I have a coworker travelling there in July. Unwillingly, I’ve been more or less been kept in the loop what preparing the trip implies and I’m pretty horrified.
Up until now, these are some of demands made (and accepted):
- full disclosure and acess to social networks
- criminal record
- recent photo, perfectly groomed and in the attire to be used to travel there. No deviations will be tolerated from the supplied photo.
- complete list of possible identifying marks on the body, with pictures (tattoos, moles, melanistic spots, scars, etc)
- name and social networks of parents, siblings and other close relatives, including children.
The person is separated with two children; this is causing a lot of friction.
- has already been warned an interview of up to two hours will be held upon arrival.
The person speaks broken english at best.
- disclosure of place of employment and other connections to public organizations
They are connected to a local soccer club and a youth sports association.
To add to all of this, this isn’t a standard caucasian human but someone who has looks that can be taken for someone from the middle east, slightly darker shade of skin included.
Flying from southern europe straight to Florida.
I’m concerned. I would not go, full stop. They have people waiting there for them but nonetheless. Considering the heated state of affairs, it is something I consider of not easily to overlook risk.
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I landed home from US yesterday. It was my first time travelling there, had no issues and it was safe as long as you are taking basic precautions in some areas. I stayed in good areas, people were very nice and friendly too. It is quite unlike the constant bombardment of negative news I read before going there, that got me worried as well, however being from first world English speaking country passport and ethnic immigrant appearance I did not have to provide social network of parents and siblings and process was easier. It is stricter for some countries than others at the immigration but that is at my home as well.
If I was him, I would not go. Simple as that. The US is no safe place for travel.
Clearly I’m ignorant due to not traveling out of the country in decades, but those demands are shocking to me. We really have devolved into a fascist shithole, huh? They’ll probably be fine, but I certainly wouldn’t risk it.
In that interview, they will ONLY be looking for reasons to deny her entry, not to let her in, and they will find something. Then all her expense and trouble will be wasted. I wouldn’t bother.
I’m a white Texan and now try to avoid flying anywhere, even in the United States, due to ICE’s presence at airports. I’m glad your coworker is such an optimist and sees this as an opportunity, but that’s completely illogical. If someone were to tell me that they paid for me to have a one-on-one experience with a caged lion, I’d only see that as an opportunity to practice saying “no.” Even if the lion told me it has countless job opportunities for me.
Even Americans, who aren’t Caucasian, are being put into ICE detention (or deported). The US is a dangerous place for anyone with darker skin. Even worse for visitors. Not even safe for Canadians.
They start with the dark skins and then they turn on the rest.
Considering how hard they are demonizing trans people, it’s only a matter of time before they go after the gays. I have a bug out bag ready to go if I need to hide in the wilderness.
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Heard the herd?
You heard what he said. And he’s probably one of those people who doesn’t consider proper spelling & noticing the difference between homonyms/homophones.
Don’t go. At all, for any reason. If what has already transpired during Trump’s second term hasn’t been enough reason to avoid travel, its on him if anything bad happens.
Can’t say you weren’t warned.
I’ve tried easing the notion to my coworker but the opportunity to travel abroad, even more because the tickets have been paid for by others, is too big to miss. Their words, not mine.
Why doesn’t he just fly to El Salvador directly and save time. I’m a Caucasian male and I wouldn’t go to the US right now, he definitely shouldn’t risk it.
I’d be problematic anyway because I genuinely don’t have a social media presence, which I’m sure they would find suspicious. And I’m pretty sure my 70-year-old parents don’t have one either.
I was just mentioning that as well. What could be the reception of someone with no social presence and no electronics upon arriving? I’d refuse giving details of relatives as well.
Your friend needs to ask the people who paid for the tickets if they’ll pay for legal representation and to get him released from whatever incarceration awaits him if he falls foul of the regime there. Assume this could run to hundreds of thousands of US dollars.
Also, given your description of him, I think that’s incredibly likely to happen.
They’ll say he’s guilty of something, so those friends won’t be sure whether he acted illegally or not.
I actively fear that.
2/10 if you’re white. 5/10 if you’re not.
I am a meat popsicle
Multipass!
White or not you are going to be sent to Alligator Auschwitz pronto quick. How many instances of no matter who it it and there is a problem with paperwork somewhere you are toast. Simple stuff like tickets, traffic infractions. Just read the news.
There were cases, yes. Probably 0.0001% of all the white people that visited USA during that time. There are many reasons not to go to USA but being scared of ICE is not even in the top 3. If you have to go because of work or for personal reasons just make sure you’re papers are in order and you’ll be fine. If you’re thinking about traveling for pleasure - don’t. It’s a shithole country.
Statistics are great until you are one of them. There are many other reasons not to go as well. I know I will never return to the us as long as I live.
Edit: as I said before. Read the news, not us news but world news. A lot higher than you think.
Tourist are also robbed and murdered in Europe. Tiny fraction of all the visitors but it happens. Would you the same in this case? That statistics are great until you’re one of them?
Not the venue I was referring to, sorta a track jump.
We’re talking how dangerous some places are. You’re saying that people should be worried about the tiny probability of being detained by ICE. Should they also be worried about the tiny probability of being murdered in Europe?
I am talking the us right now not other countries. One can always find an exception to the rule. IMO it is unsafe to travel in the us right now compared to how it used to be. Again IMO why would I take the chance if I don’t need to. Also I do not travel anywhere anymore as I am old and do not feel safe pretty much anywhere these days compared to travel in the past due to either age or times.
