French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found
French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found
France’s research minister said a French scientist was denied entry to the US this month after immigration officers at an airport searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration.
The Nazis literally did this with a law. They made it illegal to be critical of the party. Fuck the alarm, we've already been had.
Yup. "But we're not there yet", so they say. "Too soon to act rashly".
'First they started mass deportations, but it wasn't a corrupt system yet, so we did not act.
Then they started refusing people who were critical of them, but it wasn't a corrupt system yet, so we did not act.
Then they started blatantly taking money from the poor and give it to the rich, but it wasn't a corrupt system yet, so we did not act.
Finally they fully took over the nation, but by then all the people who would have acted were already gone and dealt with.'
Not all, but the gist of it. Thankfully some bubbles of resistance are starting to form in the US, but the main people who were elected to uphold the law and fight this democraticly are already bribed or blackmailed, so it's in great part up to the people, and whatever stance the army ends up taking when they are forced to choose between loyalty to the constitution, or an individual.
the scientists were smart enough to flee Germany or places that nazis occupied. i see this going to happen with USa if not already, US already has a problem with shortages in some areas of stem. its a complex set of problems all around, this latest fiasco just adds into it.
Might as well start wearing red triangles now🔻
Usually I respect the honesty more than the subterfuge.
But when it's Nazi's. Nope. Wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire.
You respect the honesty because it reveals people's character. And if a person thinks that Taylor Swift is an awful singer, then cool, you can agree or disagree.
But when it's honesty about contempt for your fellow man? A punch in the face is the only thing that works.
One thing authoritarian systems have in common is a permanent atmosphere of fear. Honesty is highly unwanted there, integrity will get you straight into trouble. Fascist systems are built on hypocrisy and fear.
Translation: if you're going to the US you might have to immediately find a flight back because their government might go through your phone and find out that you rightfully criticised their great orange leader. Glad I managed to visit before, America can go and choke on their aspirations.
Sounds like a case of “MAGA snowflake syndrome” smh
Actual TDS. In that TDS is anyone who likes that fascist.
Always has been
What? A scientist who is critical of Trump?? How can that be???
How strange that all the people who think don't like Trump?
or one that contradicts him, aka fauci.
Republicans are really mad that reality has a left wing bias
There tends to be a general distaste toward politicians in general among the scientific community.
"The most useless creature on earth, directly followed by the second most useless, the journalist" one of my chemistry profs (a highly respected authority within the chemical community) used to say about politicians. A slightly extreme opinion, IMO, but he predicted several upcoming "scandals" caused by the press' and politicians' complete ignorance of chemistry and inability to think scientifically. His predictions turned out to be 100% right.
I fucking wonder why... Surely it's not the outright hostility towards them by this administration
Amazing to think that they criticised "freedom of speech" in Europe
Freedom for me but not for thee
Funny that the US has become more like Russia since Trump was elected.
Who would have thought. (Literally everyone)
How’d they get into his phone? Face or fingerprint?
Make sure you turn off biometrics before traveling. They can’t force you to disclose a passcode.
EDIT: Actually, if you have to travel to the USA, wipe your phone before you leave.
IIRC they can compel you to unlock your phone. Or just deny you entry if you don't. It's best to make sure you travel with a 'clean' phone and PC, border patrol got ridiculous powers in the patriot act and nobody's ever rolled any of it back despite decades of abuses.
They can still make your life difficult though. I think the better option is don't fly into or through US territory if you can help it.
Get a burner for ANY international travel.
Consider it an insurance expense as a part of the trip.
Just don't come here unless you have to. And get a burner if you do come.
If you have an android device, setup a second user account with nothing on it and use that when going through customs.
I mean, you might fool them. But its best to just backup everything to a Non-US cloud provider in an encrypted format, and wipe the device before leaving. I wouldn't rely on the "multi-user" trick. Who knows what forensics tools they have.
How’d they get into his phone? Face or fingerprint?
I was looking for this as well. It seems like a rather important piece of info for the article to leave out.
Here's how the borders work:
"Sir/Ma'am, please unlock your device"
"No"
"Entry Denied"
(Except for US Citizens, they cannot be denied entry* even if they refuse to unlock their device, however, their devices could be confiscated
*for now)
Years ago they would already ask for social media accounts and email address on US visa forms, it was creepy back them , scary now.
So, what if I as an american, travel to canada. On my re-entry, am i going to get my phone searched for anti-maga stuff?
The US Government cannot deny US Citizens from entering the US.* However, they can (and mostly likely will) seize all your belongings and detain you for up to 48 hours. So its best to wipe your devices before crossing the border (both ways). They can deny permanent residents (aka: green card holders) from entry.
*for now
But my real advice is: Unless you are intending to migrate permanently, do not cross the US borders (neither in nor out) under the current administration.
