Visiting the US these days

[fresh_42]

‘Like a horror movie’: German tourist detained by ICE says she spent week in solitary confinement​

German consulate working to get tattoo artist released

U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained the German tattoo artist after she tried to enter San Diego on January 25th from Tijuana with her American best friend. The two were traveling with tattoo equipment.

Lofving said the episode is particularly absurd because Brösche’s original return flight to Berlin was on Feb. 15 — nearly two weeks ago.

“Why are American taxpayers spending thousands of dollars detaining tourists who are perfectly willing to leave,” she said.

Sources:

‘Like a horror movie’: German tourist detained by ICE says she spent week in solitary confinement

A German tourist is fighting to get released from an immigration detention center after she was denied entry at the San Diego border and taken into custody by ICE last month.

www.10news.com

German tourist held indefinitely in San Diego-area immigrant detention facility

The young woman had planned to spend a month with a friend in Los Angeles and then fly home to Berlin. But she’s been in federal custody since late January.

www.kpbs.org

You cannot even closely imagine how dearly I'm hoping not having to travel to the US for family reasons. I have been in Ceaucescu's Romania in the 80s and in Russia (luckily 2003 before Putin lost his mind). I try to avoid despotism ever since.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Bizzare and maddening

 

[phinds]

Bizarre and maddening

aka Trumpian

 

[morrobay]

This Dept. of Homeland Security really needs Musk/Doge to straighten it out.
When I was a Customs Inspector Customs was in the Dept.of the Treasury and Immigration was Dept.of Justice. Bush created this mish/mash Homeland Security. Sounds like something Bush came up with after a six pack on his ranches lower 40. Also seems detention centers are contracted. These ladies presented with tattoo equipment and were talking about doing tattoo work. This could be interpreted as a reason for non admission with the German's visa status. So this action was taken by immigration. At the worst she could be denied entry and returned to Mexico. What has happened instead Is ridiculous. And again Musk and the Doge team .. Have at it ! And restore order.

 

[dlu]

The US border really tightening up.

Years and eons ago, the Canada/US border was walk through. All one needed was any form of ID, such as a drivers license.

After 9/11, 2001, little by little things became more difficult.

Even so, a bit after 2000, two guys from Canada in a cargo van, pulled up to the US customs wicket, presented their papers to the official who did a few look and sees, filled out a form, and handed the papers and form back. The two guys said thankyou, and merrily went on their way down the Hwy. Two miles further while going up and over the hill, you guessed it, flashing lights and blaring sirens.
"You were supposed to go to Secondary!" In other words, they appeared to be skipping across the border into USA.
"We didn't know!", was their excuse.
"Well, turn around and do it."
So they did, and after some stamp, stamp, .. stamping, they were admitted to enter the country, legally this time.

Since so soon after after 9/11, there still would have been some Bush military with arms on visible patrol around the border crossing.

How times have changed.

 

[fresh_42]

How times have changed.

I visited the US in 2003. The queue at the immigration officers was long, slow, and annoying after a long flight. They checked everybody except that Arabic-looking guy a few places ahead of me because that would have been "racial profiling". Strange. But not as strange as the dialogue I have had:

Officer: "Why are you here?"
Me: "To visit my sister."
Officer: "And tomorrow?"
Me: "???"

What the heck did he expect? Robbing a bank?

Nowadays, I would fear as hell to get detained if they find out what I am writing here!

 

[fresh_42]

 

[dlu]

https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.trade.gov%2F%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F2025-04%2FFINAL_SummaryAnalysis_COR_January_2025.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK

 

[Borg]

I'm planning on a trip to Europe that I thankfully booked the airfare already. This morning when I checked on ticket prices, there was a 50% increase in the price for my flight. I know that prices for last minute purchases (under three weeks or so) are more expensive but we are not in that window. Even when I look out six months, the increase from my previous searches of those dates and the price that I paid, is in excess of a 30% increase.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

$90B losses and counting

As international tourists pull back on U.S. travel and purchases, $90 billion in lost revenue looms

Visits from Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom have seen particularly significant declines.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[fresh_42]

$90B losses and counting

I asked my friend today if she is still planning to visit the US, like every year, to see her family. She said she isn't sure whether she can risk it. I told her to take the phone number of the German embassy with her, just in case. Her answer was that if she were to travel, then all of her friends and relatives would have her travel plans by the minute in case she didn't show up at certain places on time, so they would be able to start a search. She has health issues and probably wouldn't survive a longer detention.

Imagine this: These are the thoughts people nowadays have when planning a trip to the USA.

I just read an article on CNN about a New Yorker who moved to Germany:

‘The best decision I ever made’: Why this New Yorker ditched the United States for ‘super safe’ Germany​

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/new-yorker-ditched-united-states-germany/index.html

These are the differences we talk about!

