Back

@Ulli I know it does & there have been times in the past, notably during the Tangerine Tyrant’s last term, that I only carried scrubbed laptops & phones on trips.

The point is how often it is enacted, with what tolerance levels, & with what intent. And that has clearly changed, making it far more risky / dangerous for foreigners with opinions to travel to the US than it was two months ago. And arguably travelling tacitly legitimises the regime even if you carry clean electronics.

@markmccaughrean
We carry around 700-1000 inadmissible passengers back to Germany year by year for the last 25 years.
That amount hasn’t changed during the last months.
What changed was the coverage of single cases by news outlets and in the social media.
And it is always the same, the CBP-Officer has the last word about your entry into the US.
If he don’t like you, you are going back, that also hasn’t changed for the last 40yrs I observe it as a traveler and pilot.

@Ulli Thanks for putting some numbers on that for us – do you know what fraction of the total number of passengers that is?

And I know that US immigration officials have always had this power – I used to live there, had a Green Card, & have had some very interesting experiences with them over the years. I also spoke at one point with the most senior lawyer at the INS about the rules & they essentially said "it's entirely at the discretion of the officer you talk to on the day."

@Ulli That said, I think it's perfectly likely that the current government is going to weaponise that power, & I struggle to believe that turning back a scientist for having messages on his phone disapproving of the research funding policies has always been a reason for rejection.

So we also need to be careful not to shrug & say "business as usual", as it's clear that this is not a US government as usual.