4 ms·

For those wondering, several German nationals have been detained through a process irregular enough to garner comment from the German government. https://www.t

For those wondering, several German nationals have been detained through a process irregular enough to garner comment from the German government. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/18/germany-investigates-after-national-with-green-card-arrested-at-us-border https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/18/germany-inve...

wombatpm 2y ago
There was also a French scientist traveling to a conference who was refused entry because texts on his phone / social media were critical of Trump’s cuts to science funding. It was deemed terroristic to be hateful of the president.
- conaclos 2y ago
  [0] is the article from LeMonde (in french) for anyone interested. [0] https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2025/03/19/etats-unis-un-chercheur-francais-refoule-pour-avoir-exprime-une-opinion-personnelle-sur-la-politique-menee-par-l-administration-trump_6583618_3210.html https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2025/03/19/etat...
zulban 2y ago
Similar story out of Canada. Pretty white Canadian lady (usually an untouchable class of people) with good paperwork thrown in a pit for weeks: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-det...
- raydev 2y ago
  While her treatment is unjustifiable, her visa was revoked (again, not much justification for this) and then she continued to live in the US for months after it happened. Only after living in the US for months illegally was she detained. It's like people who insist on using crosswalks without looking for oncoming traffic. You may be right, but you will also be dead. Follow the rules.
  - tim333 2y ago
    Any link to where she lived in the US illegally? The only thing I see is >She was denied entry into the country while trying to make her way from Mexico to San Diego, California after her work visa was revoked back in November while traveling from Vancouver to Los Angeles. Presumably she wasn't in the US or she wouldn't have been trying to enter the US from Mexico.
    - raydev 2y ago
      You can piece it together. The article conveniently leaves out exactly where she was staying for the months between visa revocation and re-entering the US. > Presumably she wasn't in the US or she wouldn't have been trying to enter the US from Mexico. She was likely doing what many folks do: cross the border briefly for the explicit purpose of getting documents refreshed. This is common and expected in many cases, but she was without a visa for months at this point. And she likely crossed from Mexico because it is close to where she was previously living. Again, this is common. The fact that she didn't cross back over from her home country of Canada immediately sets off alarm bells.
  - spacemadness 2y ago
    What are you even trying to say? There’s no point in saying anything past “her treatment was unjustifiable.” The rest doesn’t matter if you care about ethical treatment in the slightest.
    - raydev 2y ago
      If you care about keeping yourself safe, follow the rules. People seem to forget this.
      - dragonwriter 2y ago
        Rule following has not been a safeguard against recent border and immigration actions. (Plus, the rules themselves are being changed arbitrarily, without notice, and illegally.)
InsideOutSanta 2y ago
This is why I won't visit the US anytime soon. Going through US immigration has always been stressful. In the past, a friend of mine was sent back after flying for 14 hours because immigration didn't believe that they were actually a tourist. Recently, it seems to have gotten even worse. It's not worth the stress for me personally, even if the real-world probability of getting detained or rejected is still relatively small.
Aldipower 2y ago
And another news today with a German 25 yo guy. He came back from a side-trip to Mexico and was cuffed at the border from Mexico to US. "The German government has responded with a warning to travelers to the USA in response to several Germans being placed in detention pending immigration upon entry in recent weeks." https://www-welt-de.translate.goog/politik/ausland/article25 https://www-welt-de.translate.goog/politik/ausland/article25...
toss1 2y ago
THIS The risk of gun violence is incredibly low, especially in venues like you might find traveling to a conference. The real risk is the Immigration and Customs people. They are insanely unpredictable right now, and are taking wildly unexpected actions against any targets, usually on a political basis. Visitors from Canada, Britian, France, Germany and others have been detained in unpleasant conditions for days to weeks. If you come, take at least these steps: * scrub all social media accounts of political content, especially anything critical of right-wing policies * Bring a digitally clean phone and laptop, preferably one you can afford to lose. Stare with a clean install, make sure there is no social media history or documents or images related to any kind of protest action. It may be wise to have a sanitized social media account with only work-related posts and likes. * If your friends or family are involved in any kind of protests or actions (including against Tesla), be sure they are at least not referenced in any of your accounts or content you have on your devices. It really looks like ICE are trying to make examples of anyone to discourage visitors, especially visitors who might be activists. If you are an activist, do not come, or be sure to scrub well to hide it fully. If you can make it through the gauntlet, we welcome you and hope you have an enjoyable visit! (and deep apologies for this administration most of us do not want; they did not win by a majority)
- joquarky 2y ago
  This reminds me of the list of steps journalists should perform before travelling to North Korea.
  - toss1 2y ago
    Yes, that is a great reference — I should probably have included that! I'm even expecting to do the same for my next trips abroad a US citizen, to avoid trouble on returning. My understanding is the French scientist was deported on arrival because he had a text complaining about the new administration's defunding of science. So, an even innocuous complaint about policy is politicized to an insane degree. (and yes, I fully understand the implications of the North Korea reference. Unfortunately, it does not appear we can take it as a joke or exaggeration. All signs are this administration is doing everything possible to convert the form of govt from a democracy to a dictatorship)
memtet 2y ago
[dead]

wombatpm 2y ago

There was also a French scientist traveling to a conference who was refused entry because texts on his phone / social media were critical of Trump’s cuts to science funding. It was deemed terroristic to be hateful of the president.

