Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States(alternet.org)
alternet.org
Why I Will Never Go Back to the United States
http://www.alternet.org/why-i-will-never-ever-go-back-united-states?paging=off
360 comments
I'm a US Citizen, currently living abroad. I dread going through CBP when I have to come back through the Orwellian gauntlet. It's as if anyone who wants to travel outside of the US is unpatriotic. I couldn't believe how nice and professional Mexican, Belizean and Guatemalan customs agents have treated me, especially considering the disdain and contempt a seemingly large proportion of US border officials hold for members of those same countries.
Well -- the chickens have come to roost. Terrorism of the 9/11 sort was the result of "faux-colonial faux-terrorism" that certain countries in the west had inflicted on the rest of the world for a long time.
And this sort of thing is happening because they can't just do these things to brown-skinned people, once in a while they have to do these things to white-skinned people. Faux-parity, you know.
Yummy -- tasty tasty faux-chicken.
And this sort of thing is happening because they can't just do these things to brown-skinned people, once in a while they have to do these things to white-skinned people. Faux-parity, you know.
Yummy -- tasty tasty faux-chicken.
> In the Philippines I had to bribe someone in order to get my visa extended for a few days.
No you don't! I have been asked for "visa extention bribes" in many countries. Do not pay them. Cite the countries law and that you follow it. Bribes kill. "Every bribe you pay helps to kill a child." Just don't!
What I learned from the story: If I ever go on a US trip, I get a fresh passport first.
No you don't! I have been asked for "visa extention bribes" in many countries. Do not pay them. Cite the countries law and that you follow it. Bribes kill. "Every bribe you pay helps to kill a child." Just don't!
What I learned from the story: If I ever go on a US trip, I get a fresh passport first.
[deleted]
Another european citizen getting to learn the realities of the world. As many others mentioned he has no idea about what's going on in EU for 'others'. That attitude is almost the same everywhere in the world, only enemies, minorities and passports need to be watched change.
And we know that profiling in this way doesn't work: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/science/03screening.html
Well avoid the questioning where you have been by requesting a new travel passport? It's clean so no questions asked?
This website has disabled scrolling and zooming and all keyboard shortcuts in chrome. This UX ...Real ...
This is sad. Perhaps maybe fly in next time?
It is in US that you will realize your name is your biggest enemy.
Good choice. I hope enough people take their money elsewhere and eventually some good might come out of it.
Something similar happened to me recently. I voluntarily left my job at a US employer, planning to move back home (to Sweden). But first I wanted to spend some time preparing for the move and waiting for my wife to wrap things up. The rules say you have to leave the country the last day of work, so I left for Canada to stay with a friend, and planned to come back on the visa waiver program. I consulted with the company's immigration lawyers and they said this shouldn't be a problem. The US border agents thought differently. After being held and interrogated for 4 hours like a criminal, they concluded that I was lying and they thought I would try to illegally immigrate to the US, because I didn't have enough financial ties to my home country. I had a green card on the way when I quit my job so why wouldn't I just stay if I wanted to immigrate so badly? They didn't care about that or anything else I said. I was sent back into Canada with most of my belongings still being in the US. "Entering the US is a privilege, not a right" I was told. Once you get denied entry it is very difficult to get in again, and you need a visa etc. I decided it was just easier to fly home at that point.
I realize now that I was naive, and many of you would probably say it was my own fault. I thought that if I did something that is not against the rules, things would be fine. Afterwards I found out though that entry into the US is completely the discretion of the border guards. Even if you are legally following the rules, they can deny you on a whim. In this case, I believe they thought I was taking advantage by just leaving the US for a few days and coming back. Which is a valid concern I guess, but if that's so, why wouldn't they put a time limit on how long you have to be away? I think part of my naivety comes from my trusting upbringing in a rural part of a small country.
Either way, it was not the best end to my 5 years in the US, and I doubt I'll be going back anytime soon. This experience just cemented once more that the US is not a country I wish to live in permanently, and have my kids grow up in.