They could try. They can compel you to open it with Face ID or fingerprint. If that’s turned off they cannot compel you to disclose your passcode. They can seize your phone. They cannot prevent you from entering the country.
They’re probably only going to do it with some kind of suspicion. But that suspicion could be the border protection officer is having a bad day.
The US has turned in Russia for real. Russians were checking phones at the border when the war started.
usa was always “Russia”. The difference is usa have a massive propaganda apparatus to make us think you are the goodies and who are the baddies
Well it was limited to " the browns" before.
Wow, ok. You, guys (Americans), are royally fucked over there. Yet another reason not to visit the US ever.
I told my wife before I could never go to the US because of the stuff I write online, now I'm sure of it
You're not missing a fucking thing, buddy.
These guys are handing their phones over to show work itinerary in their emails amd the immigration officers are then going through all their other emails and messages.
Never, never, never, hand your unlocked phone over to an immigration officer. Print everything you need out before hand.
Honestly, dude probably dodged a bullet. Stay away from our shit hole country
Fuck this shitty ass country.
I am going to die in a concentration camp before 2028
if we are poop buddies i will share my sardines with you
Travel advise: prepare for a trip to the US like you'd prepare for a trip to Russia or China. (Note: being an anarchist who thinks Putin, Xi and Trump don't deserve a separate rope for each, I wouldn't consider a visit.)
Don't bring your real computing device. Bring an empty device from which you can VPN to a system that actually has your data.
If you need to bring an encrypted device, consider the possibility that authorities will attempt to coerce you into unlocking it (and will cause you great disruption and indignity if you won't). You might be safer bringing a concealed + encrypted microSD card and a device loaded with an OS intended to be searched. If the data matters, make sure you cannot unlock your device under coercion.
(Trivial method: send your friend in the US a snailmail letter. Ask them to keep the letter until your arrival. Into the letter, steganographically embed the OTP key material to obtain the passphrase to decrypt your device. Now to decrypt the device, three things will be needed: your cooperation and knowledge, the device, and the letter. And you can deny that the letter contains anything.)
Edit: upgraded advise - mail your local contact an encrypted MicroSD card. Cross the border with a Raspberry Pi in factory packaging, or buy it locally (they're still permitted, despite their widespread use by anarchists).
My entry to China was really easy. I'm very concerned about my return trip to the US. I have to come back at my home and family are there.. doors anyone know if I'm denied entity if I can just book and flight and leave? Why do I need to have the government deport off in rolling to go on my own?
That's not only US either, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, China - all can coerce you into unlocking your devices and detain you if you refuse which is fucking crazy.
Never ever give them this right even if you trust the government as they'll make a redundant copy and government data security is such a joke you'll be 100% pwnd.
Make sure your laptop is encrypted and disable face unlock on your phone. They can detain you for 24h in most places (6h in US) and will tell you to buy a return ticket. Do not take the risk even if you have nothing to hide.
As a security expert - these laws are 100% authoritarian abuse. As if terrorists can't host their encrypted terrorist files offsite and pull them from public wifi when they enter the country. It's an absolutely joke.
I'm not quite sure I'd call that trivial, haha.
There's also the option of making a hidden partition or otherwise doing stenography within the device. I'm guessing for most travelers just pretty surface level hiding of things will be enough, though. TSA agents are not cybersecurity experts.
All countries should advise their citizens against travelling to the USA. Edit: fixed typo.
It should be common sense.
Hey, that's a good thing in my book, I guess.
Same way as America prospered with talent fleeing a corrupt Europe in the past, now Europe can get that lost talent back from a corrupt America. The more they feel unwelcome and undervalued the more they will flock or stay wherever their talent can flourish and advance our progress as a society.
No complaints from me on that. 🤷♂️
Once the funding dries up the talent will be forced to leave. The question is, is Europe prepared to take advantage? I'm not so sure- the worst outcome would be talent just being squandered and the world ending up with a lost decade.
talent just being squandered and the world ending up with a lost decade.
Still better than the US having the next Oppenheimer
Would be helpful if we could see those messages so we can form an opinion.
Yes, death threats and rape threats are a good reason why a visitor should not be admitted to the United States.
Fucking hell. Freedom of speech isn't a thing anymore and all those shitheads who were crying about simply being called out for saying things are fine with the government punishing people for saying things.
I wonder how they search it. I doubt they manually read every fucking text message in all apps, so I guess they search for keywords or something.
So, let's say someone wanted to get someone in trouble, they could write them an email with some "incriminating" white text on white background and have them stopped by the thought police at the border.
It would be funny if they stopped some Canadian Mexican returning from Cancun and found shittalk about Trump on his phone.
Btw. Does anyone have Ted Cruz's email address?
