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babylonsister

(170,963 posts)
Wed Apr 5, 2017, 08:44 AM Apr 2017

Trump wants visitors from countries like Germany and France to hand over social media passwords

How unrealistic is this when he wants to cut the federal work force? And this is a slap in the face to our allies.


Esther Yu Hsi Lee
Immigration Reporter at ThinkProgress.
Trump wants visitors from countries like Germany and France to hand over social media passwords
Even America’s closest allies may be subject to “extreme vetting.”


The U.S. government is mulling whether to force foreign visitors to hand over their cellular phones so that officials can conduct social media screenings, check financial records, and ask “probing questions” about ideology, according to Trump administration officials who spoke with the Wall Street Journal.

Prompted by President Donald Trump’s campaign call for “extreme vetting” to prevent foreign terrorists from entering the United States, the government is considering strict guidelines that would require embassies to spend more time interviewing visa applicants, the Journal reported. The vetting procedure could affect people around the world, including visitors from 38 countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program, including France, Germany, and Australia. That program allows citizens from specific countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without having to get a visa.

“If there is any doubt about a person’s intentions coming to the United States, they should have to overcome — really and truly prove to our satisfaction — that they are coming for legitimate reasons,” Gene Hamilton, senior counselor to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, told the publication.


The vetting guideline was part of Trump’s revised executive order in March that bans travel from six Muslim-majority countries. According to the Wall Street Journal, the order allows security officials to provide a “rigorous evaluation” of whether applicants support terrorism or are at risk of causing harm.

A federal judge in Hawaii put a temporary halt to the revised executive order, but the vetting review to get more information from visitors, refugees, and immigrants, has been allowed to proceed.

As part of the review, visitors would have to turn over their phones so that officials can check stored contacts with the goal to “figure out who you are communicating with,” a senior Department of Homeland Security official said.

more...

https://thinkprogress.org/visitors-us-phone-bank-accounts-e0d4d7a1c31
19 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Trump wants visitors from countries like Germany and France to hand over social media passwords (Original Post) babylonsister Apr 2017 OP
if i were traveling, i would avoid this country like the plague spanone Apr 2017 #1
Same here! greatauntoftriplets Apr 2017 #3
Goodbye Tourism Industry n2doc Apr 2017 #2
Yup, Trumpy kills tourism. FSogol Apr 2017 #7
"If there is any doubt " Do you gain that " doubt " by your religion or color???? lunasun Apr 2017 #4
This is beyond stupid dalton99a Apr 2017 #5
I have serious worry about leaving this country and trying to get back in HAB911 Apr 2017 #6
Glad my daughter is done her college study abroad, and our son isn't due for another few years. woodsprite Apr 2017 #9
I traveled to the Caribbean about a month ago MiniMe Apr 2017 #14
I don't get it Jonny Appleseed Apr 2017 #8
Yep, it'll go to this GWC58 Apr 2017 #11
With or without Gorsuch? MiniMe Apr 2017 #15
My last visit was in summer of 2016 riverbendviewgal Apr 2017 #10
Why would anyone with any options come here? CanonRay Apr 2017 #12
I wonder of buying a burner phone would be the answer. pennylane100 Apr 2017 #13
Email your contact info to yourself. No paper trail. displacedtexan Apr 2017 #16
WTF? I know he's insane, but this is over the top! smirkymonkey Apr 2017 #17
I haven't traveled internationally as an adult crazycatlady Apr 2017 #18
Time to short all the stocks related to tourism in the US... nt stevenleser Apr 2017 #19

woodsprite

(11,854 posts)
9. Glad my daughter is done her college study abroad, and our son isn't due for another few years.
Wed Apr 5, 2017, 09:29 AM
Apr 2017

We were just getting to the point where financially, we could swing a real vacation trip (more than camping) every couple of years, the kids were still interested in traveling with us (23 and 17), and our vacations periods (spring break and xmas aligned), now I don't feel we have the "freedoms" to do that. Our first trip was going to be to Italy. Our daughter wanted to show us where she studied and introduce us to her teachers and other friends she made there.

Also, worried about friends who are traveling right now - in Ireland and India.

MiniMe

(21,677 posts)
14. I traveled to the Caribbean about a month ago
Wed Apr 5, 2017, 11:11 AM
Apr 2017

Went on a cruise, and had no problems coming back into the country. And the cruise went to Guatemala and Belize among other stops, including Mexico.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous about the prospect of coming back through customs, but while they had customs agents there, they basically waved me through after they checked my passport.

 

Jonny Appleseed

(960 posts)
8. I don't get it
Wed Apr 5, 2017, 09:25 AM
Apr 2017

What do they do if you say you don't have any? Also this will definitely go to the supreme court for unlawful search and seizure where the substantive value of information will be defined. Your passwords could be worth millions of dollars depending on who you are.

riverbendviewgal

(4,251 posts)
10. My last visit was in summer of 2016
Wed Apr 5, 2017, 09:33 AM
Apr 2017

I visited my Trump loving brother and went to two NASCAR races.

What I got out of that trip experience is that the USA has changed to the very right. I found that groceries were much more expensive than in Ontario. No more bargains that attract me. Since I've been to 40 states and along both coasts I won't miss going back. Sad i wont see Hawaii and Alaska.
Once Trump won the election it was the final nail in the coffin.

My brothers are Trump nutcases and I feel no loss if I ever see them again.

My Canadian friends are not planning to visit the USA. They dont even want to do layovers there.

Too expensive and not worth giving up our privacy to visit the USA. The abundance of guns and mentally ill Americans who have them are another reason to stay away.
I went to Cuba this winter and plan to visit more Canadian provinces and Europe this year. VisitingAmerica for me now is like visiting Russia.

So sorry for you all here on DU.

displacedtexan

(15,695 posts)
16. Email your contact info to yourself. No paper trail.
Wed Apr 5, 2017, 11:14 AM
Apr 2017

I email photos captured on my ipad to myself, in order to edit them on my laptop. I have my email set up to show all inboxes from yahoo, gmail, and icloud accounts.

I bought a cell phone in Rome to use on a month-long trip, and I had my contacts in a saved email folder. It worked beautifully.

 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
17. WTF? I know he's insane, but this is over the top!
Wed Apr 5, 2017, 11:37 AM
Apr 2017

He has already single-handedly decimated the travel industry, this is just going to put the nail in the coffin. Is there nobody in his administration that can talk any sense into him?

crazycatlady

(4,492 posts)
18. I haven't traveled internationally as an adult
Wed Apr 5, 2017, 11:48 AM
Apr 2017

And the thought of Trump's border protection department makes me glad I don't have a valid passport.

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