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

Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States

alternet.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

281–290 of 375 posts

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

#281

Post by goatforce5 »

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,…

> All I had to do was mention I was going to take a class, and the guy made us go into an interrogation room where he asked repeated, annoying questions

When I got my Canadian work visa the one point that the immigration agent specifically highlighted on the visa paperwork was that I wasn't permitted to attend university while I was here.

Damn foreigners coming here to get subsidized education? Not sure why it was such a big deal for them.

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

#282

Post by scottjad »

bmelton wrote: post #213
CaptainZapp wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> illegal immigrants can't vote to begin with On a related note, this is why there's a rather huge debate over whether or not someone should be required to provide identification when they vote. Without trying to spark a partisan discussion, those taking positions against voter ID requirements are the ones you'd expect to be opposed to illegal immigrants voting, and those in favor of voter ID requirements are the one…

> Without trying to spark a partisan discussion, those taking positions against voter ID requirements are the ones you'd expect to be opposed to illegal immigrants voting, and those in favor of voter ID requirements are the ones you'd expect to benefit the most from illegal immigrants voting.

I think you have this backwards, perhaps unintentionally. North Carolina, with its Republican controlled Senate, and House, and Governor has passed voter ID laws. They are being challenged by the Democrat-controlled US Department of Justice.

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

#284

Post by fsniper »

dragonwriter wrote: post #265
igravious wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you need ID to travel from L.A. to Phoenix?

> Do you need ID to travel from L.A. to Phoenix? By commercial air, yes; in the US, you need ID and a matching boarding pass to enter the secured area of an airport, which is an essential prerequisite to boarding an airplane.

Then answer this bizarre question; Why would a person with the intention of doing some stunt use mismatching documents? If this person is a terrorist or some kind of outlaw, would not s/he use fake docs telling a story reputable to customs officers/TSA?

I believe this security theatre is nothing but a money sink hole. Use whatever means are necessary to make transportation unpleasant to honest travelers if it does not even mean to stop any outlaw.

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

#285

Post by bmelton »

scottjad wrote: post #282
bmelton wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> illegal immigrants can't vote to begin with On a related note, this is why there's a rather huge debate over whether or not someone should be required to provide identification when they vote. Without trying to spark a partisan discussion, those taking positions against voter ID requirements are the ones you'd expect to be opposed to illegal immigrants voting, and those in favor of voter ID requirements are the one…

> Without trying to spark a partisan discussion, those taking positions against voter ID requirements are the ones you'd expect to be opposed to illegal immigrants voting, and those in favor of voter ID requirements are the ones you'd expect to benefit the most from illegal immigrants voting. I think you have this backwards, perhaps unintentionally. North Carolina, with its Republican controlled Senate, and House, an…

Indeed. It's too late to edit now, which is sad, since I was trying to avoid making party references, and got the example exactly backwards.

Thanks for the correction.

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

#286

Post by userulluipeste »

ankushnarula wrote: post #70

This is disgusting. But then the more I think about I wonder if I was a CBP officer how would I behave if I didn't want to be the officer who allowed a terrorist into the US who manages to succeed with some plot. Far fetched perhaps, but I think that mentality has created a culture in CBP. With that said, I think there's a larger culture of militant xenophobia running rampant in federal, state, and local policing. It…

"I wonder if I was a CBP officer how would I behave if I didn't want to be the officer who allowed a terrorist into the US who manages to succeed with some plot."

Well, how about having solid reasons for detaining someone, something better than "Who takes a coat to the U.S. in the summer?" And speaking about attitude, be polite at least until you have enough incriminating evidence! Just to offer an example from the article itself - shouting at the drug-smuggler was OK in my book, whereas "what the hell were you doing in Yemen" was not.

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

#287

Post by moocowduckquack »

cstross wrote: post #24

Interestingly, in the developed world it seems to be the Anglophone countries that have the shittiest attitude towards border control these days. The US is notoriously user-hostile at the borders. The UK is doing its best to catch up in a Mini-Me way with the USA's Dr Evil, and is actually on course to become even more hostile than the USA -- the only mitigating factor is that the third degree is reserved for non-cit…

I'm from the UK and personally I think we are the last people who should be winging about immigration, given how much of the map we painted red.

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

#288

Post by ilaksh »

The border interrogations and searches are not providing any substantive security benefit. It is amazing to me that we permit this to continue.

The terrorism myth used to justify hostile wars for resources and territorial control has also been very useful in removing the ordinary rights of citizens at the borders. We should not be surprised if this is extended to the interior of the countries.

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

#289

Post by njharman »

leoedin wrote: post #180
fn wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I was born in Canada as it clearly states on my US passport Just wondering why you didn't enter Canada with your Canadian passport then?

A Canadian passport (until very recently) lasts 5 years and costs $120. (a 10 year one is available for $160). Getting a Canadian passport outside of Canada is a nightmare (unless you happen to have a Canadian embassy nearby) and costs even more - $260 for a 10 year passport. Unless you really need 2 passports, there's not much reason to get one.

It being not a US passport would be reason enough for me. Travelling anywhere in the world (save US or maybe Liberia) I would much, much rather be showing a CA passport than a USA one.

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

#290

Post by oijaf888 »

dragonwriter wrote: post #265
igravious wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you need ID to travel from L.A. to Phoenix?

> Do you need ID to travel from L.A. to Phoenix? By commercial air, yes; in the US, you need ID and a matching boarding pass to enter the secured area of an airport, which is an essential prerequisite to boarding an airplane.

Really? Do you know when that policy changed? As of 2012 it was quite possible to fly without a photo id. (e.g. http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/11/flying-without-a-p...)
Post reply on HN