After reading all these comments, the impression I’m getting is: shithole country
At this current time, I wouldn’t recommend it. Generally speaking the people are welcoming and the things to see are plentiful.
But the issues visitors will run into aren’t with the people or landmarks. I don’t want to deal with law enforcement here and I’m a white male middle class citizen.
It is, don’t go there. I mean I love it here, but you wouldn’t.
Be aware of where these comments are coming from. There might be a slight bias here.
Yeah the exaggeration in here is wild
It’s a shithole country and it’s awful but coming here in a business trip is going to be without incident, it’s not fucking judge dredd
Yeah like what the fuck. Get a burner phone for travel? Extra clothes? Being followed?
Realistically, most people entering as tourists need to be concerned with CBP asking for unlocked access to your phone, which will disappear into a back room for a few minutes while they presumably steal all your credentials. The broader scare stories about detention, interrogation, and deportation are really very rare.
I have some (stupid) non-white-passing family that have been travelling to the US (including Florida) regularly and they have had zero issues.
I would absolutely not go. Full stop. But when you look at the real numbers, tourist entry into the US isn’t down all that much and most people who desire to go don’t have any issues with immigration.
You used to hear about needing a burner phone when visiting China, that it is now also required to visit the US is insane.
They probably won’t let you in if you bring a burner phone to USA
What is a burner phone? A phone with no direct association with your name? A prepaid plan?
I’ve mentioned this in the thread: what would be the reaction if someone arrived there with no electronics on them? And if further stated they did not intended to buy any for their stay? What could happen?
Honestly they would probably just back-track you because you’ll be more suspicious. Idk I’m just theory crafting but customs can look up employment and other data instantly, idk what else
You mean my civilian public identity data?
Let’s speak about me now: I have no social media presence and I like it like that. I pay my taxes, I drive a 20+ years car. I’m boring and I enjoy it as it is.
Someone telling me I seem suspicious because I have no electronics and no interest in using it would be gold.
Actual event: I was once stopped for speeding. The police pulling me up asked me if I hadn’t seen the FB post warning for the speed radar. And I bluntly put it that I had no account on the network. Their face was priceless. I got fined for speeding, fair, but that was that. Social networks are not official communication channels. They want to be, but they are not.
Anything could happen. To be totally honest, most Americans, myself included, have never been outside of the country, so we don’t know.
If I had to speculate based on the news, the fact that he isn’t white, doesn’t speak English well, and may have no electronics/ questionable electronics, all adds up to a high likelihood of him being detained for an indeterminate amount of time, and potentially being deported to somewhere that no one wants to be.
The phone part I wasn’t aware. There’s another reason to never keep sensible info in a phone and commit all accesses to memory.
Don’t take your phone with you. Put your sensitive information and credentials into Bitwarden. Buy a cheap smartphone from the U.S., install Bitwarden and use it. When leaving, log out of Bitwarden, delete the app, reset the phone and leave it behind.
I am not going anywhere.
But you made me wonder. What would be the reaction if someone went there and not carried a cellphone nor any other electronic equipment? And now I’m thinking about my own personal use of it. I can survive without internet for long bouts and my most important credentials are commited to memory, along with important numbers.
What could happen if someone just arrived at the gates with two book, a notebook and perhaps a couple of mechanical pencils and a pen?
My lawyers at my university say this behavior will get you detained. Really making it look like you have something to hide.
the phone part also means YOU are exposed and documented by the US fascists to the extent they have any messaging or email history with you on their phone. And everyone else they’ve messaged.
If i ever goto the USA again I’m taking a spare phone i have in my draw.
It’ll have nothing on it except for apps I absolutely need.
The Canadian travel advisories site claims that it is generally safe to travel to the US: https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/united-states
Frankly, I think they are bullshitting because of Canada’s diplomatic position with the US.
When was that last updated though? Cuz that a problem- a lot of countries are slow to updating that information especially when the country is still considered an ally legally through treaties
According to the site, it was last updated 2 days ago.
Well you can color us surprised lol, what’s it say now?
Wow thats really fucked up considering I could jump in my car and drive across the border into the US right now and the border guards most likely wouldnt look at me twice
We went across last year twice and they just wanted to know why and where were staying, didnt even ask for proof
So its highly dependant on your origin country (im Canadian) and skin colour (im pasty white)
I usually have more trouble coming back into the US than crossing into Canada.
Forget it. Even before this shit happened, a middle eastern looking friend of mine had to stop going to US conferences because he would always get turned away at the border.
The person speaks broken english at best.
This makes everything that came before even more dangerous. One misunderstanding and they will put you in a holding cell for weeks.
years ago some researcher was on the news and often got extra harassed at their border for his middle eastern sounding name (but not actually related at all)
likely even worse now
This was very common back to the early 2000s.
don’t, just don’t.
if you have to, refuse.
stay out of the US right now. not because it’s particularly unsafe to be inside the country, but because it’s incredibly difficult to safely get inside.
not only that, but going to Florida is like starting foreplay with licking a dirty asshole. some might be into that, but everyone will end up with shit mouth by the end of the night.
I’m not going anywhere.
You made a pretty grim image. I’ll have nightmares, tonight.
I wouldn’t do it lol. I’m from the USA and I don’t even wanna leave because I don’t wanna deal with our fucking customs guys.
Pre-COVID (Trump’s first time) I took a trip to Europe. All of the European customs officials were polite and professional, did what they needed to do, and still made me feel welcome in their country. When I returned to America, the customs official checking me back into the country was mean-mugging the entire time, rude, and acted like I wasn’t welcome back to my own home.
