4 ms·

Ever since 9/11 it's been harder for non-whites. That was long before any of this. I won't even bother now. It's not worth my freedom. I was harassed and detai

Ever since 9/11 it's been harder for non-whites. That was long before any of this. I won't even bother now. It's not worth my freedom. I was harassed and detained every single time I went back. Always something different, never anything to actually do with who I actually am or anything I actually did or didn't do.

carabiner 1y ago
It's been harder for people of middle eastern descent but that's about it. I'm nonwhite and have flown a lot and never had any issues. My friend is arab, hipster girl born in LA, and she always gets selected for screening.
- dijit 1y ago
  Ok, so.. I don't know how to say this without sounding insensitive, but I'm a pretty traditional looking (albeit perhaps short) British, blue-eyed, white guy. I have seriously never had a positive interaction with the US border force. Wether it's the TSA or another associated organisation (since I've been pestered by people who are not TSA). I've been detained, questioned, randomly selected, given contradictory rules by different people, had things randomly confiscated and even been insulted. I'm not confrontational, and I don't believe I stand out. I have had exactly ONE positive interaction (in 2011) whereby I had accidentally travelled with a pocket knife in my checked luggage and due to the fact I was not allowed to check my luggage on the return journey (due to the train being delayed going into Newark; seriously, I understand why Americans distrust public transport) - I told the TSA agent about it and he was kind regarding it, offering condolences, but obviously destroying the knife. I'm not sure if I'm on some kind of easing program to disincentivise me in particular from visiting the US, but I could easily see that if I was anything other than what I am in terms of race/religion/looks/citizenship: that I would presume that this was the reason. And, for context, I've been to the US on average twice per year in the last 15 years, so this is my experience from around 30 trips, and 60-ish interactions with the international air apparatus. It's a pretty decent country once I'm in though, though I wouldn't want to live there. EDIT: I'm not sure why the parent is being downvoted, his anecdote is the same as mine.
  - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
    > I have seriously never had a positive interaction with the US border force. Wether it's the TSA or another associated organisation (since I've been pestered by people who are not TSA) The trick is to pay to not interact. Global Entry, TSA PreCheck with Digital ID, et cetera. And for the record, I'm dark-eyed and brown skinned. There are absolutely racists in the Trump administration. But they don't seem to have co-opted this element yet. Instead, it just presents the classic American preference for wealth. (Note: I'm not endorsing the system. TSA PreCheck makes sense; the fee for it does not. Same for Global Entry.)
    - hopelite 1y ago
      Ah yes, the “give in to the system” strategy to avoid the deliberate conditioning to force everyone into the panopticon. One easy trick to world domination prison planet…
      - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        > the “give in to the system” strategy to avoid the deliberate conditioning to force everyone into the panopticon I'm not sure what I'm giving up by ceding fingerprints and a picture to a government agency that almost certainly already has both.
        hopelite 1y ago
        It’s not the simple act of just “giving them what they likely already have” once that house booked about 20 years ago. And yes, I can sue you the government had way more on me, but I seem to at least realize that that stallion is long gone. You seem to represent a rather is phenomenon in society though. For a lack of a better term at the moment; the shift or maybe even deliberate psychological manipulation of society, civilization, culture towards not only a passive, depressive state, but also a kind of self-harming, self-destructive, nihilistic state of “what does it even matter anymore” and “I probably deserve the abuse of my abusers” type of mentality. A variation of that is “I’m not sure what I’m giving up by ceding…” an odd fatalism.
- TitaRusell 1y ago
  [flagged]
- undeveloper 1y ago
  I have had some issues as someone of Indian decent despite having an American accent and native born.
