Travelers Beware: Homeland Security is Googling You
We've all undoubtedly heard the warnings about being careful about the information we put online, as well as the stories of potential employers and college admissions and coaches checking up on people online through Google and social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. But here's a new one for you: the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is also using this information to check up on individuals entering the country. "They" are watching you, and "they" know what you've been up to.
Andrew Feldman, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who's currently a psychotherapist in Vancouver, was recently detained for four hours, fingerprinted, and then barred entry into the United States after Homeland Security googled him and found an article he wrote in a literary and scientific journal in which he talked about using LSD and various other drugs in the 1960's. And even though he has no criminal record and says he hasn't used drugs since the 1970's, Feldmar must now get formal permission from the U.S. consul before entering the U.S.
Feldmar has been accustomed to visiting the U.S. about five or six times per year to visit his children, but last summer when he was pulled over for a random search, border patrol turned up online evidence that he had experimented with drugs for therapeutic research in the past.
Now nearly a year later, Feldmar has come to the conclusion that his banishment from the United States is permanent. He claims that the waiver process is exhausting, costly, and demeaning. His family and friends are devastated.
Feldmar's daughter, Soma, said: "My father was doing nothing wrong, illegal, suspicious, or at all deviant in any way, when he was trying to visit the U.S. In terms of family it really sucks. "
What's this mean for other people who've done questionable things in the past? Will an entire generation of hippies be barred from the U.S. for recreational drug use in 60's? Will journalists who've written less than flattering articles concerning the U.S. be stopped too? It's not clear where the line with be drawn, so take this advice: be careful what you share online.
ORWELL'S RIGHT AND DHS IS A DAMN FOOL
Andrew Feldman, a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor who's currently a psychotherapist in Vancouver, was recently detained for four hours, fingerprinted, and then barred entry into the United States after Homeland Security googled him and found an article he wrote in a literary and scientific journal in which he talked about using LSD and various other drugs in the 1960's. And even though he has no criminal record and says he hasn't used drugs since the 1970's, Feldmar must now get formal permission from the U.S. consul before entering the U.S.
This is atrocious. Who the hell does DHS think they are that they can perpetrate this with impunity? As a Canadian I have never had a high regard for the US Border Agents but after reading this story I'm sure you know that the DHS is despised.
I hope the ACLU or some such body takes the government to court for such an illicit use of the internet for barring a visitor who has family in the States.
USA. Home of the fearful and land of the paranoid. Must beware psychologists especially says DHS since they have many complexes.
OH REALLY, LETS LOOK AT CANADA
That is the most ignorant thing I have ever heard.
question "Who the hell does DHS think they are that they can perpetrate this with impunity?"
answer: We control the borders, not some damn Canadian...We dont need your blessing to do anything..The best medicine for you would be to talk to your own peple.. CBSA.. They share the same thoughts as us.. of course they are far from you..
Pretty hilarious how you point the finger but yet Canada perpetually bars thousands of US citizens a year for having a DUI... Canadians with DUI's flow through our borders daily by the hundreds...but yet you cant go to canada if you have a DUI.
Dont talk about the US when half of canada wants to break off from the rest of the country..
Other dangerous writers - one for example is a govt advisor
So a Canadian citizen is barred from something they WROTE, not did, decades ago that affected nobody and you bring up the example of DUI offenders who are a potential danger to anyone on the roads or sidewalks?
Wow. I guess that explains how our country is in the mess it is currently experiencing.
So, why don't we go after one of the White House's most proficiently used advisors for something he wrote in the early 1970s? Care to guess what it was?
UNIVERSAL FASCISM by Michael Ledeen.
Shocking we'd be in a damned near full fascist state with advisors like that, huh?
So why is he even allowed in this country let alone ADVISING OUR WHITE HOUSE? His goal still IS universal fascism, which explains our presence in so many countries around the world.
OH REALLY, LETS CLEAR UP THE LIES ABOUT CANADA
"Dont talk about the US when half of canada wants to break off from the rest of the country.."
Oh really? To throw your statement back at you: "That is the most ignorant thing I have ever heard."
