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International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

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Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#141
post #112
post #10

I live in Europe. From my perspective going to US looks like going to some kind totalitarian country. First I have to got visa which is not automatically approved because I'm Polish not British. Then I have to go trough a lot of, mostly pointless, security checks, checking social accounts, interrogations, scans and manual personal revisions. On any stage of that I can be handcuffed and sent back to Europe for almost…

Judging by the narrative the media is putting out one would think that Poland is a nightmare patriarchal state where rape victims are denied abortion and politicians agree that woman should be paid less because they are too 'small, weak and unintelligent' for equal pay. Be more critical. Traveling to the US is a breeze for Europeans.

Traveling to the US is a breeze for white Europeans.

FTFY

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#142
post #7

I recently visited the US and I thought the process was going to be hell after reading a lot of these threads on HN. Turns out it was pretty chill, got some questions before boarding and was selected for extra security check. Then upon landing I got like 3 questions from the officer, how long I would stay, where my friends were and what the purpose of my trip was. Sure they didn't seem very friendly but it wasn't a b…

any reason for extra security check, are you white man?

No I don't believe so. I estimate that 1/3 was selected. I am whiter than snow.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#143
post #111

I've traveled from Zürich to Los Angeles on Good Friday (April 14, 2017) for leisure - my first visit since February 2016 and thus my first trip to Trump's 'murrica. I was joined with my dad who recently retired and never has left the continent - his first long haul flight and first time to the US. I feared and prepared for the worst and I even was debating about leaving my iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air at home to avo…

" a friendly immigration officer"

I've never seen this one in the U.S. or anywhere else.

I think they are trained to be neutral or even aloof.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GF traveled to the US for work, a conference in Houston. Everyone that looked Arab of Muslim was 'randomly' picked out of line. Some of the employees had to undress and squat in front of the TSA and one had to undergo cavity searches. These were regular European citizens. Let's just say conferences will be help in Europe or Canada in the future...

it's not random check, it's called profiling i don't see why people have problem with this, what would be point randomly search old (white) retired woman, what risk she present? pretty much same goes for Eastern Asians, etc. if you have biggest odds finding terrorist between dark skinned Muslims, then you will search them the most, nothing random or racist about that, it's like saying i won't take umbrella outside wh…

If you're going to profile and be proud... At least profile the correct demographic.

http://time.com/3934980/right-wing-extremists-white-terroris...

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#145
post #22

I recently visited the US and I thought the process was going to be hell after reading a lot of these threads on HN. Turns out it was pretty chill, got some questions before boarding and was selected for extra security check. Then upon landing I got like 3 questions from the officer, how long I would stay, where my friends were and what the purpose of my trip was. Sure they didn't seem very friendly but it wasn't a b…

> It seems like you run on luck mostly. You only need to give up passwords and such if you are unlucky. How on earth does that make it OK?

It doesn't. I didn't say it is a good procedure. But let's be real, very few get detained or need to give up more information than me.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#146
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically, only ~57% of eligible voters actually voted. Of those, about half voted for Trump. So only about 27% of all eligible voters actually voted for Trump. That is pretty standard for a US presidential election. Those are the rules for democracy, so he is the legitimately elected president. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/10/13587462/...

A large number of Democrats voted for Trump by not voting at all. They made a choice to let Trump win, just to tell Hillary (and the Democratic Party) that they didn't like her! https://www.forbes.com/sites/omribenshahar/2016/11/17/the-no...

This ignores the other parties, which can explain most of the disparity. In Michigan, other candidates got about 1% of the vote in 12 and 5% in 16. Even if it helped Trump win, labeling them "spoilers" just ensures that our terrible system will have this happen again.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#147
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GF traveled to the US for work, a conference in Houston. Everyone that looked Arab of Muslim was 'randomly' picked out of line. Some of the employees had to undress and squat in front of the TSA and one had to undergo cavity searches. These were regular European citizens. Let's just say conferences will be help in Europe or Canada in the future...

I'm calling bullshit on this story. I can't find any reports of TSA conducting these types of cavity searches. Ever.

I couldn't find the story I was looking for but here are a few. Both TSA and CBP represented here; the CBP stories are closer to what the grandparent post describes.

These stories describe sexual assault graphically (to various degrees).

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110906/11065015824/tsa-a...

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/06/woman-sues-borde...

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/201...

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/07/21/cbp-awards-us-citize...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cnns-angela-rye-was-subj...

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#148
post #48
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK seems to be trying its hardest to catch up.

On the visa price front they already beat everyone else. 115$ for half year visa? Or 450$ for two years visa? Great.

that seem pretty reasonable compared to third world country like China where I had to pay like 110€ for yearly FAMILY visa, because why not charge husband of Chinese citizen visa (plus had to renew it each year like some newcomer student) and you can't even work with this visa anyway, according Chinese government you should be freeloading on your spouse

now compare it with my wife in EU - 5 year residence permit for free, of course including work permit and also because she is taking care of our child she got free healthcare insurance

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GF traveled to the US for work, a conference in Houston. Everyone that looked Arab of Muslim was 'randomly' picked out of line. Some of the employees had to undress and squat in front of the TSA and one had to undergo cavity searches. These were regular European citizens. Let's just say conferences will be help in Europe or Canada in the future...

it's not random check, it's called profiling i don't see why people have problem with this, what would be point randomly search old (white) retired woman, what risk she present? pretty much same goes for Eastern Asians, etc. if you have biggest odds finding terrorist between dark skinned Muslims, then you will search them the most, nothing random or racist about that, it's like saying i won't take umbrella outside wh…

I suggest you look up the statistics on percentages of extremists who are/were white males.

Re: International Travel Guide for Basecamp employees

#150
post #10

I live in Europe. From my perspective going to US looks like going to some kind totalitarian country. First I have to got visa which is not automatically approved because I'm Polish not British. Then I have to go trough a lot of, mostly pointless, security checks, checking social accounts, interrogations, scans and manual personal revisions. On any stage of that I can be handcuffed and sent back to Europe for almost…

We had serious plans to go on holiday to the US this year. I have been in the US at least a dozen of times, and absolutely love the desert states, Oregon, and Washington. Entering the US was already a large hassle, but with Trump's travel bans, rumors of phone, laptop, and social media checks, we have decided to postpone our travel plans until the political/security climate improves. Semi-related: we were in the mark…

Is there any real change in the entry procedure to the US after Trump became president? I wouldn't think so.

If you were happy to visit Obama's US, you will hardly find any difference in Trump's US.

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