I'm not a member of that particular minority and I'm in a completely different age range but I will not go to the US again either. I've been there many, many times on business, the last time was in 2018.
I enjoyed being there and I count some of my ex-colleagues as good friends but I very much doubt that i will ever meet them again.
Even before Trump entry into the US was different from entry into other countries. I remember many years ago presenting my passport to the immigration officer at Newark and him suddenly asking in a very tense and somewhat hostile voice why I had a Saudi stamp and visa in my passport. He accepted my explanation although he seemed quite bothered by it.
Going into other countries the presenting of my passport was just a formality. In fact the first time I went to China in 1986 the first words spoken to me were not "Passport please" but "I'd like to practise my English with you.".
The only recent hiccup was exiting France to England a few years after Brexit. The French exit control officer asked to see my Norwegian residence card, something that had never happened before (in fact could not happen before because EU citizens don't need one). He apologized for asking for it and explained that no one was quite sure what the rules were. I presume that the French border control system now has it recorded that I am resident because I've passed the same border post several times since without being asked for it.
Even pre-Trump I've had a couple of experiences in American airports that were fairly unsettling for an unaccompanied foreign woman. It is certainly not a trip I would chose to take right now.
I agree. This is the overwhelming view of people outside of the US. There are simply more attractive places to go in terms of personal freedom and security than America at this time. Its not the regular American people so much. You cant trust the authorities to act within the law.😷
@whowasthatmaskedman That's an important point. We used to smile at the amount of use US citizens used of the Law, but now that the 'might is right' mantra is apparently in control, no one can be safe from harm at the hands of the authorities.
@FreddieUK Exactly. And once it is in their hands, they wont let it go without a fight. Any more than the rich will let go of their money without a fight. Its just a question of which side the Americans with the guns will come down on and how long it will take..😷
I was born and raised on the Canadian side of the 49th Parallel, except it was really the north side of the 43rd Parallel which we in Canada call "The Deep South".
No, we don't play banjos on our front porches at sundown and no, we don't eat grits with our meals either. In fact, you cannot even buy grits in Canada if you tried. But of little known fact, grits and handguns are not actually legal to buy in Canada, just for the record.
Truth is, there are no grits stores on the street corners in Canada and for good reason, nor are there handgun shops on the street corners in Canada either, but for lesser good reason.
For the record, grits are more dangerous to a child's health than is a child playing with a loaded American-made handgun.
The official most southerly 'southern border' of Canada with the USA lies at 42.5 degrees north latitude which means I was born and raised 30 miles north of that imaginary line which is marked down the center of Lake Erie on a map and which defines the Canada/US border.
From my bedroom window of my parent's house, I could see Cleveland Ohio on a clear day or night because that's where the coal smoke was always coming from, summer or winter... and quite frankly still does!
Being only a 20 minute drive to the border crossing at Detroit, we use to go over to the States to buy cheap stuff, then bring it home and tell all our friends that we went shopping in a foreign country over the weekend which automatically elevated our social status to one of 'jet setters', though we always went there in my Dad's pickup truck and not technically by jet.
Even prior to Trump 1.0 and post 9-11, crossing the border into the US felt like we were entering the Russian Embassy... where the doors would swing one way to maybe let you in, but definitely not out.
It really wasn't that way in reality despite that kind of ambiance hanging so very present in the air at all times. It was the tone and the arrogant attitude of minimum wage-earning American authorities that always left us with the feeling that if we make one false move, they'd detain us in wall shackles or send us back north to Canada against our will. Did it ever happen? No.
Today, I would not venture a day-trip into the USA for a quick shopping trip, even if my life depended on it. Even the Canadian Travel Bureau recommends that Canadians avoid all travel to anywhere in the USA unless it is absolutely necessary as business travel.
...and if you simply MUST travel to the USA, they say DO NOT take your cell phone with you, but instead buy a burner phone in the USA and use it while in the USA.
...and DO NOT take your personal laptop with you across the Canada/US border either they say, or else it WILL be scrutinized for any possible negative rhetoric you've previously engaged in against the United States of America.
This means you will have to disclose your passwords for your cellphone and your laptop to American border security when they ask you for it.... and for the record, they won't let you just enter your password and then hand them your electronic device for inspection... Oh no... they want you to give them your passwords and THEY will enter your password into your device if they choose to ...and they will do this in a side-room adjacent to where you are standing.
For those Americans out there who've been brainwashed since childhood into believing that you live in the greatest country on earth, believe me when I say, you absolutely DO NOT.
@ArishMell I've got to tell you, every American I've ever encountered even 20 years ago was on the edge of their seat, looking over their shoulder all the time.
@carpediem The only thing I think should be censored - and I believe the only thing censored in the UK - are the things we agreed both countries have banned. If there are things being censored in the UK which you think would be allowed in te US, I'd like to know about them.
@FreddieUK That's fair. I would refer you back to this comment:
I wonder which billionaires with interests in stirring controversy for clicks are persuading you of this untruth
I believe we were discussing people being arrested for social media posts. I think we both made our points. The major one being:
A couple of uneducated young women listening to "unbiased" news have concluded that the immigration officers in the US are arresting "grannies" as they enter the US so stay away. And that is because
US customs and immigration people have given their country a bad name.
@carpediem They were men, but no matter. And I posted because they believed that. I have no reason to believe that they are uneducated. We are all subject to the media we choose to consume and we have to make judgments best we can. You on my country and I on yours. I am not going over the same points again, because as we have probably said what's needed to be said.
By the way, the wording of the regulation of broadcast news in the UK is 'impartial' not 'unbiased'. A subtle, but important difference. A broadcaster can't be like Fox or CNN - they must present without taking a side or giving commentary in news. They can have opinion programmes but their presenters are not supposed to take a side. One channel is pushing the boundaries in that, but that's a whole other subject.
@kittee I understand that. I wouldn't advise anyone to go to the US at the moment and since Trump and Netanyahu have started another war I can't see anything to do with their countries is safe from attack, including our own.