I have a burner but it seems like you need to create social media accounts filled with non political content and keep them updated so they don't look fake. Anyone know how to automate this?
don't do this. it's a waste of your time. if you're actually scared of the us government, the answer is to stop using social media
Freedom of speech, eh? Guess I'm banned if they find out about this account or my Bluesky account.
immigration officers at an airport searched his phone
There's no mention in the article if this search was voluntary, or not.
Edit: For the downvoters, please point out where I was wrong; I'd honestly really like to know if it was voluntary or not.
It's "voluntary" in the sense that either you allow it or you don't get into the country.
Consent in a situation like this is difficult to establish, to the point of it being pointless. Your comment implies to me that you think if the person said "OK" to a search request then whatever happened next is their own fault.
Consider just the situation where you're in the immigration line and two uniformed officers walk up to you and say, "please come with us." If you go with them, is that voluntary? If you say "yes" I just think "voluntary" doesn't hold much meaning. What happens if you don't volunteer to go with them? Surely, they say, "come with us now or you'll be arrested." And if you don't volunteer at that point, they'll physically restrain you and take you away.
Since most people are able to understand the subtext of the situation, they're able to tell that, "please come with us" actually means "you are required to come with us now. You may either walk of your own accord, or we will take you captive and punish you beyond whatever we initially intended." So, there's not any consent happening. Just deciding whether being beaten and dragged away in public would be helpful to you, and in many cases it is not.
You might be confusing US law around unlawful search and seizure with US law around border crossings. While the ACLU's position is that the 4th amendment trumps CBP, CBP's position is that it does not and that you cannot stop them.
Consent in a situation like this is difficult to establish, to the point of it being pointless.
Hard disagree.
Did they ask him if they could search and he said yes, or no? Or did they just take his device away from him and did a search without his permission?
Consenting to a search, or have one mandated by a judge's order, is one of the fundamental pillars of citizen rights and laws in this country.
Was it a legal or illegal search? That's not a pointless question to ask.
WTF is a voluntary search?
"Attention all flight passengers. This is ICE on the speaker. If you want to be searched, please raise your hand and we will get to you shortly."
"May I have your permission to search through your phone?"
"Yes."
I seriously doubt the intelligence of anyone still traveling to the USA. I hope whatever project he is working on is not critical.
these travels are scheduled months even years in advance depending on the field of study, nobody could have predicted how much worse second Trumps term would be. also other than travelling to somewhere where its bad much more reliable indicator of low intelligence are very confident statements outside of one's own depth.
These types of things are usually scheduled well in advance. Just one example, it is worth noting that I am not saying that this was the reason the scientist traveled to the United States, scientific centers with certain types of very expensive equipment usually rent it to projects from other scientific institutes and universities, sometimes with such high demand that you can wait years for it to be available for your project.
You sound like an internet addict who never lived real life. What the hell is with this logic?
The USA has no place criticising the actions of other countries. Never has.
Welcome to Trumps America.
Where everything that Trump doesnt like, or is legitimately critical of him, or is just an opinion that Republicans don't like.. is Terrorism.
Seems an awful lot like that oppressive government tyranny the ammosexuals were feverishly polishing their rifle barrels to, doesnt it? I wonder why they are all so suspiciously silent! /s
So people these days still not understand that border crossing are a sensitive location?
Like, literally, anywhere you go, the first thing you should do before leaving is encrypt and reinstall / factory reset (which should delete all encryption keys to the old data) the devices. And if you have very sensitive stuff, use a disk overwrite program, and for phones start recording a video with the phone aimed at like a wall (and turn off the audio recording). Leave it recording overnight and it should fill up your phone. Use 4K recording to fill the storage faster. Then just wipe the phone again. Now, DONT DOWNLOAD ANYTHING THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED SENSITIVE. Load the phone with innocuous things like pet photos, nature, etc... and act like a "normie". Don't have anything critical of any politician, especially not of the country you're visiting, nor of its allies. Its best to not have any social media apps, preferrably, you should never post things under your name, but if you already did have such accounts, delete them.
If they ask you "Do you have any social media accounts" you say "I don't recall having any" or "I don't think so" and "I'm not the type of person to use social media". Or alternatively, you can have a social media account that have only non-political posts, and show then that.
Edit: To be clear, don't travel to the US. But this should be how you prepare for border crossings, even if it isn't the US.
This might be normal opsec for a foreign agent, but absolutely ridiculous to expect average people or some French doctor to adhere to.
The reality is this issue would never have happened just three months ago, and the reason it's happening now is fascism.
I think Europeans, coming from a sane place where border crossings are more of a formality than anything else, don't expect a plane to the US to be a time machine/teleporter to East Berlin.
This is completely unnecessary if you travel to a western democracy, like an EU country, Canada, Australia, etc. America is no longer part of that group though, sadly.