I realize now that I was naive, and many of you would probably say it was my own fault. I thought that if I did something that is not against the rules, things would be fine. Afterwards I found out though that entry into the US is completely the discretion of the border guards. Even if you are legally following the rules, they can deny you on a whim. In this case, I believe they thought I was taking advantage by just leaving the US for a few days and coming back. Which is a valid concern I guess, but if that's so, why wouldn't they put a time limit on how long you have to be away? I think part of my naivety comes from my trusting upbringing in a rural part of a small country.
Either way, it was not the best end to my 5 years in the US, and I doubt I'll be going back anytime soon. This experience just cemented once more that the US is not a country I wish to live in permanently, and have my kids grow up in.
What is immigration control doing these days when very few people actually get stamps in passports? And if I have stamps from Somalia and Libya in my passport, why would I go to the US wihtout first getting a new blank passport? Are stamps in passport really that useful?
Beautiful country. Wonderful, creative, friendly people. Horrible, over-complex, hostile bureaucracy.
I am pretty sure I'm not going back, either.
I am pretty sure I'm not going back, either.
I wonder what other countries have this "non-friendly countries" policy, it could be good to know.
> When I'm supposed to watch my words, I tend to say the wrong ones.
No kidding. Volunteering that he was in Al Qaeda territory... to take pictures of plants. Saying he's a nihilist. Suggesting that the levees in New Orleans might break again while he's visiting. Having Jewish ancestry, but denying being Jewish because not religious.
Also appears he was also traveling alone to many of these places, without any business reason. Entering the US through Canada without having business in Canada sounds like somebody trying to come in a back door, and being nervous to boot.
Even from this one side of the story I'd say the border patrol did their job just fine. I wouldn't have let him into the country in that story.
No kidding. Volunteering that he was in Al Qaeda territory... to take pictures of plants. Saying he's a nihilist. Suggesting that the levees in New Orleans might break again while he's visiting. Having Jewish ancestry, but denying being Jewish because not religious.
Also appears he was also traveling alone to many of these places, without any business reason. Entering the US through Canada without having business in Canada sounds like somebody trying to come in a back door, and being nervous to boot.
Even from this one side of the story I'd say the border patrol did their job just fine. I wouldn't have let him into the country in that story.
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-citizens, so far. Australia under Tony Abbot runs concentration camps for victims of famine, civil war on Nauru:
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/07/25/manu-j25.html
And denying asylum to Hazara victims of taliban terrorism:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/22/asylum-australi...
And in the UK, Home Secretary Theresa May considers immigration control to be more important than the lives of mentally ill people who have been tortured by Boko Haram:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/16/end-of-life-p...
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/07/25/manu-j25.html
And denying asylum to Hazara victims of taliban terrorism:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/22/asylum-australi...
And in the UK, Home Secretary Theresa May considers immigration control to be more important than the lives of mentally ill people who have been tortured by Boko Haram:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/16/end-of-life-p...
As someone said, 'bin Laden has won'.
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 difference is that, today, there seems to have been a shift in attitude. The US no longer thinks that it needs its immigrants. On top of that, the world is a different place today. No longer is "the American dream" unique to America. I know many people who've started businesses and found great success elsewhere in the world.
It may be cliche to say, but only time will tell if the US's new attitude toward immigrants is justified or will prove its undoing. In the mean time, the world is a great big place with many wonderful things to see and people to meet. I don't think you'll miss much if you never go back...
The difference is that, today, there seems to have been a shift in attitude. The US no longer thinks that it needs its immigrants. On top of that, the world is a different place today. No longer is "the American dream" unique to America. I know many people who've started businesses and found great success elsewhere in the world.
It may be cliche to say, but only time will tell if the US's new attitude toward immigrants is justified or will prove its undoing. In the mean time, the world is a great big place with many wonderful things to see and people to meet. I don't think you'll miss much if you never go back...
Back in the late 90's the US was fairly high on my list of travel destinations. At the time I didn't have the finances to visit.
Because of stories like this, it's slipping so low on my list that I'll likely never get there.
Because of stories like this, it's slipping so low on my list that I'll likely never get there.
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Coming from Romania, I also had to face some extra control in US airports + we also need visa which is given also after an interview. Romania is a country with zero terrorism.
I only wish US people to be treated in EU the same way they treat EU people in US.
I only wish US people to be treated in EU the same way they treat EU people in US.