Quebec (less than 25% of the Canadian population) TWICE voted NOT to separate from Canada, and has never voted for separation.
As for your statement that you can't go to Canada if you have a DUI, that is incorrect. You can get a pardon, which would grant you entry. You cannot lie about your past though - that gets you instant barring, as it does entering the U.S.
There are other much more petty reasons for being denied access, however, like having participated in a demonstration. Welcome to the New World Order!
We dont have pardons in the
We dont have pardons in the US..Nor do we recognice canadian pardons.. exaclty.. Just how a former drug user of over 30 years ago can get a waiver .. a dui from 30 years ago can get a waiver as well... WHATS THE difference???
Clinton & bush used drugs
Haha. George Bush II and Bill Clinton both use (d?) drugs and they went on to "greatness" but simply chose not to admit it.
hahahahahaha silly silly silly
hey their bud, Dui my butt i hate crossing the border to the us, they think they are so damn powerful, i laugh at the silly ignoramasouses as i pass through,
Holocaust survivor huh? I
Holocaust survivor huh? I thought that the Nazis killed everyone. How come there are so many survivors?
hmmmm
What if you had a DUI 30 years ago?
nice comparison
Idiot...
Travelers Beware
I wonder if that blow bust on the prez in the early 70's in Houston would count againt him. Nahhh
Andy has a beard, likely a Canada accent
Andy has a beard, likely a Canada accent and he looks frail enough due to his respectable age, he probably couldn't stand either the indefinite incarceration or the water-boarding.
So, consider yourself lucky, Andy.
You shouldn't want to come here, state-side too soon anyway.
We're all gearing up for a mass killing on one side of the fence or the other, and possibly both.
You see, here's the deal: We have a pretty serious and growing problem down here with judges and just about anyone in government thinking it's okay to torture our wives and kids into making confessions about whatever.
So, here's the plan: We're kinda taking our time, just to see how many of this kind there are in government before performing the required clean sweep to clean them all up... You know, like the Liberals post Cretian?
It's in the wind, but, Mum's the word! So, just a-hunker down, as we say here state-side. This'll likely all blow over soon enough in a cloud of smoke that smells like ammonium nitrate or possibly plutonium.
In the mean time, best! to all our Canadian friends to the north some of whom are such fine farmers.
Google that you twit, Michael Chertoff.
Don Robertson, The American Philosopher
Limestone, Maine
Fascism marches on in the
Fascism marches on in the USA. Some say it can't happen here, but the evidence is undeniable. God bless the American sheeple....
There are more pleasant places in the world to visit
In 1994 I was arrested in Canada for possession of 1 gram of marijuana. In 1997, I attempted to cross the border from Vancouver to Washington and got pulled over and questioned. I admitted to the border officer of having a criminal record and was bared out of the US.
I later applied for a waiver recently to enable me to travel and visit my brother and his family in the US. The “Form I-194” cost me over 500$ Ca and took over 8 months to process, granting me only 1 year of temporary admission to the US.
However, because I’ve connected flights through NYC in the past few years while traveling abroad, my name came up in their search. Apparently I was not supposed to connect international flights at the airport and this has jeopardized my temporary admission. The last crossing into the US “with my waiver” resulted in a 3 hour ordeal of questioning and more entries into my profile in their database. I also will not be able to get a new waiver after this one expires they said. Nothing can be done and I sure the hell won’t spend one more cent to fight this. It stresses me out and no one deserves to be treated like criminals or yelled at for wanting to go visit your family or taking a vacation.
So I’ve decide to put my money in less stressful travels. Besides, traveling and vacationing should be relaxing and calm; a happy time for everyone. Instead, my family and I will travel to more friendly and hospitable regions on the globe. There are many different beautiful places to visit such as South America, Eastern Europe, countries in Africa and Asia. And each day there are more and more direct flights offered by Canadian airline companies so people don’t have to deal with fascist intimidation tactics.
