6 ms·

I don't understand why customs needs this.. it's perfectly legal for them to just take whatever they want or deny whatever they want entry for no reason as I un

I don't understand why customs needs this.. it's perfectly legal for them to just take whatever they want or deny whatever they want entry for no reason as I understand it. If they don't want Occupy videos they can just reject them. This form isn't needed to accomplish that. What is its real purpose?

Amadou 13y ago
It has been widely speculated that the customs form that they pass out on the airplane en route to the USA is not about stopping bad guys but about getting them to lie on official paperwork so that there is a documented crime to cite as a reason to deport/jail them.
- dredmorbius 13y ago
  Pretty much my initial thought on this. As with pretty much any other declaration.
- tedunangst 13y ago
  What about about the customs form you get when flying from the USA to another country?
  - GFischer 13y ago
    The ones here in Uruguay and especially Argentina are mostly concerned about illegally entering or withdrawing cash (US Dollars mostly). You have to declare cash above a certain amount, and I believe excess cash can be confiscated. There are also other questions (for example: if you're bringing animal products - we had very damaging outbreaks of foot and mouth disease, the mad cow scare, etc)
    - adestefan 13y ago
      That's exactly what is on the customs forms going into the US, too. Of course, that doesn't fit into the conspiracy theories.
      - Pinckney 13y ago
        The I-94 form asks such questions as "have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage; or in terrorist activities; or genocide; or between 1933 and 1945 were involved, in any way, in persecutions associated with Nazi Germany or its allies", "have you... procured or attempted to procure a visa or entry into the U.S. by fraud or misrepresentation?", and "are you seeking entry to engage in criminal activities?" http://www.immihelp.com/visas/i-94w.html http://www.immihelp.com/visas/i-94w.html
        tedunangst 13y ago
        That's not a customs form, to clarify.
        adestefan 13y ago
        Wrong form. The customs form is 6059B. http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/sample_declaration_form.xml http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/sample_declaratio...
        Pinckney 13y ago
        Yes, I know. I'm fairly confident it's the form tedunangst referred to, and to travellers, the distinction is mostly academic, since they're both handed in at customs.
Spooky23 13y ago
It's there because old laws require it, and customs enforces the law. You can't amend the law in Congress, because changing immigration or obscenity laws are opening Pandora's box to all sorts of nonsense. It happens all of the time -- New York had a law on its books until a few years ago that affected auto leasing that was based on an 19th century problem... Rented horses whose poor training or health caused accidents. Because of this law, you could hold a car company liable for an accident -- which made it impossible to lease cars in New York! Changing the law was held hostage in the legislature for many years. If you declare that the shipment doesn't contains "bad" things, and it does, and it's inspected, than yes you'll be guilty of filing a false instrument or lying to a federal agent -- serious crimes. That's just the reality of life, not a conspiracy as others have implied.

Amadou 13y ago

It has been widely speculated that the customs form that they pass out on the airplane en route to the USA is not about stopping bad guys but about getting them to lie on official paperwork so that there is a documented crime to cite as a reason to deport/jail them.

dredmorbius 13y ago
Pretty much my initial thought on this. As with pretty much any other declaration.
tedunangst 13y ago
What about about the customs form you get when flying from the USA to another country?
- GFischer 13y ago
  The ones here in Uruguay and especially Argentina are mostly concerned about illegally entering or withdrawing cash (US Dollars mostly). You have to declare cash above a certain amount, and I believe excess cash can be confiscated. There are also other questions (for example: if you're bringing animal products - we had very damaging outbreaks of foot and mouth disease, the mad cow scare, etc)
  - adestefan 13y ago
    That's exactly what is on the customs forms going into the US, too. Of course, that doesn't fit into the conspiracy theories.
    - Pinckney 13y ago
      The I-94 form asks such questions as "have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage; or in terrorist activities; or genocide; or between 1933 and 1945 were involved, in any way, in persecutions associated with Nazi Germany or its allies", "have you... procured or attempted to procure a visa or entry into the U.S. by fraud or misrepresentation?", and "are you seeking entry to engage in criminal activities?" http://www.immihelp.com/visas/i-94w.html http://www.immihelp.com/visas/i-94w.html
      - tedunangst 13y ago
        That's not a customs form, to clarify.
      - adestefan 13y ago
        Wrong form. The customs form is 6059B. http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/sample_declaration_form.xml http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/sample_declaratio...
        Pinckney 13y ago
        Yes, I know. I'm fairly confident it's the form tedunangst referred to, and to travellers, the distinction is mostly academic, since they're both handed in at customs.

Spooky23 13y ago

It's there because old laws require it, and customs enforces the law. You can't amend the law in Congress, because changing immigration or obscenity laws are opening Pandora's box to all sorts of nonsense. It happens all of the time -- New York had a law on its books until a few years ago that affected auto leasing that was based on an 19th century problem... Rented horses whose poor training or health caused accidents. Because of this law, you could hold a car company liable for an accident -- which made it impossible to lease cars in New York! Changing the law was held hostage in the legislature for many years. If you declare that the shipment doesn't contains "bad" things, and it does, and it's inspected, than yes you'll be guilty of filing a false instrument or lying to a federal agent -- serious crimes. That's just the reality of life, not a conspiracy as others have implied.