I don't think people from third world will think the same way. Even with all the issues United States is still a very coveted country to immigrate to from say India.
When I clicked through the link to this article, a window popped up asking me to sign a petition to reinstate Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. Given her recent vote in favor of the Patriot Act, that was an interesting warm-up act for the main article.
Had a similar problem when flying into NYC. With an Iranian visa stamp in my passport. "Why would anyone go to Iran???" the lady at the border control said. Then she wrote CTR on my immigration form (my imagination believes it means 'Check for Terrorist Record'). Then she showed it to a guy with a machine gun and he replied "Is he a fugitive or something?". Had to wait in a room to talk with some guy. I showed him my passport which has a lot of stamps. "Oh so you were backpacking?". Yup. "Ok you go can".
Sounds like the U.S. doesn't want him back.
I've traveled to over 30 countries and the U.S. does not have a monopoly on rude bureaucratic custom officials.
My worst story is probably in Germany where the border officer would not let me take the used car I had purchased in Germany across the border because the chain of title in my registration was out of order. He ended up calling all the previous owners in the title to determine the proper chain of title before he would let me leave the country with it.
I've traveled to over 30 countries and the U.S. does not have a monopoly on rude bureaucratic custom officials.
My worst story is probably in Germany where the border officer would not let me take the used car I had purchased in Germany across the border because the chain of title in my registration was out of order. He ended up calling all the previous owners in the title to determine the proper chain of title before he would let me leave the country with it.
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's very unnerving - but I guess that's the whole point right? Keep everyone unnerved and therefore divided and under control. On one side you have the people who are afraid of those who are doing the policing and on the other side you have the people afraid of foreigners (or people who "look" like foreigners).
With that said, I think there's a larger culture of militant xenophobia running rampant in federal, state, and local policing. It's very unnerving - but I guess that's the whole point right? Keep everyone unnerved and therefore divided and under control. On one side you have the people who are afraid of those who are doing the policing and on the other side you have the people afraid of foreigners (or people who "look" like foreigners).
I went for a interview with Facebook recently from India and had a really different experience. The CBP guy was really gentle and just reminded me to not work for Facebook in my days there and that's it, I was in USA. I just had a small carry bag and no luggage so another one of them asked me why I have no luggage and I told them that I am only there for 3 days. I agree US can be a bit paranoid of these things but compared to people trying to enter USA I think very few face the kind of hostility the author faced.
He tried to enter on the US Visa Waiver program. If the guard doesn't like you then you don't get in.
Getting a visa in advance does make the guard do more paperwork if they refuse entry.
From some US gov website; --- To use the program, visitors must waive all rights of review or appeal of decisions made by an immigration officer and all rights to contest action in deportation except for asylum.
Getting a visa in advance does make the guard do more paperwork if they refuse entry.
From some US gov website; --- To use the program, visitors must waive all rights of review or appeal of decisions made by an immigration officer and all rights to contest action in deportation except for asylum.
99.9% of visitors do pass, because they are consistent with certain profiles--business visitor, tourist visitor, never-been-anywhere-bad visitor. Even for them, it's a rather unpleasant and rude experience that leaves a bad taste.
There's no question that our border control and immigration system needs an overhaul. The stupidity and counter productivity of the agents who scrutinize every incoming person (except for a few thousand Mexicans every day, but that's another topic :) inspires little confidence that they would actually recognize a terrorist, who would undoubtedly be carrying a false or sanitized passport to avoid just such questions.
I'm sorry that happened to the submitter, and I hope he'll give us another try some day. If his story gets out to the right person or persons, it might even make a difference. I'm not convinced that Border control people will ever hear about it if posted here, but he can contact them directly: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/175/~/complaint...
By the way, this kind of profiling or over-profiling is not confined to U.S. Border Control agents. I have seen identical behavior by Canadian agents, too. 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 to try to entrap me into admitting I was in Canada to work or some such thing. I was born in Canada as it clearly states on my US passport, and he asked me where I was born, then looked at my companion with a sneer on his face as though to show his disbelief. It was entirely unpleasant, but in the end we passed. I learned not to say I was there to take a class. Just visiting. Hope to spend lots of money. Ok, have a nice day!