There are some legitimate questions, but there are a bunch of ridiculous ones, too. Even the legitimate questions are a bit silly - if somebody lies and checks “no”, its up to the US to figure out that they lied. Why bother asking in the first place if your going to have to do a background check anyway? It’s hard to pick out the most ridiculous, but this is a start (taken from the Immigrant visa application):
So let me get this straight. You smoked a joint or two when you were at college, nobody (except a few friends) saw anything, and now the US is asking you to admit to it?
You know, I just want to be a programmer, but if that doesn’t work out, I think I’ll sell my body.
OK, so Outer Mongolia is sending a spy to the US. He sees this question, answers yes, and is caught.
I not only plan to practice it, I plan to perfect it!
Thanks 5cents… these questions are hilarious… my favorite though is:
“Do you seek to enter the US to engage in export control violations, subversive or terrorist activities, or any other unlawful purpose ? Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization as currently designated by the US Secretary of State ? Have you ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi Government of Germany; or have you ever participated in genocide ?”
Like someone will bring their Al Qaeda Cub Scout member Card... or some old time Nazi officer is still alive. Or does being part of the Hitler Boy Scouts and shouting at jews count as being part ?
Probably those who made up these forms believe that the whole world is completely honest and completely idiotic at that?
Say for yourself: How can you have the heart to lie when you see such naïvity spread all over such forms? You must be a real criminal if you can do that.
Of course, nobody expects the terrorists to fill out these forms truthfully. That’s not the point. It’s so when they do get caught doing something wrong, they can add an additional charge to the indictment of lying to an agent or something–and they’d have clear written proof.
Suicidal terrorists don’t mind for “additional proof” about anything because they intend not to get “caught” alive.
And if they do get arrested before dying a Glorious Heroic Death, then I guess there are a lot of other charges to be made against them. And if they are not guilty of those, they automatically can’t be charged for “lying on the Visa form”.
Why can’t you just admit that those questions must be invented by some lunatics who seem to be convinced that the whole world outside the USA is retarded.
Finally someone explains it. It’s so that when ‘the terrorists’ murder a bunch of people, they can be charged with lying on their immigration form! Now it all makes sense!
labmonkey , has Aldebaran done something to offend you?
He is actually the only person I have ever pitted on these boards. Maybe its just me(however seeing the number of times he’s been pitted I tend to believe otherwise), but I usually find his posts so neurotically anti-American and reactionary(and trust me, I am no flag-waving Bushite) that he often makes no sense. He bogs down what would otherwise be healthy debates into silly bashing of US’ers(his favourite term)…I understand he can say whatever he wants, and go ahead criticize US policy all you like, but he seems genuinely hateful, and ponies with only one trick get old…but I’m getting close to breaking the rules of GD, so I’ll just leave it at that, since you asked.
Well these forms have had these questions for over 10 years that I remember... so the lawyer thingy is before 9/11... and I agree its just more ammunition for jailing people. Though naturally they might claim they only thought of committing the crime AFTER they got through customs. In which case proof of pre-meditation would have to be found.
Still doesn't change the fact that the questions are very silly... the first time I saw one of them I thought it was a practical joke.
Avenger, I think labmonkey was only expressing his preference for a certain food from which there exists a large variety made of several different ingredients worldwide.
Precisely. It’s why there is an entire hunk of the Justice Department - the Office of Special Investigations - which is devoted to doing things like archival research and interviewing witnesses living in other countries in order to prove that people like Nazi war criminals lied when they entered the U.S. as displaced persons. I imagine they are doing or will soon be doing the same with people who perpetuated genocide in the former Yugoslavia and in other places.
Why bother? Well, if you can show that someone entered the U.S. by committing fraud, you can revoke every immigration benefit (like U.S. citizenship) that was granted based on that initial fraud, no matter how long after the fact.
Of course, although it is in my opinion a rather far sought attempt to find additional evidence in these particular cases.
And of course other nations have a procedure including similar questions, depending on their conditions for immigration/citizenship.
Yet that doesn’t change the fact that such quesitons are perceived by outsiders as being invented by people who take the rest of the world for retarded
It’s not so much a matter of additional evidence IMO as a question of jurisdiction. Does the U.S. have the jurisdictional authority to prosecute crimes committed outside the U.S. that didn’t affect any people who were U.S. citizens at the time? Probably not. Does the U.S. have the authority to prosecute someone who breaks U.S. immigration laws? One would be hard pressed to argue with that.
As for what the rest of the world thinks of us: well, nobody has ever accused U.S. immigration authorities of expending too much effort on P.R.
And now it seems that, thanks to those geniuses at the TSA, people travelling to the US aren’t even allowed to line up to use the crapper.
Wow! Even the Australian government, one of the world leaders in American-ass-kissing over the past couple of years, thinks this is a silly idea.
As a representative of the Australian airline industry said:
No shit, Sherlock! I made that flight only a few weeks ago, and not only are bathroom breaks a necessity, but one’s comfort and health also require periodic walks up and down the aisle to get the blood circulating in one’s legs again. Due to the country’s isolation, flights to and from Australia have some of the highest recorded instances of potentially-fatal Deep Vein Thrombosis, and it’s prudent to exercise on such long-haul trips.
The way the TSA is going, pretty soon embarking passengers will be chained to their seats and knocked unconscious for the duration of the flight. Hey, at least they could pack us in more tightly then, which would have the added benefit of increasing airline profit, another priority of the Bush administration.
Good article in the Times about the varying reactions around the world to the new policy. Turns out, to my surprise, that some countries have their own air marshalls already besides Israel, including Germany and Switzerland, and that the French don’t mind it much either.
mhendo, I’d be interested in a link from the TSA itself about that policy. Doesn’t sound right. I suppose it’s midsummer and silly season for Aussie papers so maybe they’re exaggerating a bit?