The administration in the US has become a dangerously ideological. Day by day we see more and more civil liberties being axed down as the falsely elected criminals pass more laws and restrictions. They hire Blackwater contractors to go shoot poor people in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina. They install laws to allow eavesdropping on our phone conversations without need for a warrant. They continue to direct the people’s tax dollar into genocide and raping children at gunpoint in the Middle East. Attacks on political activists in the US have gone up drastically.
Feww..my goodness! These are all too many more reasons for me to take my next vacation in Cuba.
go to cuba
WE DONT CARE IF YOU VACATION IN THE US OR NOT.. Your I94 is issued for 1 year.But your actual waiver is for 5 years. At which that time you will have to apply for a new i-94 $6.00 usd. You say that no one deserves to be treated like a criminal when you come to the US to visit your family. Well what did Canada do when they caught you with an ounce? Throw a tea party for you? no , They treated you like a criminal and charged you with a crime.. SO guess what, your not royalty and when you come here youll be treated like a criminal AS WELL.. Because you are a criminal.. as for this statement?
"They hire Blackwater contractors to go shoot poor people in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina. They install laws to allow eavesdropping on our phone conversations without need for a warrant. "
WHAT THE HELL.... NSA doesnt need a warrant to tap into your conversation my friend , you are not within the borders of the US.. Never needed a warrant for that..As for civil liberties? What would you know about that? You guys can hardly own a gun without handing your leg in for it..
there are other forces at
there are other forces at work here....U.S...Canada...Mexican... Union..the elites herd us with our own energies et cetera.
Do we even have a Constitution?
Homeland Security, yet another infringement on our rights by the gov't. Add it to the ever-growing list of violations:
They violate the 1st Amendment by opening mail, caging demonstrators and banning books like "America Deceived" from Amazon.
They violate the 2nd Amendment by confiscating guns during Katrina.
They violate the 4th Amendment by conducting warrant-less wiretaps.
They violate the 5th and 6th Amendment by suspending habeas corpus.
They violate the 8th Amendment by torturing.
They violate the entire Constitution by starting 2 illegal wars based on lies and on behalf of a foriegn gov't.
Support Dr. Ron Paul and save this great country.
Last link (unless Stark County District Library caves to the gov't and drops the title):
America Deceived (book)
Wow
Wow
eddie from DP forum
I understand completely....
They don't want drug users or "possible drug transporters" entering our country, duh!
However, Didn't Clinton talk about smoking pot? Or was that the Current Pres./? Oooops, wait, I think it was cocaine? Either way, I don't know how they travel so much and keep getting back in our Country? Plus, they said this on TV! Not in an email or online! It is not like it was quiet, or a simple comment on an article or regretful conversation with an internet confidant, it was Broadcasted Nationally in RUNNING for OFFICE?
If it takes a "nation to raise children" we are going to have their head's so messed up because of ambiguity. Our next generation will never know right from wrong. I am 46 and having a real hard time with this,I just got it down, when in a restroom to always have tissue if at a public event, or place. NO ASKING YOUR NEIGBOR'S, no signaling for TP. Stalls first then bars last, bar's with guards.
Don't get me started with Monica! How can we justify this with our children, we are totally DESENTSITIZING them! Our young men, God help us. They may misconstrue fame with infidelity, perhaps presidency? And look at the wife, our young men may think if they commit adultry then the wife should be honored, promotion is soon to follow?
I am 46, trying to raise kids, I need to overcome this before I preach to them, teach them further, times are a-changin so fast I have to revise or swallow what I assumed right, fears:
1) Not having toilet paper and gestures that follow may be confusing? Kids NEVER ask anyone! BYOTP!
2) Problems finding a second husband who will commit to cheating on me so we can live happily ever after, be prosperous and famous! Kids, girls find schmucks, son, do what you want!
3) Fear of: Possible revocation of my citizenship as I admitted to being confused. (unstable label)
Oh what to do?
Shall I go on?
?
What are you talking about? Clinton's infidelity? Toilet paper? What?
People are being denied entry into the country for inane reasons and, furthermore, the fact that they are being researched in such a way is obviously questionable. Also, a nation in which the written law is violated with no consequence is one in which there is no law in reality. All power becomes arbitrary.
interesting...
interesting...
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