16 replies to this topic

[DollyLamma]

I heard another horror story the other day about a gay tourist returning from a holiday in Thailand two weeks ago and being subjected to an hour-long search of his luggage and computer at Immigration in the US. The tourist is about 65, visits Thailand regularly and has never had anything illegal more serious than a traffic ticket. He was travelling alone and when he passed through customs carrying his laptop and luggage, they took him to a small private office, searched his luggage from top to bottom and spent over 30 minutes going through his lap top. They asked him why he goes to Thailand and he said for holiday. When they found nothing illegal in his luggage or laptop, they said he could go with no apologies for the delay.

[TOQ]

I heard another horror story the other day about a gay tourist returning from a holiday in Thailand two weeks ago and being subjected to an hour-long search of his luggage and computer at Immigration in the US. The tourist is about 65, visits Thailand regularly and has never had anything illegal more serious than a traffic ticket. He was travelling alone and when he passed through customs carrying his laptop and luggage, they took him to a small private office, searched his luggage from top to bottom and spent over 30 minutes going through his lap top. They asked him why he goes to Thailand and he said for holiday. When they found nothing illegal in his luggage or laptop, they said he could go with no apologies for the delay.

Sounds about standard for Los Angeles..


john

[Up2u]

Sounds about standard for Los Angeles..
john

I go through San Francisco and this has become the routine for me and my friends.

[Terry]

It's really is quite horrible to consider such harrassment of people doing nothing but travel. Does anyone know if they target all single males from SE Asia or Thailand or whether this has an anti-gay undertone.

[Up2u]

It's really is quite horrible to consider such harrassment of people doing nothing but travel. Does anyone know if they target all single males from SE Asia or Thailand or whether this has an anti-gay undertone.

Any unattached male is profiled for additional questioning. They are looking for evidence of under-age pornography and/or drugs. If you say if have visited northern Thailand, CM, Chiang Rai, Golden Triangle, then expect additional questioning or searches.

[francois]

Sounds about standard for Los Angeles..
john

Passed through Los Angles one month ago and not a single question. Well except when I listed "socks" as the only items I purchased in Thailand. Those cute, multi-colored socks that look like sneakers that the boys at Happy wear. The agent just laughed when I told him. But Customs/Immigration was a mob scene so maybe they just wanted to process the mob rapidly.

[Bob]

Any unattached male is profiled for additional questioning.

I, an unattached male carrying his laptop and a passport full of Thailand stamps, passed through LA again yesterday and only received a "welcome home" comment - the same treatment I've received the 14 or 15 other times I've entered the states from Thailand through LAX. A few years back, I do remember one of the immigration officers asking me one or two questions about the weather in LOS but that was about it.
While standing in line Saturday, I noticed many other "unattached" males ahead of me and I saw nobody getting the third degree about anything.

[Gaybutton]

Instead of guessing, why not ask? Once they have completed their search and are satisfied, why not simply ask them why you were singled out? Maybe they'll tell you their reasons.

[gay_grampa]

Instead of guessing, why not ask?

Can you volunteer for the body-cavity search?

[Up2u]

I, an unattached male carrying his laptop and a passport full of Thailand stamps, passed through LA again yesterday and only received a "welcome home" comment - the same treatment I've received the 14 or 15 other times I've entered the states from Thailand through LAX. A few years back, I do remember one of the immigration officers asking me one or two questions about the weather in LOS but that was about it.
While standing in line Saturday, I noticed many other "unattached" males ahead of me and I saw nobody getting the third degree about anything.

I did and I was told I was a single male with Thailand on my itinerary. They told me they were looking for evidence of child pornography and/or drugs. These more frequent seaches started after 2003 with passage of Bush's law that makes it a federal crime for a U.S. citizen to travel overseas for the purpose or intent of having sex with persons under the age of 18.

[Bob]

Up2U: I'm sure that happened if you say it did and, by reports, it's happened to others; however, I'm doubtful it's a standard policy based on my own experiences (I've been through LAX customs 13 times since 2003, am an unattached single male, carry a laptop and digital camera, and present a passport crammed with visas with about 90% of them from Thailand) and those relayed to me by friends who have done the same.

[Gay Thailand]

Actually they are not required to tell you anything and often they will not tell you. You are legally entitled to ask for a supervisor but even with that, the supervisor will not tell you most things. I have been stopped on repeated trips and they have never once found anything. A few times back I was stopped and they asked about photos of the boyfriend on my computer. I told them he was 23 and they said he looks young. I opened up a file that showed his Thai Identification card and it shows 23. They then responded that I wasn’t supposed to have anyone else’s ID on my computer or in my possession. You are dammed if you do and dammed if you don’t.

