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Its nothing new tbh. C.K Chesterton is quoted about his entry into the US:
I have stood on the other side of Jordan, in the land ruled by a rude Arab chief, where the police looked so like brigands that one wondered what the brigands looked like. But they did not ask me whether I had come to subvert the power of the Shereef; and they did not exhibit the faintest curiosity about my personal views on the ethical basis of civil authority.
Ain't a whole lot of that illegal without a warrant? Never consent to searches, even if you're innocent.
political memes he liked on Instagram
I never want to hear another American lecture about the importance of "freedom of speech".
I came here to quote this. Its like they know we have a detestable, rotten president and are insecure about it or something.
"At least we're not in China" mfs increasingly in shambles over the last year (I was one of them)
America will increasingly mirror China in a lot of its worst ways now.
Like shooting for the moon and landing among the stars, President Trump is aiming for North Korea, in his efforts to make Americans obediently treat him like a God, he's gonna land somewhere between Beijing and Vladivostok.
He is building a police state that trumps the word of law and treats Trump's word as law.
Take it easy, these are traitors to the Constitution.
Take it easy, these are traitors to the Constitution.
Cool. Anything being done to stop them?
Be advised: going through this is a high-stakes form of bullying, plain and simple.
As a law abiding citizen, I honestly wouldn't know what to do in this situation. I would probably provide whatever was asked and have my rights exploited by the customs officer.
Guess I should look this up before traveling abroad again.
Traveling to the USA, Russia, Turkey, China and North Korea.
Sleep deprivation is often used on people in such situations. Which is why what you are saying is so important: be prepared for it.
It is my promise that if I every have standing to sue for violation of my constitutional rights, any agents of law enforcement or the government involved will be married to my case for years. I will not let it go. I will not settle. I will be a fucking problem. You'll think of my name when you're lying in bed at night. If you're reading this right now on my phone that you confiscated for no justifiable legal cause, you've been warned.
You'll get nowhere because of the Border search exemption
"Ohhhhhh, you actually believed all that freedom crap? Lol. Lmao. We've got about three thousand asterisks and terms and conditions apply on every part of the bill of rights."
They've so thoroughly built in so many shitty little backdoors into the constitution that it's basically just a joke that only rich people are in on at this point.
I guess this is making America "great" right? This is how great nations treat their residents/visitors/citizens?
The story closely matches Hasan's, which leads me to believe it's accurate...
Ask yourself why they'd be collecting information about these peoples' political opinions. What do you think comes next?
That's a fucking awful situation.
And unfortunately I might be in the same boat soon. I'm planning to visit family outside the country, and for the return flight I'm gonna be taking an old phone that I've cleaned of anything remotely useful for them as an excuse for their fascist bullshit. But I've left all the mundane bullshit that would be on a normal phone, text messages from siblings saying "food", cat pictures, random games, etc. So it won't look like a burner phone for the most part. So I can just give them the phone if they ask and it won't matter.
But I still need access to my shit, so I've set up my desktop at home for ssh with termux. I can see them using this an excuse as well, but it's probably the best I can get it without giving them potentially direct access to my password vault, messages, etc. I'm still debating if it is worth trying to remember my IP and port so there's even less for them to see.
If anybody's got better suggestions I'm open to them.
Oblgitory: fuck this fascist ass country
I’m still debating if it is worth trying to remember my IP and port so there’s even less for them to see.
Treat confiscation of your devices like an attack. Any indications of where to attack next is a potential vulnerability, even if it's secured.
Is generating a long password that you can't remember and set it as a password for your device then save it inside some cloud service that you can login to later plausible?
Just write the IP down on a sticky note. Then throw it away before you board your home flight.
Horrifying
And this is why standard practice now should be to have all devices turned completely off with all FaceID/ fingerprint unlocking features turned off before you enter any US customs hall. They cannot compel you to tell them your password, but they can use faceID to open your phone.
Also, after being detained, you only know one word and that word is “lawyer.”
Saying "lawyer lawyer lawyer lawyer lawyer" does not get you a lawyer. Your language should be explicit and specific.
I am invoking my 5th and 6th amendment rights. I will remain silent until an attorney is present.
Then remain silent. Anything less can and will be twisted into you not invoking or even you waiving your rights. That actually happens.
See, for example, this case from Louisiana where the defendant said, "Why don't you just give me a lawyer, dawg," and the state Supreme Court found this to be an ambiguous request as there is no such thing as a "lawyer dog."
Iirc they can compel you to provide passwords at the border. You have far fewer rights at the border than once in the country
They can "compel" whatever they want. It's amazing how quickly someone can forget their password when stressed out.
Not sure about ICE, but FBI can only compel biometrics, not a passkey or PIN.
For iPhone, tap the power button five times and it will lock out FaceID and require the PIN.
Yup. They can detain you, take your phone, and just break into it. At best you leave without your electronics. At worst you don't get to leave. At extra worst, you leave to El Salvador.
