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I’ve heard that a few days ago (probably same day as this story) CBP detained a bunch (heard about 20-30 in the secondary room) of Chinese students at LAX for a

I’ve heard that a few days ago (probably same day as this story) CBP detained a bunch (heard about 20-30 in the secondary room) of Chinese students at LAX for a few tens of hours and trawled all their electronics and pressured them in various ways. I know for sure that 7 of them got their visa revoked that day (I don’t have information about other universities). They apparently got a curious deal: either they paid for their return ticket or they got a five year ban on top. According to the people dealing with foreign student CBP has never done that before.

wbl 7y ago
China has inserted agents who monitor students political views abroad and if they start liking democracy too much start putting pressure on.
- nraynaud 7y ago
  What is the link with immigration? The CIA murders people abroad, and uses the peace corps for spying and influence, does that means that all the countries should randomly send Americans home at the border?
  - jonathankoren 7y ago
    The Peace Corps is most emphatically NOT a spying or any other clandestine operation. There are legal restrictions that between the Peace Corps and both civilian and military intelligence agencies. Since it’s founding in the 1960s, this has been a founding principle that ensures the safety of the Peace Corps volunteers.
    - nraynaud 7y ago
      Some members have been individually asked by the local CIA station to enter a military base and try to report on the names and grades of people there. Not as an order from the peace corps.
      - jonathankoren 7y ago
        You’re going to need to put up credible citations for this, because this is an extraordinary claim.
  - neilv 7y ago
    There are some things one knows, and a lot one could guess at, but in the case of things like Peace Corps, I know legitimate well-intentioned non-spy new grads volunteer for that, so let's not get them tortured and killed by some paranoid warlord.
  - wbl 7y ago
    If you knew someone was a spy maybe you would send them home.
    - nraynaud 7y ago
      And you’d be suspecting 20-30 spies coming on the same plane? This is not how spying has been reported to be handled, the CBP has been known to be fishing for the FBI, but the foreigners did not spend a long time in secondary, the FBI handled them pretty quickly.
fyfy18 7y ago
> They apparently got a curious deal That seems unlikely. If you are denied entry the airline is responsible for returning you, which is why they are so stringent about checking for visas before you even check in. My wife was working for a Middle Eastern airline a few years ago, and had a flight to Brazil (~16 hours). They only fly twice a week, so she had a layover of a few days there. On the way back she saw a few men who were on the flight there with her too. Apparently they were denied entry, so had to wait in the airport (airside) for three days until the next flight back. Even worse was after this flight they had to get another flight to go back home. So thousands of dollars and a week of travelling for nothing...
- nraynaud 7y ago
  That’s were the word “curious” come from. This event was out of the ordinary in various ways.
ddeck 7y ago
>I’ve heard... Heard from where? >According to the people dealing with foreign student CBP has never done that before. Again, do you have any sources?
- nraynaud 7y ago
  Looking for someone to retaliate against? You know that just revealing that much is already poking the beast? People who have been in the emergency meeting at one of the affected universities.
  - ddeck 7y ago
    Please don't make unfounded accusations under the guise of asking a question. Your claim is unusual and as pointed out by several other commenters, goes against prior experience and existing arrangements. In such a situation, it is perfectly reasonable to request additional evidence beyond "I've heard" or "Some people say..." Thank you for providing the additional detail.

wbl 7y ago

China has inserted agents who monitor students political views abroad and if they start liking democracy too much start putting pressure on.

nraynaud 7y ago
What is the link with immigration? The CIA murders people abroad, and uses the peace corps for spying and influence, does that means that all the countries should randomly send Americans home at the border?
- jonathankoren 7y ago
  The Peace Corps is most emphatically NOT a spying or any other clandestine operation. There are legal restrictions that between the Peace Corps and both civilian and military intelligence agencies. Since it’s founding in the 1960s, this has been a founding principle that ensures the safety of the Peace Corps volunteers.
  - nraynaud 7y ago
    Some members have been individually asked by the local CIA station to enter a military base and try to report on the names and grades of people there. Not as an order from the peace corps.
    - jonathankoren 7y ago
      You’re going to need to put up credible citations for this, because this is an extraordinary claim.
- neilv 7y ago
  There are some things one knows, and a lot one could guess at, but in the case of things like Peace Corps, I know legitimate well-intentioned non-spy new grads volunteer for that, so let's not get them tortured and killed by some paranoid warlord.
- wbl 7y ago
  If you knew someone was a spy maybe you would send them home.
  - nraynaud 7y ago
    And you’d be suspecting 20-30 spies coming on the same plane? This is not how spying has been reported to be handled, the CBP has been known to be fishing for the FBI, but the foreigners did not spend a long time in secondary, the FBI handled them pretty quickly.

fyfy18 7y ago

> They apparently got a curious deal That seems unlikely. If you are denied entry the airline is responsible for returning you, which is why they are so stringent about checking for visas before you even check in. My wife was working for a Middle Eastern airline a few years ago, and had a flight to Brazil (~16 hours). They only fly twice a week, so she had a layover of a few days there. On the way back she saw a few men who were on the flight there with her too. Apparently they were denied entry, so had to wait in the airport (airside) for three days until the next flight back. Even worse was after this flight they had to get another flight to go back home. So thousands of dollars and a week of travelling for nothing...

nraynaud 7y ago
That’s were the word “curious” come from. This event was out of the ordinary in various ways.

ddeck 7y ago

>I’ve heard... Heard from where? >According to the people dealing with foreign student CBP has never done that before. Again, do you have any sources?

nraynaud 7y ago
Looking for someone to retaliate against? You know that just revealing that much is already poking the beast? People who have been in the emergency meeting at one of the affected universities.
- ddeck 7y ago
  Please don't make unfounded accusations under the guise of asking a question. Your claim is unusual and as pointed out by several other commenters, goes against prior experience and existing arrangements. In such a situation, it is perfectly reasonable to request additional evidence beyond "I've heard" or "Some people say..." Thank you for providing the additional detail.