A cautionary tale...

[#1]

to all the people on student or tourist visas in the US:

A few days ago a guy travelled from UK to US to visit his girlfriend, customs went through his phone and found messages that he will move to see her. (Yes they are allowed to access all your social media, apparently.) Anyways, they interpreted this to him moving illegally and planning to stay longer than 3 months (who knows, the relationship seemed to be rocky at best), arrested him, questioned him, all the while his girlfriend is waiting at the airport to pick him up and doesn't know what's going on, and then deported him. He is permanently banned from ever travelling to the US in his WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE. Because of a text. They mean business. 

[#2]

Oh good grief...and there my husband and I were...thinking of going over to the US on a 2-month (much-needed) holiday to visit friends.

[#3]

re: "Oh good grief...and there my husband and I were...thinking of going over to the US on a 2-month (much-needed) holiday to visit friends."

You can come to the U.S.

Don't even worry about it.

U.S. Customers and Border officials don't check people's social media accounts any more than officials do in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and dozens of other places.

They're not trying to cause problems for legitimate travellers. Pretty much the only things they really care about are:

a) catching people trying to bring in contraband (including but not limited to apples);

b) catching people intending to enter the country without the correct visa or authorization (such as people coming to stay permanently or work while using tourist visas); and

c) terrorists.

[#4]

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Preston H wrote:

re: "Oh good grief...and there my husband and I were...thinking of going over to the US on a 2-month (much-needed) holiday to visit friends."

You can come to the U.S.

Don't even worry about it.

U.S. Customers and Border officials don't check people's social media accounts any more than officials do in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and dozens of other places.

They're not trying to cause problems for legitimate travellers. Pretty much the only things they really care about are:

a) catching people trying to bring in contraband (including but not limited to apples);

b) catching people intending to enter the country without the correct visa or authorization (such as people coming to stay permanently or work while using tourist visas); and

c) terrorists.

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Preston, I'm afraid this is only the beginning. 1984 is just around the corner.

And I guess whoever want's to catch "them" doesn't need to read "their" messages on social media, as when "they" are planning something wrong, "they" won't brag about it on social media. "They" use more sophisticated methods (or maybe I think "they" are smarter than they are).

[#5]

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Irene B wrote:

Oh good grief...and there my husband and I were...thinking of going over to the US on a 2-month (much-needed) holiday to visit friends.

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I travelled on April. It took me two hours and half of waiting in the queue at JFK to clear the CBP. The interview process itself lasted 30 seconds.

[#6]

re: "...to clear the CBP. The interview process itself lasted 30 seconds."

You have an honest face.

[#7]

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Preston H wrote:

re: "...to clear the CBP. The interview process itself lasted 30 seconds."

You have an honest face.

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Sort of. 😉

Rene, I once waited at CGD for 2 & 1/2 hrs. It still doesn't top the time I waited to get back into the US at Dulles for 3 & 1/2 hrs. Flew in on a gigantic airliner that landed in the same 30 mins as 8 other gigantic airliners... all of us were processed by 2 agents. 

This was before Global Entry expedition was a thing.