  - nirav72 1y ago
    Whats the most common reason they’ve harnessed you over? Just wondering if they’re going based on prior issue on file? I’m of Indian descent , born and raised in the U.S - I must be the lucky one. Because I’ve never had any issues. Entering back in the country has been trouble free so far. Have you thought about signing up for global entry. Recently signed up for it myself and now I just skip talking to a human (and waiting in line)
- alephnerd 1y ago
  Weird. I look stereotypical MENA and haven't faced any extra screening, and I travel a lot for work both domestically and abroad, and I'm too lazy to get Global Entry or TSA Pre so I'm dealing with general TSA. Did your friend maybe travel to an Arab country at some point in time that either faced significant instability, a country that borders Syria+Iraq, or to the West Bank via Jordan?
  - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
    Out of curiosity, which airports do you travel through most?
    - alephnerd 1y ago
      Domestically? SFO, SeaTac, JFK, OHare, and ATX, with a decent showing for Logan, DCA, and RTP.
- tamimio 1y ago
  I know it's normal to criticize the US now being like that, but the reality is, this is a shared vision among the 5-Eyes countries if you dig deeper. It just happens that the US is very outspoken about it. In Canada, for example as I read a couple weeks ago, individuals "having some sort of geopolitical proximity to a concern of Canada" are being put under the microscope and seen as guilty until proven otherwise, primarily from the Middle East (or West Asia if you don't like that terminology), despite the fact that there was no 9/11 or similar event to trigger any reaction, and how’s that a “proximity concern” to Canada. https://halifax.citynews.ca/2025/08/06/immigration-lawyers-say-rising-number-of-csis-security-screenings-causing-delays/ https://halifax.citynews.ca/2025/08/06/immigration-lawyers-s...
pixelatedindex 1y ago
[flagged]
- guerrilla 1y ago
  This kind of response is exactly what keeps racist systems like this going. No, it hasn't been the same for everyone.
  - lolberal 1y ago
    [flagged]
- jncfhnb 1y ago
  Global Entry disagrees
- Refreeze5224 1y ago
  > Everyone follows the same rules at the airport. No they don't. Everyone does whatever TSA tells them to do, which absolutely varies by airport, country, and especially physical appearance.
- Psillisp 1y ago
  I paid to not follow the same rules.
- techsupporter 1y ago
  > Everyone follows the same rules at the airport. All travelers do but all border inspection people do not. Or if they do, they apply their discretion very unevenly in some Very Interesting Ways. I've watched it happen twice since COVID, both times traveling abroad for work and coming back into the United States with coworkers (different coworkers each trip) who are not nearly as pale as I am. Neither of us had Global Entry or anything like that back then. Both times, I got waved through with barely a glance and my US-passport-holding coworker got grilled. "Where do you live", "why did you go on this trip", "who do you work for", and so on. To reiterate: All of us are citizens, all of us were born here, and we were taking the exact same trips at the exact same times coming back with the usual things you take with you on a business trip. Anecdotes from friends who are darker than a sheet of printer paper tell me this situation has not improved.
mmmBacon 1y ago
Do you have any data to back this claim up or are you just stating your opinion? I was routinely detained at passport control because there was a bad guy with my same name. It took some amount of time and being very polite to get me out of that.
- more_corn 1y ago
  I know a guy who shares a name with a one legged IRA bomber. One would think there would be some effort disambiguate name collisions. In this case a three year old could probably do it. Let’s see. One, two. Not the guy!!!
  - ceejayoz 1y ago
    Ironically, a three year old can be on the list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Fly_List#False_positives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Fly_List#False_positives > Numerous children (including many under the age of five, and some under the age of one) have generated false positives. And at least on one occasion, a sitting US Senator: https://www.theregister.com/2004/08/19/senator_on_terror_watch/ https://www.theregister.com/2004/08/19/senator_on_terror_wat...

