Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1998 18:13:07 -0500 From: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> To: Frank Pawlak <fpawlak@execpc.com>, lcremean@tidalwave.net, Joao Carlos Mendes Luis <jonny@jonny.eng.br> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: US Immigration (was: Funny, but true...) Message-ID: <19980616181307.09604@papillon.lemis.com> In-Reply-To: <980616221213.ZM10797@darkstar.connect.com>; from Frank Pawlak on Tue, Jun 16, 1998 at 10:12:13PM %2B0000 References: <199806131959.QAA25251@roma.coe.ufrj.br> <19980613174107.42635@st-lcremean.tidalwave.net> <19980615125757.61980@papillon.lemis.com> <grog@lemis.com> <980616221213.ZM10797@darkstar.connect.com>
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On Tue, 16 June 1998 at 22:12:13 +0000, Frank Pawlak wrote: > On Jun 15, 12:57pm, Greg Lehey wrote: >> Subject: US Immigration (was: Funny, but true...) >> On Sat, 13 June 1998 at 17:41:07 -0400, Lee Cremeans wrote: >> >> > The root of this, though, is the fact that the State Department is >> > paranoid, very paranoid. I'm sure they have some right to be at this >> > moment, after all the attacks on US installations in the Middle East >> > (and the NYC World Trade Center bombing here 5 years ago) by rabid >> > Islam fundamentalists...and the Nazi thing is because there are >> > Nazis hiding out in South America, apparently, that avoided the >> > Nuremburg trials in 1946 (most are very old now, and I would not >> > doubt they'd all be dead in 10 years). >> >> Don't believe that these questions are new. As I mentioned, we had >> them (+ communism) in 1957, and every time since that I've applied for >> a US visa, I have had to answer pretty much the same collection. >> >> Here's another one. My visa is valid until some time in 2001, but >> when I left for the US last week, I was given a green form I-94W (Visa >> Waiver Arrival/Departure Form). On the back of it, just above the >> signature, was this interesting statement: >> >> WAIVER OF RIGHTS: I hereby waive any rights to review or appeal of >> an immgration officer's determination as to my admissibility, or to >> contest, other that on the basis of an application for asylum, any >> action in deportation. >> >> My first reaction was to cross out this paragraph. I decided a little >> later that that would not be a good idea, and got the I-94 (white >> form, for people with visas). But what a waiver! Any immigration >> officer who didn't like the look of me could just send me back half >> way round the world, and I couldn't even complain. > > Just for comparison purposes, when you enter countries such as England, France, > Germany, or your own country Australia? Are we in the US more or less > paranoid? The US is particularly unusual in its treatment of foreigners. I haven't seen questions or waivers like this in any other country. The INS people also seem to have been trained to be nasty, a trait shared only by the English immigration people. In Europe, you usually don't need a visa, and any inspection is pretty cursory. In Asia, you will need a landing card which concentrates normally on things they could more easily get out of your passport. In some countries you'll need a visa (Australia is one of them), but most don't worry any more. China and India still need visas, and some people (including Australians, but excluding US citizens) need a visa for Japan. > All of this makes me wonder if US intelligence isn't on to some new > potential threats. Recall what I said above. I know it's been like this for at least 40 years. I suspect it grew out of the large immigration floods of the last century. Greg -- Finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key See complete headers for address and phone numbers To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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