Post: #1

https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com...st-arrive/

Recently was flying to Cyprus via Qatar Airways from JFK Airport and was put on a list of 4 people who could not board the plane until an exit interview was done by ICE. Waited about half and hour for them to arrive (a man in his thirties and a cute blonde in her twenties) and they asked me for my hotel reservation in Cyprus and details about where I work and live as well as social media info. Took about 15 minutes though I was freezing in the walkway in the 40 degree New York evening weather.

Anyone travel outside recently and get interviewed? I read that the new Executive order in the link above mandates exit interviews like they do in other countries like Russia for example. Any US Citizens who travelled this year had something similar happen to them?

Post: #2

I'd be quite pissed and spooked if something like that happened to me.

Post: #3

This is one of the main reasons I have no desire to enter America this side of CW2.

Post: #4

Get Global Entry. It saves a lot of time.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-trave...obal-entry

Post: #5

Thats insane. You're leaving the country - what gives them the right to ask you questions about where you're staying where you're going? How is that of any relevancy to the US government?

Nevermind the asking for social media info, thats some serious police state BS.

Post: #6

Ha! Make America great again

And he hasn't even built a wall

We can build a wall for two reason: Keep the Invaders OUT! or Cage the sheeple IN!

Post: #7

Isn’t Global Entry for non-Citizens?

@zatara-yes I was shocked too. Especially since I had already gone through security and was at the gate. Perhaps it was suspicious that I went to Colombian in December or that I was using Qatar airlines? Expect this kind of shit in EE but USA upon exit. Also in Russia people with certain amounts of debt cannot leave the country. Maybe with increasing amounts of people with student loans escaping the US they are doing this?

Post: #8

(03-26-2019 10:14 AM)Philosopher Wrote:  Isn’t Global Entry for non-Citizens?

@zatara-yes I was shocked too. Especially since I had already gone through security and was at the gate. Perhaps it was suspicious that I went to Colombianon Demeter or that I was using Qatar airlines? Expect this kind of shit in EE but USA upon exit. Also in Russia people with certain amounts of debt cannot leave the country. Maybe with increasing amounts of people with student loans escaping the US they are doing this?

No, US citizens can get global entry. It makes it really easy to enter the US. However, these exit interviews are a new thing. I don't know how it would work with them.

Post: #9

The implication of holding such interviews and asking questions is that if your answers are not satisfactory, then you will not be allowed to leave.

East Germany probably started like that.

If I were an American, then I would be bringing forward my departure date.

Post: #10

Not in the US but I was in Iceland earlier this year and had to do an exit interview. Most of it was general questions but the guy started asking where I specifically went in the country. I've never had that happen anywhere else. I heard the couple in front of me get asked by another security agent if they could see photos of where they were talking about being at in Iceland on their phone. It was weird.

In your case, I'd argue maybe the country you were flying to had something to do with it. I'm not sure if Cyprus has the best relations with the US, but it doesn't seem bad or anything. Hard for me to comment there as I don't follow their relations. Maybe someone that's flown to somewhere with worse relations like Russia, Iran, China, or somewhere like that recently from the US can better comment on this.

Post: #11

I was transferring in Doha, Qatar but as far as I know Qatar is not on Trump’s shit list though the Saudis broke off diplomatic relations.

Post: #12

I've never heard of that in the US. It almost sounds like they were looking for someone specific and thought he could be traveling under an alias--did you see the other passengers they pulled aside and did you and they fit the same general profile?

Post: #13

I've had to do entry interviews. Why I've spent so much time abroad, what I was doing,etc.

Flying into the U.S is one of the most miserable experiences. Uppity TSA guards with dreads and low IQs is standard. Always feels a bit like this for me.

Post: #14

I must say, my interactions with US border officials hardly gave me the impression I was visiting the "land of the free".

Post: #15

I have been trying to tell all these people who want to "build the wall" that it will be used both ways. I'm not surprised at all that shit like this is happening. And it's also a good reason to work on getting a second citizenship as soon as you can.

Thanks a lot to all of you to who want to "secure the border." Well, they are securing it, just like they secured the border in East Berlin.

And, yes, I do plan on leaving this bleeping country.

Post: #16

(03-26-2019 10:33 AM)rockoman Wrote:  The implication of holding such interviews and asking questions is that if your answers are not satisfactory, then you will not be allowed to leave.

East Germany probably started like that.

If I were an American, then I would be bringing forward my departure date.

IIRC the formation of East Germany was a little more dramatic than that.

Post: #17

(03-26-2019 11:02 PM)puckerman Wrote:  I have been trying to tell all these people who want to "build the wall" that it will be used both ways. I'm not surprised at all that shit like this is happening. And it's also a good reason to work on getting a second citizenship as soon as you can.

Thanks a lot to all of you to who want to "secure the border." Well, they are securing it, just like they secured the border in East Berlin.

And, yes, I do plan on leaving this bleeping country.

This might be the wisest words I've ever read on RVF! Be careful what you ask for!!!

Post: #18

Cyprus is a prime Russian money laundering destination and given that it's divided into an unrecognized Turkish part where shady people tend to disappear to in order to lay low it's not the most kosher international travel destination for an American and while it's hardly Somalia or Afghanistan the paranoid post 9/11 security apparatus wants to know.

