All we know is the reasons that DHS gave for tossing them out. Reasons which were laughable on their face, and shows that DHS is so out of touch that they waste their time on frivolous tweets.
They posed no threat because there has been no evidence presented whatsoever that they posed any threat. Unless you want to posit that DHS had “secret information” and the tweets were just a clever cover for them. I don’t think you want to go that route.
There was no credible terrorist threat to the US here, and anyone who thinks there was need to report for reeducation.
However, I wouldn’t put it past those two UK scallywags to at least try and disinter Ms. Monroe. So is preventing possible criminal (not terrorist) behaviour also part of the purview of homeland security?
The funny (or not) thing is, immigration doesn’t have to give a reason for not allowing someone in, so all this event accomplished was to warn people - “If you are planning nefarious activities in the US, please be careful not to discuss on the net because we are watching there (if you didn’t know already)”.
Well, it didn’t even accomplish that. It just encouraged tourists to spend their money elsewhere. LA might be fun, but there are plenty of other cities across the world for British tourists to spend their beer money.
It’s not like these guys were planning any nefarious activity.
When this sort of thing happens, who foots the bill for their plane fare back home?
In this case, they’d have bought return tickets, so they’d already have paid it.
The point is they posed no threat on the basis they were detained for.
Using your argument, everyone entering the USA should be detained because no one here knows if they’re a potential terrorist.
The US spends somewhere in the order of $130 to $200 billion on the Deparment of Homeland Security, NSA, and TSA (the NSA does not report a budget, so that is estimated, and a number of DHS items are supposedly filed under other budgets).
The 3 work closely together. So, for example, the TSA is aware of every passenger on planes coming to the US. This list is cross referenced with the incredibly vast amounts of data built up on individual web and voice traffic worldwide, through Echelon and other systems. For obvious reasons the exact methods these systems use for marked information to be flagged/recorded is kept highly secret, but the usual theories are searches for key phrases (such as Destroy America, etc) then marking an individual for full monitoring. Alternatively, it’s possible you’re just recording everything for a period of time. Who knows, you’re spending a fuckton of money on this, so the amount of processing/recording available could be off the charts.
So, just to recap, a level of expenditure that exceeds the budget for the apollo missions has enabled America to bounce two idiot teenagers at the door.
I’ve always been curious as to just how your politicians managed to sale this setup past you? I mean, Republicans should be furious at the amount of government expenditure and snooping, Democrats should be furious at the intrusion into civil liberties and privacy. There have been absolutely sod all demonstrable successes of these agencies. Really, could someone please explain this to me?
Their return tickets would not be for immediately after arrival.
A friend of mine was refused entry at Houston airport - for entirely legitimate immigration reasons, rather than spurious knee-jerk panic - and the repatriation cost was charged over and above the cost of his return ticket, and even though he flew economy he was charged first class price. Took him years to pay off.
FFS, you’re actually defending the DHS here? Those tweets were not remotely threatening.
This is a profoundly perfect argument for the immediate abolition of the particular branch of DHS responsible. I think Congress should pass a law immediately voiding that office and giving the rest of its budget for the year to these two young persons as compensation.
I’m not being facetious, either. I do not suffer fools with badges.
it seems unlikely that these particular fools would have to suffer anything for their actions though. why would the situation improve if it is a case of better safe than sorry for these officials, especially if there are no consequences?
I like how the DHS report keeps referring to the “Tweeter” service. It’s like a parody of out-of-touch bureaucrats who don’t quite get kids these days.
He looks like a total dork. Obviously he should never have been admitted in the first place. The girl can pass. Barely.
Heaven forbid they find out I’ve routinely shot at American soldiers online in MW3.
I can believe they gave her a full body search, but doing so on the basis of her tweeting about digging up Marilyn Monroe… that’s just gross and a really unpleasant abuse of power.
Agreed. It’s the same reason I don’t plan to go to China anytime soon. There are plenty of things about the US (and China) I’d like to see, but there are plenty of other things in the world I’d rather see if I can do it without trying to avoid the Gestapo.
You don’t encourage a massive tourism infrastructure to benefit from their intelligence. You encourage a massive tourism infrastructure because you need their money.
Or, feck it let’s go somewhere else instead. A conversation I have heard more than once when people were thinking about going to The States.
They’re put on an available plane, and then invoiced for it later.
I’m not sure it was “stupid”. It might not have been prudent, but I’d rather not see a world where making such jokes is “stupid” because we’re all so accepting of the government’s overreaction.
Also, they weren’t discussing destroying America, whether they said “destroy America” or not.