French scientist denied entry into the U.S., French government says
122 comments
·March 20, 2025atum47
klipt
Looking at the stories it seems much safer to fly in than cross the land border.
This French guy flew in and was turned around. Unpleasant but much less unpleasant than the Canadian woman who crossed the land border from Mexico and was imprisoned in a for-profit prison for weeks while begging repeatedly to pay for a flight back to Canada (then after she was released, ICE claimed she would have been released earlier if they'd known she'd pay for her flight...)
briandear
She crossed from Mexico because she had been denied entry previously at another crossing.
tim333
From her story
>He asked why I had gone to the San Diego border the second time to apply. I explained that that was where my lawyer’s offices were, and that he had wanted to accompany me to ensure there were no issues.
ziddoap
Does that justify the two weeks of detainment in a for-profit prison?
jajko
Which in normal moral fair society doesn't change anything. But US treats other nationalities like subhumans, and thats not even the issue of current administration but a long term situation for at least 2 decades I keep following the topic.
But as long as its not happening to them or their closest ones US folks generally don't seem to care (enough). I don't think EU has it any better just to be clear, we humans seem to be generally deeply flawed creatures.
burkaman
Yes in that statistically you would probably be fine, over a million Brazilian tourists come to the US every year.
No in that it is much less safe to visit today then it was a year ago, and authorities will specifically be targeting people who look South American.
If you closely follow the rules of the visa you're using and you don't do anything to stand out, as in you just have a normal-looking tourist itinerary, then you'll probably be fine. If it's just a vacation I would probably pick somewhere else this year though.
ty6853
I get put in secondary almost every time and it is pretty much always jam packed with sad people, although I am usually the only English speaker so I have trouble finding out what happened exactly. Sometimes they sit in chairs next to me, other times in immigration holding cell next to me. The incidence rate of something traumatizing happening has to be closer to 1+%
ericmay
The travel warning that the UK issued basically said "follow the rules when trying to enter the USA" which is kind of common sense anyway...
You should comply with all entry, visa and other conditions of entry. The authorities in the US set and enforce entry rules strictly. You may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules. If you’re not sure how these requirements apply to you, contact the US Embassy or a consulate in the UK. [1]
[1] https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/entry-requirementsnimish
Yes and the UK has very strict entry rules of its own, that it is eager and willing to enforce unless you fall into some special category.
Calling this a "warning" is stupid.
klipt
If an American tries to enter the UK on the wrong visa, will they be thrown into a for-profit prison?
Or just be turned around?
klipt
> You may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules.
The increased frequency of this is what seems to be new.
Of course a country isn't obliged to let you in. But throwing you into a for-profit prison is much worse than just refusing entry and turning you around.
Why are more people being imprisoned? Is this to meet a quota, to pump up statistics, to impress Trump's base?
jll29
I recommend you don't visit the US, no matter where you are from, unless your life depends on it.
burningChrome
If you're not a part of what they're profiling travelers for - the obvious stuff like drug smuggling, bringing copious amounts of money into or out of the country, or other contraband, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
Anecdotal evidence is my last trip to go snowboarding in Banff in Alberta Canada. My parents came along because they'd never been to Banff and were excited about seeing the Canadian Rockies. In any case, we land in Alberta and are going through customs. Scary looking dude looks at our passports and asks what we're there for. I say, "snowboarding" my mom says, "site seeing" we immediately shoot each other a look like, "Oh shit, that wasn't good.". Without a blink, border guy told us to move on and keep the line moving.
We both spoke about it and agreed that whatever they were looking for, we clearly did not fit the profile they were screening for.
ziddoap
Just to clarify, parent poster asked about visiting the US but it appears your comment is about visiting Canada. Are you a US citizen that was visiting Canada, or did I misread your comment?
buyucu
I had a business trip to the US planned, but decided to do it via video instead. I'm not taking the chance.
jll29
Very smart.
The problem is not that they have unreasonable rules, but that the implementation is very erratic/volatile/arbitrary right now. Trump orders + a layer of a mix of both Trump fanboys and Trump haters makes it hit or miss whether or not you will have problems or not.
buyucu
you're just one grumpy border agent away from being treated in an inhuman way. I don't want that risk in my life.
aaomidi
Do you have tattoos? If so probably stay away for now...
briandear
Only if they are TdA or MS13 tattoos and the person entered illegally, otherwise, no problem.
Griffinsauce
Do you know or want this to be the facts? Because the main problem right now is that it's an unknown.
klipt
Venezuelan Soccer player, Jerce Reyes Barrios was deported to Cecot prison in El Salvador for having a Real Madrid soccer tattoo.
