Thread

1. Tangurena2 · 1790856629 · focus · HN ↗

   > “In [Fiscal Year] 2025, out of the over 419 million travelers CBP processed at ports of entry, CBP only searched the electronic devices of 55,318 international travelers,” the agency wrote, or 0.0013%.

   The harassment is targeted at critics & opponents of the current regime. The message is very clear: Be afraid of us. Be very afraid

   There are 33 days remaining until election day. Vote out all the incumbents.

   1. petcat · 1790857424 · focus · HN ↗

      I will be curious to see statistics from past years. I'm wondering if this is a new thing. I'm pretty sure US customs and border patrol have always had this power. I think basically every country exercises this power

      1. adrian_b · 1790866202 · focus · HN ↗

         It is pretty certain that not every country exercises this power, though it seems that a few other English-speaking countries also do this.

         During the last quarter of century, in many hundreds of border controls through many countries of Europe and Asia, including in places with tight security like Israel, I have never seen any case of searching for information in any belongings of the travelers, like computers or smartphones or even notebooks or the like.

         Israel is a country that long before 9/11 had extremely effective methods for testing travelers at border control, and unlike the Americans they kept their methods unchanged after 9/11. Unlike USA, they have never relied on technical means, like X-ray scanners or SSD/HDD searching, but they have relied on trained humans who interviewed the travelers and assessed whether they lie about their purpose or not.

         1. Lumich · 1790880375 · focus · HN ↗

            « unlike the Americans they kept their methods unchanged after 9/11 »

            That's a good one :) It shows a couple things, like:

            • a certain independence from Uncle Sam (like they displayed when they bombed the USS Liberty in 1967)

            • that their own population was already sufficiently propagandized into paranoia mode (fear and loathing of “evil muslims”) in order to never make peace and keep the hate up

            • and of course that they knew there was nothing to worry about wrt the 9/11 hoax

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