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BGonline.org Forums
Trading freedom for security (very OT)
Posted By: MaX In Response To: Trading freedom for security (Bill Riles)
Date: Monday, 6 August 2007, at 4:03 p.m.
Just to support Achim a bit here, that's what happened to me. I swear I'm not adding anything extra to the story (more likely I've forgotten some juicy details).
CHAPTER 1 More than 7yrs ago, I was working for a french company, 6 weeks in Boston (where my company had a joint venture with a local startup) and 3 weeks in the Nice area. 3 other poeple from my company were doing the same. After 1yr and a half of this routine, I landed as usual, with my usual biz flight, usual clothes, usual bored face, usual hotel booked for 6 weeks, usual everything. But the immigration officer told me: "Pick up your luggage, you have to see my collegue". Fine, let's see him. 20min wait in a line with other unlucky (i.e. foreign) travellers, followed by an "informal" interview: name, address, company, how long staying, why, to do what, why, until when, why, etc. etc. I answered everything, even if the tone seemd a bit rough. At the end the guy told me: "Now we're going to my office, where I'll take a deposition with a witness. I'll ask you the very same questions, and you'd better give the very same answers." Wow, scary. We went to his office (decorated with multiple pictures taken from the nose gun of an Apache chopper, I swear), the witness was another immigration officer. The deposition starts, same questions, same answers. At the end: him: "Do you have anything to add ?" me: " Yeah, maybe that I don't understand what's going on, I came a lot of times before, without any problem ..." him (interrupting) : "I'm not responsible for the other times" me : "I know, but" him (raising the voice) : " And there's no but"
OK, but then why did you ask me in the first place, dickhead ? [of course I just thought this, by the time I had realized who I was talking to]
I've been allowed one phone call, not too long (I'm taking bets on the fact they were taping it, anyone ?).
Fine. I wait 3 hours in a corridor almost sleeping (after 7hrs transatlantic flight Nice-Frankfurt-Boston), the I see the guy dressing up and leaving. I catch him and ask what was I supposed to be waiting and he kindly informs me that I was going to be sent "back to my country" (which is wrong, since I'm italian). Fine again. What's less fine is that, first, they used my own ticket to fly me back (well, my company paid it). Also, 2 officers literally escorted me till the plane door and gave my passport to the hostess. I swear it, the escorted me to the door (no handcuffs tough). Everybody was fucking staring at me and the guy sitting next to me didn't close his eyes all the nigth. The hostess wasn't totally reassured by my Lufthansa senator card, which normaly makes her my personal slave for the flight (ok, here I'm exagerating a bit, but only on the slave thing).
Once back, my company's lawyers tried to get in touch with us immigration to understand where the problem was, but they have been stonewalled. No explanation, no reason, no nothing. I went back to the US a few more times (twice for biz and once flying to the carribean), with a 1 year visa for which I had to go in person to paris, give my ID and 100-some$ to a silly clerk who put a silly stamp on a silly piece of paper, granting me the right to "enter the US soil", fromerly known as the "home of the free".
CHAPTER 2 2 years ago I've been invited by a US software company (Mathworks) to their headquarters for a 3 days presentation. Bad luck, they are just outside Boston (in fact I love the area), but they paid the flights and my company was interested in havingme going there, so ...
I land and arrive at the passport check. Since I'm kind of honest, I promptly tell them that years ago I had a trouble, I show them my old passport (where they wrote a cryptic message when I've been rejected) plus my new one.
Now, not even a paranoic idiot is uncapable of seeing my good faith in all this: I was totally unobliged to tell them all this, and I could have just shown them my new passport and got in without any trouble. In my mind I told myself that showing good faith cannot harm and that, worst case scenario, they would check and ask few extra questions, no big deal. Dumb me ! They kept me for 2 hours, mumbling about sending me back. By chance, I had lost the morning flight due to a ticket problem and I had to take the afternoon one. Hence I arrive in Boston late in the evening and the next flight back to europe was next day. They tought that keeping me overnight was a bit too much for my crime (which one, don't know), hence they allowed me "to enter the US soil", with an "unforeseen emergency visa", paid immediately 280$ (or 380$, can't remember). They warned that this kind of visa is allowed once in a lifetime, hence my next time ... Next time ?! Which next time ?!
FINAL CHAPTER US police is no worse than police elsewhere, and the same is true for US politicians, immigrations etc etc. What is worse in the US (compared to most of the rest of the world) is that you're capable of firing a president because of a blowjob and you're unable to do the same with one that started a war just because, just because ... well, you put the explanation you like most.
My opinion on the US (saying this I'll probably be banned from "entering the US soil" again, all the better): great country (I mean geographically), nice hockey league (I was for the RedWings), some nice and bright people but a vast proportion of ignorant and illiterate people turning into fanatics (guns fanatics, freedom fanatics, religion fanatics) and often reaching important positions in the administration or industry or army or media (when not all of them at the same time). Too bad ...
MaX.
P.S. Now concerning wire tapping, the (quote Bill Riles) "you have nothing to fear in the slightest communication with US citizens unless you are engaged in illegal activities" is probably the silliest, dumbest thing I've read on this forum, including Stick's periodic rants and probably defeating Prof. Monthy posts on rec.games.backgammon. Please define "illegal" precisely, then we'll start talking (unless defining "illegal" is, well, illegal).
But if the US citizens are happy with that, well, it's their country. And if they are not, then it's a chance to see if they still have any power on their leaders (which I hope it's still the case).
You're on a very very dangerous slope guys. Before actually living in the US I was very admirative of you, but now I'm very very happy I'm in Europe (anywhere in Europe).
MaX.
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