Re:Maurice/Fatguys Angst-o-the day thread

[quote=”Fatguy”]I believe that most people in the States live in denial about just how much their privacy and rights have been infringed. It is only when outsiders like myself balk at these new procedures and how they infringe on pleasant activities like Dragon Con…..that the unpleasantness rears it’s head.

Even Britain your ally in Iraq…..has less stringent policies regarding tourism and such…..except when the British travel to the U.S.A.. What follows is a quote from a friend who read this thread:

“Anyone in the UK renewing their passport after Oct 2004 will have to pay an extra £65 for a biometric coded passport to travel to US this only applies to travelling to the US an not any other country also it will mean having to go to the American Embassy for a visa . At the present time to enter the US involves being fingerprinted and having your photo taken at immigration. Also we are being forced because of US policy to have armed Sky Marshals on planes that are going to the US a plane destined for Washingtopn was cancelled on 4 days running while the passenger lists were being checked by US authorities who also want to know about payment details of the tickets bought for this flight . And we are supposed to be the USs closest ally . “[/quote]

Most people in my generation that I know of are well aware of how stringent security is becoming around us. At times it seems like the government is reverting to Nazi Germany in terms of security checks and other bombastic procedures. They ask to see our papers (ID) on the train, bus…

Speaking of the UK, which I just returned from about 13 hours ago, I did notice a huge difference with paperwork upon entering the UK and the US. The UK paper was just a simple: Name, home address, country of origin. I’ve had more trouble getting from Pennsylvania to New Jersey than I did getting into the UK. Returning home was much different. I had a much longer form to fill out, that asked a bunch of questions in addition to name, address etc. These include, are you carrying any food, plants, soil etc. And another question about how much (in $) stuff you’re bringing into the country. The food questions are for ecological/agricultural security. We do want to limit foreign lifeforms from entering the local enivronment and screwing it up even more. The money question, is for tax purposes. Seeing as how I only bought post cards, “I love London” tshirts, magnets and other tourist crap, it’s no big deal and customs could care less. They however don’t want me bringing major commercial items into the economy, eg designer clothes, electronics, alchoal, tobacco. Since I could resell these items here at a lower price, and have a small impact on the local economy. (Keep in mind that if one person does it, no biggie, but if 500 people do it, it is a major problem, I’m not going to discuss freshman economics here)

Any foreign national (I explicitly asked about this) entering the country has a few other forms to fill out. These are where are you staying, for how long, purpose of visit. The concern here is for immigration purposes.

I’m not defending the system per se, I do prefer the british system, but many of these controls do have a valid reason.

As for your friends comments:
1) fingerprinting et al, applies only to visitors with a visa. Citizens of the UK and most western European countries do NOT have to apply for a visa to travel to the states. Canada (aka the Suburbs)sure as hell doesn’t have to. In fact Canadians are treated as US citizens for customs paperwork purposes!
2) I’m not sure about this new encoded passport thing. US passports don’t have it so why should we require only England to have it?

I must commend your friend on being turned away at the Canadian-US border. That is a real accomplishment! You have to TRY to get turned away at the Canadian border. Seriously, it the longest unguarded border in history. Much of it is serperated only by a small stone pillar every 50 ft in the woods. Some places it’s literally as easy as crossing a street.
And to add some more cynicism, Micheal Moore (a hero of yours?) had a show on TV ~10 years ago, where he proved how simple it was to get into/out of Canada. He had people crossing wearing “traditional Canadian outfits” like hockey uniforms with gear, Mountie uniforms, and even a two-man Canadian Moose costume.