conaclos 2y ago
[0] is the article from LeMonde (in french) for anyone interested. [0] https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2025/03/19/etats-unis-un-chercheur-francais-refoule-pour-avoir-exprime-une-opinion-personnelle-sur-la-politique-menee-par-l-administration-trump_6583618_3210.html https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2025/03/19/etat...

zulban 2y ago

Similar story out of Canada. Pretty white Canadian lady (usually an untouchable class of people) with good paperwork thrown in a pit for weeks: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-det...

raydev 2y ago
While her treatment is unjustifiable, her visa was revoked (again, not much justification for this) and then she continued to live in the US for months after it happened. Only after living in the US for months illegally was she detained. It's like people who insist on using crosswalks without looking for oncoming traffic. You may be right, but you will also be dead. Follow the rules.
- tim333 2y ago
  Any link to where she lived in the US illegally? The only thing I see is >She was denied entry into the country while trying to make her way from Mexico to San Diego, California after her work visa was revoked back in November while traveling from Vancouver to Los Angeles. Presumably she wasn't in the US or she wouldn't have been trying to enter the US from Mexico.
  - raydev 2y ago
    You can piece it together. The article conveniently leaves out exactly where she was staying for the months between visa revocation and re-entering the US. > Presumably she wasn't in the US or she wouldn't have been trying to enter the US from Mexico. She was likely doing what many folks do: cross the border briefly for the explicit purpose of getting documents refreshed. This is common and expected in many cases, but she was without a visa for months at this point. And she likely crossed from Mexico because it is close to where she was previously living. Again, this is common. The fact that she didn't cross back over from her home country of Canada immediately sets off alarm bells.
- spacemadness 2y ago
  What are you even trying to say? There’s no point in saying anything past “her treatment was unjustifiable.” The rest doesn’t matter if you care about ethical treatment in the slightest.
  - raydev 2y ago
    If you care about keeping yourself safe, follow the rules. People seem to forget this.
    - dragonwriter 2y ago
      Rule following has not been a safeguard against recent border and immigration actions. (Plus, the rules themselves are being changed arbitrarily, without notice, and illegally.)

InsideOutSanta 2y ago

This is why I won't visit the US anytime soon. Going through US immigration has always been stressful. In the past, a friend of mine was sent back after flying for 14 hours because immigration didn't believe that they were actually a tourist. Recently, it seems to have gotten even worse. It's not worth the stress for me personally, even if the real-world probability of getting detained or rejected is still relatively small.

Aldipower 2y ago

And another news today with a German 25 yo guy. He came back from a side-trip to Mexico and was cuffed at the border from Mexico to US. "The German government has responded with a warning to travelers to the USA in response to several Germans being placed in detention pending immigration upon entry in recent weeks." https://www-welt-de.translate.goog/politik/ausland/article25 https://www-welt-de.translate.goog/politik/ausland/article25...

toss1 2y ago

THIS The risk of gun violence is incredibly low, especially in venues like you might find traveling to a conference. The real risk is the Immigration and Customs people. They are insanely unpredictable right now, and are taking wildly unexpected actions against any targets, usually on a political basis. Visitors from Canada, Britian, France, Germany and others have been detained in unpleasant conditions for days to weeks. If you come, take at least these steps: * scrub all social media accounts of political content, especially anything critical of right-wing policies * Bring a digitally clean phone and laptop, preferably one you can afford to lose. Stare with a clean install, make sure there is no social media history or documents or images related to any kind of protest action. It may be wise to have a sanitized social media account with only work-related posts and likes. * If your friends or family are involved in any kind of protests or actions (including against Tesla), be sure they are at least not referenced in any of your accounts or content you have on your devices. It really looks like ICE are trying to make examples of anyone to discourage visitors, especially visitors who might be activists. If you are an activist, do not come, or be sure to scrub well to hide it fully. If you can make it through the gauntlet, we welcome you and hope you have an enjoyable visit! (and deep apologies for this administration most of us do not want; they did not win by a majority)

joquarky 2y ago
This reminds me of the list of steps journalists should perform before travelling to North Korea.
- toss1 2y ago
  Yes, that is a great reference — I should probably have included that! I'm even expecting to do the same for my next trips abroad a US citizen, to avoid trouble on returning. My understanding is the French scientist was deported on arrival because he had a text complaining about the new administration's defunding of science. So, an even innocuous complaint about policy is politicized to an insane degree. (and yes, I fully understand the implications of the North Korea reference. Unfortunately, it does not appear we can take it as a joke or exaggeration. All signs are this administration is doing everything possible to convert the form of govt from a democracy to a dictatorship)

memtet 2y ago

[dead]