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While I don't like the recent executive order from Trump, this situation seems unrelated to it, instead revolving around the earlier H.R.158 [0] bill that passe
by equil 10y ago
While I don't like the recent executive order from Trump, this situation seems unrelated to it, instead revolving around the earlier H.R.158 [0] bill that passed at the tail end of 2015 (the article does mention this in passing), which disqualifies any non-citizen from entering the US under the visa waiver program if they have traveled to one of the seven countries since march 1st, 2011 (amongst other things). Trump's recent EO explicitly makes exceptions for diplomatic passports, and I worry that conflating these documents will only undermine the rhetorical grounds for repealing them.
I just want to underscore the law at fault instead of fueling partisanship.
[0] https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/158 https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/158
- lawless123 10y ago>But he said he had never had a problem visiting the US before. Has he visited the US between that law passing and before Trumps ban without any issues?
- CaptSpify 10y agoIf anyone has more knowledge about this let me know but... I think the decisions about who to detain are typically arbitrary and decided by that particular agent at the time.
- Arnt 10y agoDifficult to believe that a junior agent dares to stop someone with a Norwegian diplomatic passport.
- dagw 10y agoNot if he's been told by everyone from his immediate superior right on up to the President to stop EVERYONE!!! with an Iranian stamp.
- CaptSpify 10y agoI kind of agree. I don't know how the process works which is why I'm asking for someone more knowledgeable. But my current understanding is that is how it is done.
- coldtea 10y agoSo you mean that terrorists just need to create officially looking Norwegian diplomatic passports?
- halomru 10y agoOr pretend to have lost their passport and get a new passport without stamp. Or get a secondary passport that's made available by most governments because of issues like this one. But you are right in principle. Letting people through because they look important is a big security hole.
- kybernetikos 10y agoThere's not a whole lot that border control can do to stop people who are good at making fake passports though.
- dwc 10y ago"Please step over here, sir, while I contact my supervisor" is about what I'd expect at worst from a junior agent in this situation.
- lawless123 10y agoIt could be the change in Admin has prompted them to simply be more diligent about enforcement. Also detaining the former Norwegian PM would make it look less like they're targeting specific groups.
- dagw 10y agoFrom the aftenposten[1] article he was in the US last year, after the law was passed, with same passport and the same stamp and was not stopped or questioned about it. [1]http://www.aftenposten.no/verden/Bondevik-hadde-iransk-stempel-i-passet---ble-stoppet-pa-flyplassen-i-Washington-614414b.html http://www.aftenposten.no/verden/Bondevik-hadde-iransk-stemp...
- coldtea 10y ago>Has he visited the US between that law passing and before Trumps ban without any issues? Doesn't say much, as it only takes a random border idiot to get into that situation -- so you might, or might not, even if before you were coming in without issue.
- hartator 10y agoYes, same far from defending Trump. But in theory, if DHS would have followed the Obama bill, he should have denied him entry as he can't use VWP anymore.
- PietdeVries 10y agoYou are aware that getting a new, clean passport without any trace of his visit to Iran would have cost him less than the efforts of going through, say, getting an ESTA in place? If customs is triggered by what countries one has visited in the past, know that only someone who has means no harm has these in his or her passport. All others will remove this evidence prior to flying...
- 086421357909764 10y agoI'm surprised he didn't have a second diplomatic passport. I've always had two standard US Blue passports. All I was required to do to get them was write a explanation as to why I needed it and await approval. The most common reason is travel to Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, keeping them separate reduces some of the headaches.
- js2 10y agoFWIW, Israel no longer stamps passports.
- 086421357909764 10y agoAh, haven't been in a few years. Is it because of the above issue?
- js2 10y agoMy understanding is that it was because US travelers with an Israel stamp would have trouble if later trying to visit a country not friendly toward Israel. I was just there last summer. They gave me a bar-coded receipt in lieu of the passport stamp. There's still an issue that if you visit Jordan from Israel you get a stamp from Jordan that states the entry point.