Politics
Out of context: Reply #24627
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- whatthefunk4
A US-born NASA scientist was detained at the border until he unlocked his phone
Two weeks ago, Sidd Bikkannavar flew back into the United States after spending a few weeks abroad in South America. An employee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Bikkannavar had been on a personal trip, pursuing his hobby of racing solar-powered cars. He had recently joined a Chilean team, and spent the last weeks of January at a race in Patagonia.
Bikkannavar says he was detained by US Customs and Border Patrol and pressured to give the CBP agents his phone and access PIN. Since the phone was issued by NASA, it may have contained sensitive material that wasn’t supposed to be shared. Bikkannavar’s phone was returned to him after it was searched by CBP, but he doesn’t know exactly what information officials might have taken from the device.
Seemingly, Bikkannavar’s reentry into the country should not have raised any flags. Not only is he a natural-born US citizen, but he’s also enrolled in Global Entry — a program through CBP that allows individuals who have undergone background checks to have expedited entry into the country. He hasn’t visited the countries listed in the immigration ban and he has worked at JPL — a major center at a US federal agency — for 10 years.
http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/1…
:Wow, unlawful search and seizure. How unconstitutional for a citizen to go through all that. Well, I guess that's how they want it so we shouldn't speak up at all.
- I didn't know astronaughts were part of the ban - is it because space is dark? Are the greys gonna be okay?fadein11
- All 4-syllable surnames are immediately subjected to immediate detainment and un-lubricated cavity searches under the new rules...BuddhaHat
- it's not unlawful search and seizure. based on my extensive experience watching that border crossing show, checking peoples phones seems quite routine.Gnash
- he looks like, space jesusGnash
- yes, my bad - does not apply to 100 mile border zone https://www.aclu.org…whatthefunk
- But he's not a terrorist interest. That's the point.monospaced
- perhaps they thought it was drugs or child porn, i don't know. this must happen to thousands everyday. not everything is trump's fault.Gnash
- Let's just admit it all has to do with last name and skin complexion, c'mon now...whatthefunk
- perhaps. my GFs son came back from a Habitat for Humanity build in Chile this summer. He was searched, along with his phone and pw,Gnash
- he's quite anglo looking, but young and may look like he smokes pot.Gnash
- This guy looks pretty anglo -- in the photo here, anyway. aside from the racing suit, he looks like your average pot-headGnash
- His name sounds foreign.monospaced
- the point, Gnash, is that he's a US citizen and was held only because of the travel ban that allowed his race and name to trigger a searchmonospaced
- even if he had sensitive and important Nasa info on his phone - do you think border control would know what it is, and what to do with it?fruitsalad
- that's your assumption, doesn't make it true because you think it.Gnash
- I'm not saying that people never get profiled but there's no evidence that it was due to the 'ban' other than your feeling that it isGnash
- people were getting profiled at the borders long before thisGnash
- There was absolutely no reason for him to have been held, at all. US-born citizen with previous extra-vetting and a government job. It was because of the banmonospaced
- the heightened security at the borders all increased the moment the ban went into place, and this is just one of many similar scenarios that stemmed from itmonospaced
- how do you know there was 'absolutely no reason -- because you think it, or because someone else thinks it? gov't jobs don't auto-exempt one from examination.Gnash
- it just as likely this was only another, boring old stop at the border.Gnash
- which of course, is just your assumption too, ignoring the evidential travel ban that has heightened awareness of foreign threats at border checksmonospaced
- Spoke to an immigration attorney this morning. Citizens do retain/possess 4th amendment protection even at US borderswhatthefunk
- yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, it's my assumption, as it is yours. it's not a fact. I only challenge that you present it that way. Let the bone go alreadyGnash
- In that 30 minutes they probably cloned his phone, then gave it back.instrmntl
- remind me to delete browser history next time I go through customs.fooler