I wasn't trying to suggest in my comment that US is slipping into a soviet state.

However, I think it can remain democratic and anti-socialist, but still use surveillance methods against its citizens that would be a Stalin's wet dream.

And you might not be moving towards clearing people for travel - but at the same time, you don't need to. If you have information where everyone is and what everyone is doing, it achieves exact same result, doesn't it? Communist government would keep your passport to stop you from leaving - but nowadays governments can do that even if they let you keep your passport. Boarder agents have access to a central database, and a single note there can stop you from leaving the country forever. US government can effectively exile its own citizens by placing them on the no-fly lists while they are abroad,and obviously no one will ever tell you why you ended up on one. US might not be literally using the same methods Soviets did, but if you think about it, the final results are frighteningly similar. And yes, I am glad that the general populace is NOT happy with the government's actions and that there is an uproar against them. There is still hope. But I find it absolutely sickening how US is presenting itself as a "bastion of freedom" even though it still has places like guantanamo, or where journalists are forbidden from writing about some cases, under the threat of spending several years in prison. This is not how a free country should look like.