"none of those who enter the Cecot ever leave on foot"
TylerE
[flagged]
JKCalhoun
Remembering my mom's hippy friend when the Vietnam "conflict" was in full swing. He had tattooed "Fuck the USA" on the "saluting edge" of his right hand. It apparently worked as a deterrent to being drafted. (I understand it was costly to remove after the draft was over.)
If someone wanted to make a statement or make a point about the free U.S., one wonders what creative things one could assign as their phone wallpaper before going through customs.
ty6853
I would only do this if you want to get strip searched, shackled, chained, driven around in a prisoner van, examined by doctors at your expense then released a day later without apology. Make sure your affairs are in order to be disappeared, before crossing.
I'm still in 4 figure debt from the last made up reason a CBPO used to fuck with me.
SauciestGNU
I've gotten the enhanced screenings but I still am amused by the notion of a "this prostate is an IED" tattoo.
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alfiedotwtf
$2000 and flying 11 hours to get to LAX only to be turned around is a pretty expensive statement to make unless you did it as some sort of political stunt
JKCalhoun
You say "stunt" like it's a useless gesture. Pretty sure there are YouTubers that could swing the $2K for the clicks.
gnabgib
Discussion (113 points, 21 hours ago, 51 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43416476
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_cs2017_
For comparison's sake, this is what the UK does:
briandear
Trump isn’t the president of the UK so the international media doesn’t care.
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linguae
I was waiting to respond until I saw this reported from a source like Reuters.
This is very scary. I’m an American community college instructor in Silicon Valley who does research with domestic and international colleagues; in fact, I will be in Japan this summer as a visiting researcher. If people could be denied entry to the United States over harmless political opinions shared electronically, then this hurts our ability to collaborate in-person with foreign researchers in the United States, and this also hurts our ability to hold academic conferences here.
It’s one thing if the scientist made threats or advocated overthrow; that is not protected free speech. But if it’s just an opinion or even name-calling, then this denial of entry is flatly wrong and flatly un-American.
Perhaps it’s time for prominent US academic conferences with international attendees to move to Canada, France, Japan, or some other place where scientists and science in general are not under attack by their government.
oceanhaiyang
We just went to China and had zero issue coming back, if it offers any consolation.
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klipt
I'm curious what the line is. If someone says "Trump is violating the constitution and should be impeached", is that advocating overthrow? Or just suggesting a way to work within the system?
If someone says "presidential democracies are historically unstable, the US would do better under a parliamentary system" is that advocating overthrow?
When Trump said "Proud Boys stand back and stand by" was he advocating overthrow?
goatlover
I would say Trump should be removed from office before he does too much damage to US democracy, peacefully if possible. I'm not advocating anything other than protecting the Constitution, and there are two other branches of government that can act to protect it.
chrisco255
It was Biden that damaged the democracy by allowing unchecked, unlimited immigration into the country, even going as far as to subsidize and pay for accommodations in luxury hotels in NYC. No country can stand on that kind of policy for long. No country in history ever has.
joshuaheard
I have not seen what he actually said. However, the agency is quoted in the article saying it wasn't "political". I also saw in another article that it involved "terrorism". Since Trump has had two assassination attempts, they have heightened scrutiny. As long as you don't advocate for violence, I'm sure you're fine.
jlebar
> As long as you don't advocate for violence, I'm sure you're fine.
This is known as the "Shirley Exception", https://vocal.media/theSwamp/the-shirley-exception
The reality is that people are being arrested and deported with no evidence of advocating violence. Here are some examples. https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-denver-8d5a7cc0-04fd...
ashleyn
Has anyone checked the scientist's social media? Border agencies are known to monitor social media. If he did something like, say, express sympathy for Luigi Mangione or Tesla vandals, this would definitely dovetail with a "terrorism" rejection.
goatlover
I don't understand how Tesla vandalism rises to the level of terrorism. It's protest in the form of vandalism. But this administration wants to misclassify any resistance.
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EA-3167
Dupe https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43416476#43417713 (74 comments)
enigma101
JD sitting in the WH not two weeks ago lecturing the UK about free speech. Check
kyleee
Tone it down, you are right on the verge of committing a non-crime hate incident.
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briandear
[flagged]
indrora
The US is notable for its freedom of speech and expression in its constitution. The kinds of remarks made by this French citizen would have to constitute active, meaningful threats against the state (read: more than just "The US president is a dumbass") to fall outside of our freedom of speech laws.
I can tell my elected officials "I hope you choke on that grape". I can't tell my elected officials "I'm going to make you choke on that grape".
I've read that on Reddit and I'm now reading that Britain issued a travel warning... Adding that up plus all the things that can happen until next month, would you consider it safe for a Brazilian to visit the US is this climate?
Update: typos