I was checking in for a flight to Japan from Thailand 10 years ago and the plane had the US as a final destination.

They had a guy asking me all kinds of questions pre check in and checking my luggage.

Then post check in luggage check again after the official security check, so the paranoia extends far beyond the US and bottom bitch countries like Thailand generally comply with any demands from the US in order to have good relations.

Post: #19

@ Dr Mantis- no I did not see any of the other passengers

Post: #20

Sure they can ask questions, but you legally are not obligated to answer them. You have one fundamental right - the right to remain silent,only a judge can make you talk! The same applies when you are arriving in the US.
If you are a US citizen they can make your arrival a bit delayed but you cannot be denied entry. If you are a foreign national, I think they have to have a good reason to deny entry but being silent cannot be that reason.
I never heard of exit interviews though for US citizens.
What really annoyed me is when you board a plane in Europe (Spain or Germany) and you have to answer all those ridiculous questions about where you were and what you were doing...etc. The questions were so stupid I lost my cool at some point. They asked me if I liked Spain and I said NO...the lady got all pissy with me and shit and kept asking even more questions about where I was traveling in Spain...as if it mattered.

Post: #21

(03-26-2019 11:02 PM)puckerman Wrote:  I have been trying to tell all these people who want to "build the wall" that it will be used both ways. I'm not surprised at all that shit like this is happening. And it's also a good reason to work on getting a second citizenship as soon as you can.

Thanks a lot to all of you to who want to "secure the border." Well, they are securing it, just like they secured the border in East Berlin.

And, yes, I do plan on leaving this bleeping country.

The TSA nightmare started with Bush (W) who was pro amnesty and open borders. It has nothing to do with securing the southern border, or limiting immigration.

Its to "protect" us against muslims we've been bombing for decades who hate us for no reason.

Post: #22

https://www.niacouncil.org/eu-to-conside...uhEALw_wcB

Things might get worse, we might need visas soon(

Post: #23

There's a time and a place for libertarian chest thumping. Your boarding date is definitely not the time and an airport is definitely not the place.

Whatever rights you think you have, you don't. Get it out of your head.

"I have the right to remain silent."

"Sure, sir. You're going to miss your flight though and my buddy's trick-pony labrador here says you have drugs in your ass. We're out of lube by the way, so this is going to be a long day for you. Please be aware that making a scene may be construed as an act of hostility."

A tough guy might want to stand up to a bikie but only a moron walks into a bikie bar and picks a fight.

Treat all airports the way you would treat the ones in North Korea. Either don't go there or tread lightly.

Post: #24

(03-26-2019 07:39 PM)RatInTheWoods Wrote:  I must say, my interactions with US border officials hardly gave me the impression I was visiting the "land of the free".

It's true. They're the unhappiest bunch of civil servants this side of the DMV. Customs in most countries are at least neutral, the UK was actively perky and trying to give me travel tips. The U.S. employs a hive of miserable bastards.

(03-28-2019 08:32 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  There's a time and a place for libertarian chest thumping. Your boarding date is definitely not the time and an airport is definitely not the place.

Whatever rights you think you have, you don't. Get it out of your head.

The best airport meltdown I ever saw was at Athens, on one of the first Emirates DBX-ATH-EWR flights. I was going home.

A bunch of us, including myself, got SSSSed. SSSS being the boarding pass code for secondary screening at the gate. Sometimes this is the lottery ticket of death: you're marked as a suspicious passenger and will get SSSSed worldwide for months. However, since the inbound leg had come from the Middle East on a Middle Eastern airline and it was a new service, I figured they were just being cautious and putting the system through the paces.

There's this one dude, he goes through the secondary screening, then walks away to get a juice from the vending machine. He didn't understand that he'd left the secure area at the gate. The guy comes back and they tell him he has to be screened again, and he absolutely loses it.

Not a tall man, he's stamping his feet and cursing the whole time they go through his luggage, arguing bitterly as he hands over his bags, then flailing his juice bottle around over his head til it splashes as they go through his stuff. Everyone just kept smiling politely at him. When they were done, he even stormed over to the gate agent and started lodging a little hollering complaint about how "those people need to get organized, this is not efficient".

I remember me and the guy across from me sharing a smirk. "What's he even trying to do? He won't win."

Post: #25

It's the growing inconsistency that is pissing Americans off.

rude, unhappy, asshole customs =/= land of the free

Trump's wall =/= no limits on H1B visas (listen to Derbyshire on this, it's dire...yep, R's aren't immune to the inconsistency)

$1 million bond and FBI raid on Lori Loughlin =/= nothing for Jussie

Trump's guilty of everything! =/= Clinton's are royalty

CardiB drugging and robbing people =/= anything a white guy might joke about is horrible


It's in culture, politics, the workplace. It's insane.

Thankfully, at least with culture, I think Americans will adjust and just ignore all the bull-shit.

Edit: Ooh, another one, as I review labor laws:
strong economy and business growth =/= can't hire/fire (they're the same thing) anyone without fear of lawsuit