3 posts tagged “homeland security”

I now know of one colleague who is cancelling her plans to visit the United States because of the Obama administration’s changes to travel requirements.
   While I am unsure whether these are a hangover from the Bush days or not, they are fatal to US tourism, and disconnect the country from the rest of the world in terms of international travel.
   As mentioned, people from countries which were once eligible to visit the US for 90 days under the visa waiver programme (this includes close allies such as the UK—excepting British overseas nationals, as the USA now practises apartheid against British subjects) now have to fill out a form with the Department of Homeland Security 72 hours before travel.
   And although the US Government claims this takes seconds, the reality is that it takes 20 minutes per person—far longer than the old system which took mere minutes per traveller. If you are the person applying on behalf of your family to travel, be prepared to be by your computer for over an hour.
   The form applies even for people transiting who have not entered the US through Immigration—which suggests to me that whomever dreamt up this policy actually has no understanding of where US sovereignty begins.
   Americans already have a stereotype of being ignorant of overseas affairs. While untrue for the most part, policies like this do not help.
   Secondly, the US Government has the right now to charge travellers not holding a passport with a chip US$545, even if they have filled out the Homeland Security forms.
   This is despite the passport being valid. Apparently, for the United States, passports valid anywhere else in the world are not good enough for Americans.
   While the charge is at the airport’s discretion, who can tell when one would get stung?
   Americans already have a stereotype of being arrogant. While untrue for the most part, policies like this do not help.
   Hang on, there’s déjà vu there.
   The US Government, even under President Obama, is as detached from everyday Americans and the citizens of the world than ever.
   I can only hope these are things that the President has not got around to sorting out. For they sound just like Patriot Act-inspired policies that restrict freedom. Or, as the President himself once put it, ‘the failed policies of George W. Bush’.

Chicago would like to be the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Do you like this idea? Why or why not?
Submitted by Chicago Shadow.

While I would love to visit family in Illinois, the US has made it so tough for any foreigners to even visit. Lately they have introduced some extra steps that one has to take prior to departure, even for people transiting. From the Air New Zealand site:

It is now compulsory for passengers travelling to or transiting in the United States under the Visa Waiver Program to apply for an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) no later than 72 hours prior to departure. This online form may eventually replace the green visa waiver form (I-94W) which is currently completed whilst inflight to the US. This online form may eventually replace the green visa waiver form (I-94W) which is currently completed whilst inflight to the US.
   Travellers should visit the US Department of Homeland Security website and fill in the required information. In most cases a response will be received within seconds determining whether travel to the US has been authorised. If the application is not authorised then a visa may be requested through the US Embassy. In some instances customers will need to wait up to 72 hours for authorisation.

So much for establishing good relations with other nations. Bloody ridiculous, considering we already get photographed and our thumbnails are scanned already for Homeland Security (thanks, President Bush).
   This has taken the United States so far out of international travel convention that it’s harder and harder to convince anyone that it makes sense flying through there. I’d rather now go via Montréal and Vancouver than through any US airport now.
   The US has also ceased to recognize British Overseas Nationals for its Visa Waiver Programme, which means it now effectively practises apartheid against British subjects.
   There is also this new rule for 2009 (thanks, President Obama):

Nationals of these countries travelling under the Visa Waiver Program not holding an e-Passport and an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) authority will be referred to secondary customs processing on arrival, where they may be issued a waiver for entry for up to 90 days provided they are found admissible. The normal charge for such a waiver is US $545, however US airport authorities may waive the fee in some circumstances. Air New Zealand urges these nationals to obtain both an e-Passport and ESTA authority before travelling to the US.

   Yeah, right: just because we have an older passport not yet up for renewal yet means the US will sting us a grand of our dollars to even visit. Spreading the wealth?
   So the short answer is while I would love to see everyday Americans get the benefit of an Olympiad, at this rate, I don’t think anyone will show up to a country that is, administratively, disconnected from the rest of the planet.
   It’s a shame as the American people have a will to be more connected. Pity their politicians, whether they are Republican, Democrat, or John McCain, seem to disagree.

This news item has been rather popular: ‘More than 1 in 100 American adults is in prison, report finds’. A Pew Center study shows that 1 in 99·1 adults in the US is incarcerated.
   My father pointed out that for every 100 (well, 99·1) adult people we might see Stateside, one is a crim, on the basis that there would be some released into society while others are going in. The statistic, I know, doesn’t quite hold up because we do not know the rate, at least not for the conversational topic. But for every 98·1 it would be fair to know that there is one person in jail.
   We then extrapolated this a little. For every one conviction, there might be a crim who walked free, right? The fuzz didn’t nab him or her? So, we get the possibility that of the 100, there actually might be someone who should be a crim but got away.
   Statistics like this sure make the US sound like an unsafe place.
   I then thought about our own stats. I don’t think we can be smug given that I said one is eight times more likely to be murdered in New Zealand compared with 50 years ago—and that’s accounting for the increase in population.
   A Parliamentary debate reveals that we had 8,457 in September. SPARC reckons that from the 2001 Census, there were 2,728,896 adults in New Zealand. (I couldn’t find more recent figures.) It may be safe to round that up slightly for 2008 and say there are an even 2·8 million.
   That works out to be 0·302 per cent, or 3 in 1,000 adults in New Zealand is incarcerated.
   It is argued in Parliament that 3 in 1,000 is high by our standards, as 8,457 is a figure that we apparently did not expect to reach till 2011.
   I know we cannot compare apples to apples: what is an ‘adult’? What programmes does one country have in place which sees to a lower or higher number? What is classified as ‘incarceration’? There are plenty of holes in this very quick analysis that even an amateur statistician can shoot down.
   In any case, I will be a little more careful when I visit the US later this year as this basic math indicates I am three times more likely to meet a crim on their streets than I am here.