98 ms·

I really want to travel to Florida from London with my wife and baby for holidays. Stories like this though are big deterrent. I'm an atheist with a muslim name

I really want to travel to Florida from London with my wife and baby for holidays. Stories like this though are big deterrent. I'm an atheist with a muslim name, and Chinese wife(a devout Christian). We've never travelled to US before and honestly don't know what to expect.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
smt88 10y ago
As a tourist from a close US ally, your risk is limited to an invasion of your privacy and being inconvenienced. That said, there are much nicer places to visit than Florida. I live 5 hours away and have never gone voluntarily...
- unprepare 10y ago
  much of florida does suck, but it also has some of the best places in the country. almsot anywhere on the ocean side coast is gorgeous. i used to visit a place on hutchinson island, one of my favorite places to visit in the country (though a bit of a drive from any of the airports) http://www.waterpointerealty.com/wp-content/gallery/featured-communities/hutchinson-island.jpg http://www.waterpointerealty.com/wp-content/gallery/featured...
jeremyt 10y ago
Look, this is silly. Thinking that one news story reported by the media is representative of the whole United States is like westerners thinking that if they travel to the Middle East there will be a roving bands of Muslims beheading people in the streets. The media exaggerates EVERYTHING. The absolute worst thing that will possibly happen to you is to get pulled aside for some extra questions and apparently somebody flipping through your phone. That sucks, but as an American who travels all the time, I have never seen or known anyone to have to go through anything like that. The closest I can get to is one of my Indian friends being pulled aside for a pat down in Canada.
- dognotdog 10y ago
  This isn't silly, it's a legitimate fear because there are no real rules to what could happen to you. If you have an arabic sounding or looking name, it's really not a stretch to imagine that you have a name that is similar enough to someone on a watchlist and are interrogated for it, or held, or prevented from boarding a flight. If you are travelling with your family, this is not a minor inconvenience, but a real source of stress and anxiety. You just don't know the repercussions it will have on you AND your family. The "get pulled aside for some extra questions" happens to a Maroccan colleague of mine every time he visits the US for work, and means sitting around in a crowded room for a couple of hours at best. He expects it, and just tells his colleagues to just meet him at the hotel after getting out of the plane, but this isn't something that I consider acceptable. What has been slowly creeping in without enough people noticing is that instead of being welcoming, travellers are now foremost suspects instead of guests (not only the US). If you're funny looking, you suddenly have no rights, and there is no due process. That is scary, especially when you're far away from home. Even for people like me, who aren't funny looking or are in any form or shape a threat, there is a chilling effect. I like to travel, and for example have been to Iran a couple of years ago as part of a longer trip. Today, I could not make that same trip as lightheartedly, and would probably "self-censor" myself out of it in fear of future repercussions when travelling to the US or other western countries with an iranian stamp in my passport. Even if it is simply FUD, and most probably would not cause real problems for me, I do not wish it to happen to anybody just because they were born in the wrong place or have the wrong name.
dazc 10y ago
Expect to be treat rudely and aggressively by the first person you meet. The next person (and most other people after that) will, in all likelihood, be the complete opposite. Based on my experience as a white Englishman with an American kinda name. It's not all about race and/or religion - it's just the way it's always been.
robk 10y ago
This is really an overreaction I believe. I know many many Muslims who regularly go from UK to the US without any hassles at all. Of course as a non-Muslim I'm always terrified by these stories but the odds are very very low - you'd probably have a greater likelihood of being hassled coming into the UK from a non_EU country honestly.
- princetman 10y ago
  Of course it's all anecdotal but I never ever had any issue coming back to UK. We travel frequently to Europe and Asia. Also I just can't get over the fact that you have to handover your unlocked phone.
- thomastjeffery 10y ago
  Sure it is not representative, but that does not mean we should not be concerned. The constitution of the United States is extremely important.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

smt88 10y ago

As a tourist from a close US ally, your risk is limited to an invasion of your privacy and being inconvenienced. That said, there are much nicer places to visit than Florida. I live 5 hours away and have never gone voluntarily...

unprepare 10y ago
much of florida does suck, but it also has some of the best places in the country. almsot anywhere on the ocean side coast is gorgeous. i used to visit a place on hutchinson island, one of my favorite places to visit in the country (though a bit of a drive from any of the airports) http://www.waterpointerealty.com/wp-content/gallery/featured-communities/hutchinson-island.jpg http://www.waterpointerealty.com/wp-content/gallery/featured...

jeremyt 10y ago

Look, this is silly. Thinking that one news story reported by the media is representative of the whole United States is like westerners thinking that if they travel to the Middle East there will be a roving bands of Muslims beheading people in the streets. The media exaggerates EVERYTHING. The absolute worst thing that will possibly happen to you is to get pulled aside for some extra questions and apparently somebody flipping through your phone. That sucks, but as an American who travels all the time, I have never seen or known anyone to have to go through anything like that. The closest I can get to is one of my Indian friends being pulled aside for a pat down in Canada.

dognotdog 10y ago
This isn't silly, it's a legitimate fear because there are no real rules to what could happen to you. If you have an arabic sounding or looking name, it's really not a stretch to imagine that you have a name that is similar enough to someone on a watchlist and are interrogated for it, or held, or prevented from boarding a flight. If you are travelling with your family, this is not a minor inconvenience, but a real source of stress and anxiety. You just don't know the repercussions it will have on you AND your family. The "get pulled aside for some extra questions" happens to a Maroccan colleague of mine every time he visits the US for work, and means sitting around in a crowded room for a couple of hours at best. He expects it, and just tells his colleagues to just meet him at the hotel after getting out of the plane, but this isn't something that I consider acceptable. What has been slowly creeping in without enough people noticing is that instead of being welcoming, travellers are now foremost suspects instead of guests (not only the US). If you're funny looking, you suddenly have no rights, and there is no due process. That is scary, especially when you're far away from home. Even for people like me, who aren't funny looking or are in any form or shape a threat, there is a chilling effect. I like to travel, and for example have been to Iran a couple of years ago as part of a longer trip. Today, I could not make that same trip as lightheartedly, and would probably "self-censor" myself out of it in fear of future repercussions when travelling to the US or other western countries with an iranian stamp in my passport. Even if it is simply FUD, and most probably would not cause real problems for me, I do not wish it to happen to anybody just because they were born in the wrong place or have the wrong name.

dazc 10y ago

Expect to be treat rudely and aggressively by the first person you meet. The next person (and most other people after that) will, in all likelihood, be the complete opposite. Based on my experience as a white Englishman with an American kinda name. It's not all about race and/or religion - it's just the way it's always been.

robk 10y ago

This is really an overreaction I believe. I know many many Muslims who regularly go from UK to the US without any hassles at all. Of course as a non-Muslim I'm always terrified by these stories but the odds are very very low - you'd probably have a greater likelihood of being hassled coming into the UK from a non_EU country honestly.

princetman 10y ago
Of course it's all anecdotal but I never ever had any issue coming back to UK. We travel frequently to Europe and Asia. Also I just can't get over the fact that you have to handover your unlocked phone.
thomastjeffery 10y ago
Sure it is not representative, but that does not mean we should not be concerned. The constitution of the United States is extremely important.