 

[Borg]

I'm planning on a trip to Europe that I thankfully booked the airfare already. This morning when I checked on ticket prices, there was a 50% increase in the price for my flight. I know that prices for last minute purchases (under three weeks or so) are more expensive but we are not in that window. Even when I look out six months, the increase from my previous searches of those dates and the price that I paid, is in excess of a 30% increase.

Maybe a temporary blip. Price of my trip this morning is now actually lower than I paid. Time to call the airline to see about a price change.

EDIT: Called customer service and ended up with 25% less than I originally paid! Unfortunately United only offers travel credits for the difference. It's good for one year and I'm sure that we will book something again by then.

 

[fresh_42]

Whoever reads this and isn't a US citizen: Stay away from the USA!

German teens who ‘intended to work’ were denied entry to US for traveling ‘under false pretenses’: Customs​

A pair of backpacking German teens booted from the US lied about the purpose of their trip, Customs and Border Protection said — but the women claim US officials “twisted” their words to trump up the allegations.

Maria Lepere, 18, and Charlotte Pohl, 19, arrived in Hawaii on March 18 with short-term travel permits ahead of a weeks-long US trip but were detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and sent packing back to Germany within hours.

“These travelers were denied entry after attempting to enter the US under false pretenses. One used a Visitor visa, the other the Visa Waiver Program,” CBP officials told The Post Monday.

“Both claimed they were touring California but later admitted they intended to work — something strictly prohibited under US immigration laws for these visas.”

But the women — who were planning to continue on to Los Angeles and then Costa Rica after Hawaii — insisted they were interrogated by CBP for hours, and that transcripts show their words were “twisted” and outright falsified. “They contained sentences we didn’t actually say,” Pohl said of interrogation transcripts they were sent home with.

“They twisted it to make it seem as if we admitted that we wanted to work illegally in the US,” she told the German outlet Ostee Zeitung.

The two women, recent high school graduates, had just spent five weeks in Thailand and New Zealand and were continuing on to the US and Central America as part of a global backpacking trip when they found themselves in a CBP interrogation room in Honolulu.

German teens who ‘intended to work’ were denied entry to US for traveling ‘under false pretenses’: Customs

Maria Lepere and Charlotte Pohl, 18 and 19, arrived in Hawaii on March 18 with short-term travel permits ahead of weeks-long US trip.

nypost.com

 

[phinds]

All brought to you by our wonderful new king/autocrat/dictator/all-around-asshole. **

** But don't ask me how I REALLY feel about him. It would involve bad language

 

[fresh_42]

This is no joke. I just found this on our #1 online magazine for software.

Before immigration checks in the USA: How to protect your smartphone, laptop, and other electronic devices​

Are you flying to the USA soon? Then you should be prepared for border officials to search your electronic devices. Here's how to protect your data.

A vacation in Hawaii ended in a deportation center. What happened to two tourists is not an isolated incident: Reports of Germans being detained, searched, and questioned upon entering the USA are increasing. US security authorities also search electronic devices.

Whether it's a smartphone, laptop, or digital camera: travelers bring a lot of data across the border that they'd rather keep to themselves. Be it private photos or critical chats about the current US administration. Either way: Anyone traveling to the USA should protect their digital self, even if they actually have "nothing to hide."

In this article, we explain how to prepare your smartphone and laptop to ensure your data remains secure and doesn't end up in a U.S. security database. A lawyer from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) offers advice. We also provide statistics to show how high the risk of a search really is and what content border officials are most interested in.

Vor der Einreisekontrolle in den USA: So schützen Sie Smartphone, Laptop und Co.

Fliegen Sie bald in die USA? Dann sollten Sie sich darauf vorbereiten, dass Grenzbeamte Ihre elektronischen Geräte durchsuchen. So schützen Sie Ihre Daten.

www.heise.de

Comment: The USA is now officially a country in line with dictatorships on this planet. I was even less cautious when travelling to Russia!

 

[Borg]

This is no joke. I just found this on our #1 online magazine for software.

Vor der Einreisekontrolle in den USA: So schützen Sie Smartphone, Laptop und Co.

Fliegen Sie bald in die USA? Dann sollten Sie sich darauf vorbereiten, dass Grenzbeamte Ihre elektronischen Geräte durchsuchen. So schützen Sie Ihre Daten.

www.heise.de

Comment: The USA is now officially a country in line with dictatorships on this planet. I was even less cautious when travelling to Russia!

I have an upcoming vacation and my wife is increasingly worried about whether she will be able to return. She has been a U.S. citizen for over 20 years!

 

[fresh_42]

My nephew is so brave, or naive, depending on your prejudices. Not only does he plan to board a Mediterranean cruise ship, which by itself is already careless considering where their captains come from, but he also plans to return to the USA. Do they yet have LGBT marks in their passports? Asking for a relative.