carabiner 1y ago

It's been harder for people of middle eastern descent but that's about it. I'm nonwhite and have flown a lot and never had any issues. My friend is arab, hipster girl born in LA, and she always gets selected for screening.

dijit 1y ago
Ok, so.. I don't know how to say this without sounding insensitive, but I'm a pretty traditional looking (albeit perhaps short) British, blue-eyed, white guy. I have seriously never had a positive interaction with the US border force. Wether it's the TSA or another associated organisation (since I've been pestered by people who are not TSA). I've been detained, questioned, randomly selected, given contradictory rules by different people, had things randomly confiscated and even been insulted. I'm not confrontational, and I don't believe I stand out. I have had exactly ONE positive interaction (in 2011) whereby I had accidentally travelled with a pocket knife in my checked luggage and due to the fact I was not allowed to check my luggage on the return journey (due to the train being delayed going into Newark; seriously, I understand why Americans distrust public transport) - I told the TSA agent about it and he was kind regarding it, offering condolences, but obviously destroying the knife. I'm not sure if I'm on some kind of easing program to disincentivise me in particular from visiting the US, but I could easily see that if I was anything other than what I am in terms of race/religion/looks/citizenship: that I would presume that this was the reason. And, for context, I've been to the US on average twice per year in the last 15 years, so this is my experience from around 30 trips, and 60-ish interactions with the international air apparatus. It's a pretty decent country once I'm in though, though I wouldn't want to live there. EDIT: I'm not sure why the parent is being downvoted, his anecdote is the same as mine.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
  > I have seriously never had a positive interaction with the US border force. Wether it's the TSA or another associated organisation (since I've been pestered by people who are not TSA) The trick is to pay to not interact. Global Entry, TSA PreCheck with Digital ID, et cetera. And for the record, I'm dark-eyed and brown skinned. There are absolutely racists in the Trump administration. But they don't seem to have co-opted this element yet. Instead, it just presents the classic American preference for wealth. (Note: I'm not endorsing the system. TSA PreCheck makes sense; the fee for it does not. Same for Global Entry.)
  - hopelite 1y ago
    Ah yes, the “give in to the system” strategy to avoid the deliberate conditioning to force everyone into the panopticon. One easy trick to world domination prison planet…
    - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
      > the “give in to the system” strategy to avoid the deliberate conditioning to force everyone into the panopticon I'm not sure what I'm giving up by ceding fingerprints and a picture to a government agency that almost certainly already has both.
      - hopelite 1y ago
        It’s not the simple act of just “giving them what they likely already have” once that house booked about 20 years ago. And yes, I can sue you the government had way more on me, but I seem to at least realize that that stallion is long gone. You seem to represent a rather is phenomenon in society though. For a lack of a better term at the moment; the shift or maybe even deliberate psychological manipulation of society, civilization, culture towards not only a passive, depressive state, but also a kind of self-harming, self-destructive, nihilistic state of “what does it even matter anymore” and “I probably deserve the abuse of my abusers” type of mentality. A variation of that is “I’m not sure what I’m giving up by ceding…” an odd fatalism.
TitaRusell 1y ago
[flagged]
undeveloper 1y ago
I have had some issues as someone of Indian decent despite having an American accent and native born.
- nirav72 1y ago
  Whats the most common reason they’ve harnessed you over? Just wondering if they’re going based on prior issue on file? I’m of Indian descent , born and raised in the U.S - I must be the lucky one. Because I’ve never had any issues. Entering back in the country has been trouble free so far. Have you thought about signing up for global entry. Recently signed up for it myself and now I just skip talking to a human (and waiting in line)
alephnerd 1y ago
Weird. I look stereotypical MENA and haven't faced any extra screening, and I travel a lot for work both domestically and abroad, and I'm too lazy to get Global Entry or TSA Pre so I'm dealing with general TSA. Did your friend maybe travel to an Arab country at some point in time that either faced significant instability, a country that borders Syria+Iraq, or to the West Bank via Jordan?
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
  Out of curiosity, which airports do you travel through most?
  - alephnerd 1y ago
    Domestically? SFO, SeaTac, JFK, OHare, and ATX, with a decent showing for Logan, DCA, and RTP.
tamimio 1y ago
I know it's normal to criticize the US now being like that, but the reality is, this is a shared vision among the 5-Eyes countries if you dig deeper. It just happens that the US is very outspoken about it. In Canada, for example as I read a couple weeks ago, individuals "having some sort of geopolitical proximity to a concern of Canada" are being put under the microscope and seen as guilty until proven otherwise, primarily from the Middle East (or West Asia if you don't like that terminology), despite the fact that there was no 9/11 or similar event to trigger any reaction, and how’s that a “proximity concern” to Canada. https://halifax.citynews.ca/2025/08/06/immigration-lawyers-say-rising-number-of-csis-security-screenings-causing-delays/ https://halifax.citynews.ca/2025/08/06/immigration-lawyers-s...

pixelatedindex 1y ago

[flagged]

guerrilla 1y ago
This kind of response is exactly what keeps racist systems like this going. No, it hasn't been the same for everyone.
- lolberal 1y ago
  [flagged]
jncfhnb 1y ago
Global Entry disagrees
Refreeze5224 1y ago
> Everyone follows the same rules at the airport. No they don't. Everyone does whatever TSA tells them to do, which absolutely varies by airport, country, and especially physical appearance.
Psillisp 1y ago
I paid to not follow the same rules.
techsupporter 1y ago
> Everyone follows the same rules at the airport. All travelers do but all border inspection people do not. Or if they do, they apply their discretion very unevenly in some Very Interesting Ways. I've watched it happen twice since COVID, both times traveling abroad for work and coming back into the United States with coworkers (different coworkers each trip) who are not nearly as pale as I am. Neither of us had Global Entry or anything like that back then. Both times, I got waved through with barely a glance and my US-passport-holding coworker got grilled. "Where do you live", "why did you go on this trip", "who do you work for", and so on. To reiterate: All of us are citizens, all of us were born here, and we were taking the exact same trips at the exact same times coming back with the usual things you take with you on a business trip. Anecdotes from friends who are darker than a sheet of printer paper tell me this situation has not improved.

mmmBacon 1y ago

Do you have any data to back this claim up or are you just stating your opinion? I was routinely detained at passport control because there was a bad guy with my same name. It took some amount of time and being very polite to get me out of that.

more_corn 1y ago
I know a guy who shares a name with a one legged IRA bomber. One would think there would be some effort disambiguate name collisions. In this case a three year old could probably do it. Let’s see. One, two. Not the guy!!!
- ceejayoz 1y ago
  Ironically, a three year old can be on the list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Fly_List#False_positives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Fly_List#False_positives > Numerous children (including many under the age of five, and some under the age of one) have generated false positives. And at least on one occasion, a sitting US Senator: https://www.theregister.com/2004/08/19/senator_on_terror_watch/ https://www.theregister.com/2004/08/19/senator_on_terror_wat...