I’d diagree that a Briton wouldn’t have anything to worry about entering the United States. After all, two Canadians have already learned that a Canadian passport is no defence against wrongful deportation:
Maher Arar was deported to Syria, where he was tortured, rather than to Canada where he is a citizen.
Even less explicable is the case of Berna Cruz, who on her way home from visiting family in India, was deported to Kuwait for no apparent reason, when an immigration official, looking at her passport while she was taking a connecting flight, thought it looked “funky.” She was accused of lying on her passport because he didn’t think “Cruz” sounded like an Indian name.
I’d add – and this is strictly anecdotal – that a lot of my friends from other countries have run into major hassles with US immigration in the last few years, especially the ones who happen to be dark-skinned. I believe that there is a certain level of institutionalized racism and paranoia in the system, and it would serve some of these officials right if they lost their jobs as a result of a decline in foreign tourism to the US.
That said, I also believe that exposure to people from other cultures is the best way to fight ignorance and prejudice – on both sides. And that my country is well worth visiting. (Where in the US are you thinking of going, by the way?)
It’s your call, and I won’t say your concerns are completely unfounded, but it would be a shame to let fear dictate your vacation plans.
I don’t think I understand this. Are you saying that the lack of terrorism in the US indicates that security is not working? What would you need to see to convince yourself that it is working?
It’s quite possible that the 9/11 highjackers slipped through the net due to bureaucratic bungling. I’ve never seen any evidence that curtailing civil rights would have enabled our intelligence agencies to apprehend those people; it appears that they had information but failed to act on it. It’s ironic that the government responds to this SNAFU by adding more and more layers of bureaucracy. They’re trying to close the barn door after the horse got out. Not only that, but it’s the wrong door as well.
That probably true. So, my recommendation is to behave yourself when you’re here. Treat the place as if you were a visitor in someone else’s house.
Besides, I understand that this is true of almost any country. If the local government decides that you are a threat, they can hold you indefinitely with no recourse available to you.
You don’t have to. I’m sure that there are many countries in Africa, The Middle East, South America, and Southeast Asia that would more than welcome you to their country and help you to make certain financial arrangements for your eventual safe return.
In fact, I just got an email from a nice man in Nigeria who wants me to visit his wonderful country and help him with some financial troubles that he’s having.
Indeed. And when you’re at it, Kadi, look at my piles, will you.
[btw: one f in efendi is sufficient. ]
blowero do you think ‘bureaucracy’ is the right word for security measures? I honestly don’t mind getting fingerprinted if it helps to keep people safe and sound.
Now if someone is convicted of a crime with full due process and a fair trial. I think we can all agree holding them for punishment is a different story. It would even be okay to hold them for trial as long as it quick as mentioned in the Bill of Rights.
You sound like an ok guy who values freedom? If the rest of your opinions are as freedom loving as what you have said in your initial statement, lots of “real americans” will be friendly to you.
I am not going to say whether it is embarraassing or not but even Americans know that any country which would require that from Americans would lose a lot of American tourists so I would say it is as uncomfortable or embarrassing for Americans as it is for anybody else.
Most Americans certainly would object seriously if the US government tried to fingerprint them all in the name of security.
P.S. I should clarify that I think US VISIT, fingerprints, photos, and all, is a ludicrous program which will expend a ridiculous level of resources without doing much of anything to improve actual security. Fingerprints are useless unless you correlate them with actual intelligence, and I don’t think fingerprints or photos would have done anything to stop 9/11. Besides, US VISIT exempts people who are already visa-exempt, so say you are a UK national who was born in Libya? You aren’t going to be fingerprinted or photographed. There are a lot of potential holes.
However, I wouldn’t let much short of a full cavity search deter me from visting anywhere. I had to show a negative AIDS test to go to the USSR. It was crazy, but I did it. But then I’m a little wackier and more adventurous than most.
Just a quick note… don’t know how it is elsewhere… but fingerprinting is usually what you do to arrested criminals.
How good is this fingerprinting technology ? Eventually they will have millions of finger prints in their data banks and I suppose they have to act fast on it… no good “recognizing” a terrorist when he has already left the airport. I suppose it has to ID the fingerprint in seconds… seems quite hard no matter what technology you have.
I am a US citizen, never been arrested, never been in any trouble with the law. YET my fingerprint is on file, my photo is there too. Yep to get some document called a “driver license” they fingerprinted me and took my photo (and not a good one at that!). I have been fingerprinted at Home Depot to write a check.
So I have some questions that need answering. Do we have a right to keep our fingerprints private? Is it acceptable to give up this possible right to fingerprint privacy to get other rights such as driving a car or writing a check?