I only download music and movies from Itunes as they tried once to question where all my 800 GB of music came from. I showed them the file for the receipts and told the supervisor that everything on the computer was legal and receipts to show it all were in this file. He asked why I spent so much money on music and I said that since USA started taking freedoms away from their citizens that I know Immigrations would try to get you for anything they could so I make sure all I have on my possession is legal and they will never find anything in my luggage that is illegal. He waved me through but they don’t like the idea that some save receipts to answer their questions. The last few times, I have just sat down and read a book and not stood there waiting for their questions. They much prefer to keep you on edge and the reading a book as soon as you are flagged and looking like you don’t give a shit really does get them.

I have been to Brazil and Europe a few times last year and am rarely stopped coming back from there. I understand the need to keep terrorist out of the country. But, for citizens who are residents to loose all freedoms when they enter back into the USA I find horrible and I don’t think it will stop soon.

[Hedda]

One of the areas in which civil rights have lagged in modern America has been on matters of immigration and customs controls, an area in which the police have been allowed to do all sorts of things at the border that they would never be allowed to do within the country. It's all based on some archaic decisions involving the issues of "national security" and executive powers made by the US Supreme Court long ago and which have been affirmed from time to time, with some exceptions, by various lower courts.

Actually, it's probably nowhere near as bad today as it's been in the past, when customs officials routinely confiscated written materials for their written contents, in flagrant violation of the First Amendment. For example, it was common in the early days of the womens' reproductive rights movement led by Margaret Sanger, among others, for border police to seize not only condoms from luggage, but to confiscate all books or pamphlets relating to any means of birth control, which were labelled "obscene." The same rule applied to a seemingly endless list of books or writings that were considered obscene, subversive or seditious.

It hasn't only been the Americans. DH Lawrence's classic "Lady Chatterley's Lover" has probably been seized by more customs officials around the world than any other book in history, including Canada, Australia, the UK and USA. Those days are now thankfully gone, as most courts have decided that virtually all written materials are to be protected as an integral part of free speech, even at Customs. JPEG's on your computer are another matter, at least for now.

One of these days, or generations, an enlightened US Supreme Court is going to ask anew the question of why a US citizen exercising his established constitutional rights to travel abroad, should be subject to searches and seizures on his return which virtually every court in America would find constitutionally "unreasonable" if they occurred inside the country. Just don't hold your breath waiting for that decision, given the current composition of the Court.
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[Gay Thailand]

One of these days, or generations, an enlightened US Supreme Court is going to ask anew the question of why a US citizen exercising his constitutional rights to travelling abroad, should be subject to searches and seizures on his return which virtually every court in America would find constitutionally "unreasonable" if they occurred inside the country. Just don't hold your breath waiting for that decision, given the current composition of the Court.

To me, this is the number 1 issue I case my vote. For years, I have voted on the candidate with whom I think will most protect my rights by nominating Supreme Court justices who will protect all of my freedoms. Unfortunately, with the current makeup it, it is not going to be changed in one or two elections as the current makeup of the court was put into place by aggressive religious conservative campaigning.

[Up2u]

Bob: Our experiences are completely different. I have friends who claim LAX is even worse than SFO although 2 weeks ago I sailed through SFO Customs on a Sunday with no questions asked. Last year a good friend had his work laptop confiscated by Customs and sent to the FBI crime lab in Washington D.C. because they got suspicious when then they saw pictures of naked men at the Castro Street Fair! It took him 2 weeks to get his computer back. This December he was only detained 30-40 minutes as they went through his luggage, laptop and digital camera. At SFO our passports are scanned and then our Customs Duty form is date stamped and numerically coded. I believe this code which is based on our computer file may trigger a search. Your computer profile may be "clean"

[Gaybutton]

"I love America. I love all the freedom we used to have." - George Carlin

[gay_grampa]

.... Actually, it's probably nowhere near as bad today as it's been in the past, when customs officials routinely confiscated written materials for their written contents, in flagrant violation of the First Amendment. For example, it was common in the early days of the womens' reproductive rights movement led by Margaret Sanger, among others, for border police to seize not only condoms from luggage, but to confiscate all books or pamphlets relating to any means of birth control, which were labelled "obscene." The same rule applied to a seemingly endless list of books or writings that were considered obscene, subversive or seditious.

It's heartening to know that the Land of the Free has so much in common with South Africa's apartheid regime which banned a number of classic books; in 1955, for instance, the New York Times reported that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was banned there as "indecent, objectionable, or obscene". At one time, the regime also reportedly banned Anna Sewell's Black Beauty, being stupidly unaware that it was a story about a horse.