Welcome to America, where we read your private mail, track all your movements online, shoot your dogs, abuse you at the borders, put antibiotics in your food, bankrupt you when you get sick, throw you in jail with hardened criminals if you smoke a spliff, and drone-execute you with no warrant if the president doesn't like you. Would you like fries with that?
I would like to criticize your comment, but I can't. It's not completely fair, but it's clear to me the US has somehow lost its way. It's a shame.
No, if they suspect you of lying, then of course they're not going to coach you on what's allowed so you can say the right thing. That makes no sense. Their overall reaction seems way out of proportion here, I agree. But the general tactic of questioning someone seems sorta like the entire point of having these agents in the first place.
Maybe I'm naive but I'd thought along the line that they could issue a warning that he needs a visa to enter and will unlikely be granted access without it. If he gives false information in the visa that process is probably the only option left - but in my opinion this still does not justify the treatment.
Perhaps I don't understand what you're proposing? What would they warn people? He had to go through ESTA and within 2 clicks from the US Embassy Germany's page on that, it says if you're being paid for performing you're not applicable.
Well I'm glad this didn't happen to me. I travelled to the US in very similar circumstances a few weeks ago: European, carrying a guitar, visiting the South, previously stayed in the US on a J-1 intern visa. The only difference being that I had a one-way ticket. I didn't even go through secondary at customs. No issues.
The fact that it's arbitrary doesn't make it any better.
Not defending these immigration officials by any means. It's just a timely and mildly interesting anecdote.
While I agree that this person was probably treated very poorly, I also want to point out that they were traveling for work purposes. In the United States, non-US citizens entering the country for work purposes are generally required to get a visa. There are a few (and very few at that) business exceptions to this process, as listed here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html He stated that he w…
What the frail are you talking about? Why the hell do we have such ridiculous laws to begin with? What the hell kind of country have we become? It's certainly not the land of the FREE! The terrorists won. We lost.
Well I'm glad this didn't happen to me. I travelled to the US in very similar circumstances a few weeks ago: European, carrying a guitar, visiting the South, previously stayed in the US on a J-1 intern visa. The only difference being that I had a one-way ticket. I didn't even go through secondary at customs. No issues.
Mexico has a similar law. Near where my parents live, they recently started enforcing it with some vigor. The problem being that foreign musicians (mostly Americans) were playing shows for "donations". Whether that was actual donations or bar owners donating was unclear, but either way it was plausible that these people were displacing musicians entitled to work. The shorter version: jackasses getting around a law ca…
I have another interpretation: bad laws are impossible to enforce in a just way. I have no idea why anyone should be required to have a special visa to work in the US. Because we are selfish?
"I have no idea why anyone should be required to have a special visa to work in the US. Because we are selfish?"
Seriously? If the US didn't have immigration requirements, half the world would move there, causing the society and infrastructure to collapse? I can't see how unrestricted immigration benefits the US at all (I'm not a US citizen).
It's like saying about Rodney King, "well, our police are brutal, but after all he was speeding and resisting arrest." This kind of statement is a sophists trick, knowingly or not, to justify the unjustifiable. I don't care what this guy "did", he shouldn't have been treated this way. If he broke the rules and we need to deport him, fine. Then do it. Don't strip search him, threaten him, go through his personal effec…
While I agree on the overreaction, no, it's not just about paying for a work visa. It's determining eligibility and whatnot. He even admits that it's "very difficult" to get such a visa. Certainly you don't want to encourage people to attempt entry illegally (under false premises) with the fallback of paying for the visa. Going through his "personal effects" is one way to determine is someone is lying. Strip search s…
Well, I'm not going to get derailed by the not important conversation that you seem to want to start regarding appropriate work visa policies. Whatever that policy is, it CANNOT include the kind of stupidity described in this persons post. No more intimidation, no more molestation, no more angry, invasive, demeaning, bullying, just plain awful treatment of anyone like this, ever again, for any reason. Frankly we need to treat everyone with a great deal more respect, no matter what they're accused of doing.
America's border control system is so broken that it saddens me to see posts like this that reek of sensationalism (I mean, it's Vice ) and hide the fact that, you know, he didn't have a valid visa. I'm having trouble understanding what was so deplorable about this story besides the reprehensible treatment by the officials (which, again, seems exaggerated)? Am I misreading the story or is refusal to enter the country…
Do you need a visa to visit the US for a couple weeks? He did have a passport.
If he's German, then he can use ESTA if he qualifies for the Visa Waiver Program. But performing for compensation (tips + food) is probably technically work so that wouldn't help, and he'd need a work visa, like he says in the article.
While I agree that this person was probably treated very poorly, I also want to point out that they were traveling for work purposes. In the United States, non-US citizens entering the country for work purposes are generally required to get a visa. There are a few (and very few at that) business exceptions to this process, as listed here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html He stated that he w…
I don't have knowledge about the US border and visa requirements and procedures. But even if he did made a mistake wouldn't it be easier to inform him before he enters the plane? And avoid interrogating him without letting him know what the problem was? The process he got ranks pretty high on the crazy paranoid side. I'm sure there are ways to solve the security and visa issues in a way that does not leave traumatic…
But even if he did made a mistake wouldn't it be easier to inform him before he enters the plane?
Some airports in EU countries (eg Shannon in Ireland) have pre-clearance for passengers to the US at the departure end, ie you go through US passport control first and when you get on the plane it is legally a domestic US flight. This is unusual however, just as Americans typically deal with EU passport control at the EU end rather than before leaving the US.
If you want to avoid dealing with these problems in the airport, the solution is to apply for a visa from the US embassy before departure.
While I agree that this person was probably treated very poorly, I also want to point out that they were traveling for work purposes. In the United States, non-US citizens entering the country for work purposes are generally required to get a visa. There are a few (and very few at that) business exceptions to this process, as listed here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html He stated that he w…
What the frail are you talking about? Why the hell do we have such ridiculous laws to begin with? What the hell kind of country have we become? It's certainly not the land of the FREE! The terrorists won. We lost.
You realize how high US salaries are? As a developer I can't get even half of what I'm making there, unless it's some ridiculously expensive country like Switzerland.
If US were to open its borders for anybody who wants to work, it would collapse your labor market instantly. And it won't be the poor mexicans looking for low level jobs. It will be Indians, Chinese, Russians moving in millions to get a piece of that pie.
That's US has an H1B work visa program. It's not perfect, but it lets the government control the influx of highly skilled and cheap labor that will take most skilled Americans out of business.