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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

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Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#41

Post by monerozcash »

barbazoo wrote: post #33
nisegami wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CBP actually made me give them my facebook password when entering on a J1 visa in 2017, so I'm surprised to hear so much talk about this. Is it more that the practice of checking social media is more widespread now?

If one didn’t have an account with meta they just wouldn’t get the visa then or how does it work? Does the government have any direct link to meta re what accounts people actually have. I’m surprised people aren’t up in arms about this, I guess it affects mostly visitors and immigrants but the fact that the government needs to see your activity on a private company’s web app is wild to me.

"I don't use social media" is probably a good answer, it just has to be true.

If they ask you "well, do you use any social media?" You'd presumably have to answer with HN, which maybe doesn't sound all that great :)

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#42

Post by monerozcash »

miotintherain wrote: post #11

Hi Peter, thanks for the AMA! I work for an American company and I am based in Europe. I visit the US for work every now and then. I heard a lot of horror stories regarding border entries. If I am ever in a situation where the border police asks for access to my personal phone and pin code, what are my options? Can I refuse and what happens then?

I think this EFF document probably provides a more comprehensive answer than what can be provided in a HN comment https://www.eff.org/files/2017/03/10/digital-privacy-border-...

Peter might have good insights on whether the relevant case law has changed since 2017 though.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#46

Post by jml78 »

Just a high level question. My youngest son was adopted. He isn't white. He is naturalized. Should we go ahead and renew his passport so he can carry around a passport card at this point(we never got one in the past because they seemed like a waste). It seems crazy but with people being grabbed off the street for being brown, it seems prudent have a quick way to prove citizenship.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#48

Post by nisegami »

barbazoo wrote: post #33
nisegami wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CBP actually made me give them my facebook password when entering on a J1 visa in 2017, so I'm surprised to hear so much talk about this. Is it more that the practice of checking social media is more widespread now?

If one didn’t have an account with meta they just wouldn’t get the visa then or how does it work? Does the government have any direct link to meta re what accounts people actually have. I’m surprised people aren’t up in arms about this, I guess it affects mostly visitors and immigrants but the fact that the government needs to see your activity on a private company’s web app is wild to me.

Yes, it did occur to me that there would be no way to verify it. But it felt like it was in my best interest to at least provide something.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#49

Post by rwmj »

nisegami wrote: post #24
proberts wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's right, both before US Consulates when applying for visas, before CBP when applying for admission, and before USCIS when applying for a benefit (H-1B, O-1, green card, etc.), social media is being reviewed, not across-the-board but more and more. And there's really no option to keep social media as private if asked to turn to public by a Consular Officer or CBP Officer. The review is broad and not limited to so…

CBP actually made me give them my facebook password when entering on a J1 visa in 2017, so I'm surprised to hear so much talk about this. Is it more that the practice of checking social media is more widespread now?

I think the only bit that surprises me is they don't have a back door into Facebook.

Re: I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

#50

Post by lcc »

monerozcash wrote: post #42
miotintherain wrote: post #11

Hi Peter, thanks for the AMA! I work for an American company and I am based in Europe. I visit the US for work every now and then. I heard a lot of horror stories regarding border entries. If I am ever in a situation where the border police asks for access to my personal phone and pin code, what are my options? Can I refuse and what happens then?

I think this EFF document probably provides a more comprehensive answer than what can be provided in a HN comment https://www.eff.org/files/2017/03/10/digital-privacy-border-... Peter might have good insights on whether the relevant case law has changed since 2017 though.

The only relevant part from that document is this line from page 33: "Foreign visitors have the fewest rights... if a foreign visitor refuses a border agent’s demand to unlock their digital device, provide the device password, or provide social media information, and the agent responds by denying entry, the foreign visitor may have little legal recourse."
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