsterdam I had the most rough body search I have experienced when traveling. Maybe I should never visit there again to see all if the rich culture and friendly people? That'll show 'em! My wife was called into the back room on our way to Aspen because her bag triggered some false alarm. Cross that place off my list, I'm never going skiing there again!

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

#192

Post by ma2rten »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #109
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #67

U.S. Immigration agents are trained to look for certain traits in visitors: nervousness, unusual or inconsistent answers to questions, history of visiting certain countries. Any of these characteristics trigger an automatic escalation in the interrogation process. This individual, albeit sounding perfectly innocent, unfortunately triggered several hot buttons and the hapless agents were too unimaginative, uninformed,…

I've done a fair amount of back-and-forth between the US and China. On my most recent entry (to the US), the phase 1 guy flagged me to have my carryon manually inspected because I took the trouble to answer his questions honestly (bizarrely, the search did not involve a search of my person, or my checked luggage, so I can't imagine what it was supposed to accomplish). That forced my mother to wait an extra hour to pi…

To me as an European it already crazy enough, that the US even interviews it's own citizens. In the EU if you are an EU citizen you just get waived though at immigration. (At might still get checked later at customs but that is a 1 in 100 chance).

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

#193

Post by Nrsolis »

DanBC wrote: post #175
Nrsolis wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's fair to paint all of this as somehow originating with the US. This country doesn't exist in a vacuum and it is shaped by the political and economic forces that surround it. I think people forget that this nation is constantly under some form of "attack" by groups (nation-state and otherwise) who hope to destabilize it or mitigate the power it can wield. I'm an American and I'm fiercely proud of thi…

> and nearly as varied in customs, socioeconomics, and population as Europe. You can even stretch that to language in some parts of the USA. Try and get around South Miami without at least a smattering of Spanish language ability. 40 European languages: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/languages/... (That's just for starters.) In my rural county in England we have something like 120 different languag…

I think you're deliberately misunderstanding me. And that's fine. I'm definitely detecting a bunch of do-as-I-say type of sentiment.

But my mother fled a country (her European home country and the country of her birth) that tried to kill her and every one like her. SO...please pardon me if I don't agree to entertain your Europe is oh-so-much-better than the US diatribe. If one persons difficult experience can indict a whole country of 300m people, well...what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

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

#194

Post by a3n »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #67

U.S. Immigration agents are trained to look for certain traits in visitors: nervousness, unusual or inconsistent answers to questions, history of visiting certain countries. Any of these characteristics trigger an automatic escalation in the interrogation process. This individual, albeit sounding perfectly innocent, unfortunately triggered several hot buttons and the hapless agents were too unimaginative, uninformed,…

> I'm sorry that happened to the submitter, and I hope he'll give us another try some day.

I hope he doesn't. People need to stop coming here, stop doing business here, otherwise there will be no perceived need to change. The Constitution and just plain decency have not proven enough to stop this shit.

Treat us like the backwater shithole that we, by our actions, are aspiring to be. Then maybe we'll change. Otherwise you may as well welcome your new overlords.

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

#195

Post by crusso »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #126
crusso wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US immigration is broken on so many levels. A lot of our immigration problems stem from a political desire to increase voter rolls for one particular party. The Democrat party benefits greatly from illegal immigration from Mexico, so they refuse to do anything whatsoever to control that flow. That's great for Democrats to win elections and all, but it creates a backlash against immigration in general. Ironically, the…

The Democrat party benefits greatly from illegal immigration from Mexico Could you back up that assertion with proof, or at least with some sound reasoning. While I can accept that Latinos tend to vote democrat illegal immigrants can't vote to begin with. So it certainly doesn't follow that "The Democrat party benefits greatly from illegal immigration from Mexico" To me that sounds a bit like partisan mud slinging, I…

Could you back up that assertion with proof

Google "latino voting patterns us" and read.

illegal immigrants can't vote to begin with

1. Don't you think that's kind of a myopic view of reality? The children of illegal immigrants are able to vote. 2. You don't see how extreme pandering to illegal immigrants might play into voting patterns of second and third(+) generation descendants?

