Re:I Had My Electronics Seized by U.S. Customs and Border Pr...
by kevin_thibedeau on Sunday January 22, 2017 @11:11AM
(#13455748)
I once knew a Mexican green card holder whose name was a soundex match to someone on the most wanted list. Suffice to say re-entering the US was a challenge for him.
Re:I Had My Electronics Seized by U.S. Customs and Border Pr...
by lrem on Sunday January 22, 2017 @11:53AM
(#13455927)
A friend of mine happens to have a somewhat similar surname and come from the same country as a known terrorist. He just gave up and refuses to travel to USA any more, despite being a senior engineer in Google.
Some colleagues and I get back from Barcelona in December and while I didn't have any problems [1], my colleague who is Indian born, but with a green card, was questioned for 30 or so minutes. Gladly he didn't have his electronics seized but as a permanent resident of this country, one would have expected some better treatment.
American border security has been among the most draconian one since I set foot into this country in 2007 [2]. I don't have high hopes from the next 4 to 8 years either. Conferences should start moving outside of the US. I don't see a point in non-Americans wanting to vacation in the US either -- there are a lot of other great places in the world.
[1] I am born in the Middle East, with a name that raises all the alarm bells for the DHS and was on the NSEERS list. I was detained in 2010 for a few hours in DC on my way back from the Middle East (everything short of a full cavity search was done). As soon as I got my green card, I applied for Global Entry and now don't have to interact with any border security agents on my way back into the country.
[2] In my early days, my boarding pass would have SSSS either hand written or printed on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_Security_Screening_S...