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

#196

Post by laichzeit0 »

Yeah this looks like the typical American knee-jerk overreaction to everything these days. It reminded me of the story posted on HN a while back about the guy who got 3 enemas and more asshole searches after getting pulled over for skipping a stop sign and clinching his ass cheeks a bit funny on the car seat while the officer was speaking to him.

What the fuck guys, have the terrorists won? Are you really so shit scared to live normal lives with a slight risk that bad things might go wrong now and then, that you might miss a few bombs, that a few people might die?

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

#197

Post by taoufix »

Fuxy wrote: post #102

Apparently traveling in a lot of countries is grounds for suspicion in the US. Well if you have multiple citizenship you can always just choose which passport you're going to use so how useful is that really?

There should be an app for this: Is is OK to have a [Country X] stamp on my passport when going to [Country Y]?

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

#198

Post by diydsp »

mcv wrote: post #36
jballanc wrote: post #33

I don't think it's ever been easy to get into the US. A tour through Ellis Island will tell you as much. The difference is that, in the past, the US needed its immigrants. They built its cities and its railroads and much of the US's early industry. Later the US's immigrants were its main source of scientific advancements...but the US's relationship with its immigrants has, I think, always been strained. The differenc…

The country is made almost entirely out of immigrants. It's bizarre that they're so closed off and scared of immigrants; they themselves are the children of immigrants.

It's bizarre if expecting the Golden Rule to be followed...

It appears to be a system made to disadvantage newcomers. This is visible in the Baby Boomer's treatment of the younger class, immigration and in frat houses.

"You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl." -Bono Vox

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

#199

Post by Spooky23 »

vasilipupkin wrote: post #73
dferlemann wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a logical issue. It's an emotional one. So, it depends on the person. Wouldn't you held anything against a country if that's country's border control detained you, denied the services you paid for, denied the properties you have in the country, treated you like a sub-human? Would you try to enter that country again? Try, just try to be empathetic...

I agree with you and I am empathetic, but somehow 67 million international tourists manage to enter the U.S. per year, according to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings so perhaps, my advice is, don't overreact.

True, but the onerous nature of the experience has impacted the popularity of the US as a tourist destination.

"The United States' share of the total travel market is down, to 11.2 percent in 2010 from 17.3 percent in 2000"

"There were also big declines in the same period in travel from France (down 23.2 percent), Brazil (down 20.3 percent), Germany (down 19.2 percent) and Japan (down 5.8 percent)."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/business/with-brand-usa-us...

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

#200

Post by Nrsolis »

bighi wrote: post #167
Nrsolis wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's fair to paint all of this as somehow originating with the US. This country doesn't exist in a vacuum and it is shaped by the political and economic forces that surround it. I think people forget that this nation is constantly under some form of "attack" by groups (nation-state and otherwise) who hope to destabilize it or mitigate the power it can wield. I'm an American and I'm fiercely proud of thi…

Your country is constantly under attack? It's as varied in culture and population as Europe? You can go from poor to billionaire? Dude, I surely want to smoke what you're smoking.

Please level up on your reading comprehension and see if you care to reframe your criticism.

And Lloyd Blankfein grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn. In fact, the same housing project that Jay-Z did. It turns out that where hard work and preparation meet opportunity, there is luck to be won.

I was born here as the child of two lower-class immigrant parents from different parts of the globe. Now I'm a one percenter. My wife grew up in a single parent household from the age of three, moved to NYC with $300 20 years ago and is also a wildly successful person.

Rags to riches is not a fairy tale in the USA. It DOES happen but not without lots of hard work. Luck plays a part, but you'd be AMAZED at how many people with the good fortune to be US citizens can't manage to even get out of bed in the morning to take advantage of the amazing opportunities here.

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