The US Border Patrol Is Checking Detainees' Facebook Profiles (cnet.com)

An anonymous reader quotes CNET: Border patrol agents are checking the Facebook accounts of people who are being held in limbo for approval to enter the U.S., according to a Saturday tweet by immigration lawyer Mana Yegani that was spotted by The Independent... Yegani, who is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told CNET that checking phones has been reported by other lawyers as part of the vetting process. "[G]oing through passengers phones from the seven banned countries happens when the individual is interrogated (put under extreme vetting)," Yegani said.

Yegani told The Independent that she and other lawyers have been fielding calls from people who are already cleared to live in America, but are getting stuck at the border regardless. "These are people that are coming in legally. They have jobs here and they have vehicles here," Yegani said in the report.
The EFF warns that "Fourth Amendment protection is not as strong at the border as it is in your home or office. This means that law enforcement can inspect your computer or electronic equipment, even if they have no reason to suspect there is anything illegal on it. An international airport, even if many miles from the actual border, is considered the functional equivalent of a border."

Comments

Brave new world

[Dorianny]

As if I needed more reason not to share my personal life with the world (and TSA)

Re:Brave new world

[Anonymous Coward]

As if I needed more reason not to share my personal life with the world (and TSA)

CNN was reporting that refusal to provide your social media details could be considered grounds for refusal to admit the person into the country.

I imagine that not having "social media accounts" would be seen as equivalent to refusal to provide them by the G-drone doing the verifying. It probably would not occur to most people in this day and age that there may be people without accounts on Facebook or Twitter.

Re:Brave new world

[Anonymous Coward]

More like "Welcome to the United Nazi States of America". We're becoming a fascist country. At this point I don't even know if there's going to BE a country in 4 years, let alone anything I'll recognize. I didn't even vote for either one of those stupid fuckers, either, I voted 3rd party!

Re:Brave new world

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

I avoided this personal data breach and self-incrimination faux pas by just not having a Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account. And somehow my life doesn't seem to have suffered...

Re:Brave new world

[ooloorie]

As if I needed more reason not to share my personal life with the world (and TSA)

A social media account can be used to help you establish that you are harmless; if you don't have one, you simply go back into the "unknown" category.

Trump is what he said he was

[Anonymous Coward]

Trump is doing exactly what he said he would. He promised this during the campaign. Many on the right said there was hope Trump would do the right thing and, despite criticizing him, cast their votes for him. Trump is keeping his campaign promises and doing so with rapid pace. Many Republicans in Congress sharply criticized him, but most have fallen in line. Even McCain, Graham, and Sasse (who's criticism was incredibly weak) have yet to do anything substantive. Trump gets to appoint a Supreme Court Justice to support his executive actions because last Congress' Senate didn't do their jobs. This is what the far right wanted and they've justified it with alternative facts, which is a euphemism for outright lies and fake news. So many on the right said Trump didn't support their values. So many Christians said Trump's positions were contrary to their beliefs. They voted for him because he called himself a Republican and claimed to be pro-life. So many religious leaders backed Trump on the principles of the GOP platform, but now aren't happy that he kept his promises. Meanwhile, much of the far right continues to live in their own alternate reality with alternative facts and fake news. And this is how tyranny escalates. Trump told all of you he was a tyrant, but too many of you ignored him. And now he has four years (because the Senate will likely stay under Republican control after the 2018 election) to do as much damage as he can, with a handpicked Supreme Court Justice to help prevent his policies from being struck down as unconstitutional.

Re: Trump is what he said he was

[Anonymous Coward]

Trump is only fixing problems that exist in the fake news and alternative facts that the far right believes. Refugees are already subject to intense screening and the numbers show that they're no significant threat to Americans. Illegal immigration actually declined under Obama and most of the border cities are actually quite safe. The problems that Trump is fixing are problems that don't exist. Denying lawful residents the right to enter the United States and treating them like criminals at borders and airports isn't keeping America safe. The greatest threat is presented by our own citizens who radicalize here, something that Trump has no clue how to address, because it isn't addressed with walls and Muslim bans.

Re: Trump is what he said he was

[Anonymous Coward]

Laugh. Reality is countries who letting these refugees in are finding out the hard way how incompatible the cultures are, and some people are paying for it with their lives. Trump is absolutely doing the right thing. Taking care of number one. Many libtards don't agree, but I wonder how they feel about the possibility of being blown up, raped, or ran over in their own country?

Re:Trump is what he said he was

[strikethree]

Trump is doing exactly what he said he would. He promised this during the campaign.

Politicians just can't win can they...

Seriously, most of the time, people are whining and bitching about a candidate NOT keeping campaign promises when they reach office... and now peoploe are bitching that the promises are being kept. WTF people? Stop your whining and bitching and be glad you are getting "hope and change" for once.

Oh wait, the last politician didn't keep his campaign promises. I would go so far as to say that he did the opposite of what he promised. As terrible as the current changes are, at least you were told up front what to expect.

Crybabies. I would be posting anon too if I were you.

Reverse engineering

[zm]

Cynic in me says they are looking for someone who can be implicated as a terrorist supporter to be used to justify the ban.

Re:Reverse engineering

[ScentCone]

Cynic in me says they are looking for someone who can be implicated as a terrorist supporter to be used to justify the ban.

As opposed to simply pointing to the fact that the seven countries in question are (as identified by the Obama administration hotbeds of violent jihaddi output? As opposed to simply observing the fact that hundreds of people have died in the last couple of years at the hands of immigrants from those areas who have deliberately entered the countries where they murdered people ... to murder them? And that many of those killers and their support circles were lumped in with a huge flow of refugees?

Re:Reverse engineering

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

However, the same set of statistics show that nearly 3,000 Americans were killed by citizens from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in the same time period - with the bulk of those killed being victims of the 9/11 attacks. Yet, people from those three countries are still welcome to apply for U.S. visas and travel permits.

Yep. And it's funny how they never mention that the second-worst terrorist attack on US soil was done by a white, American-born fanatic named Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people (including 19 of whom were children under the age of six) when he blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

But that wasn't terrorism, oh no, that was ummm, a "disgruntled lone wolf", yeah, that's the ticket.

Re:Reverse engineering

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

As opposed to simply pointing to the fact that the seven countries in question are (as identified by the Obama administration hotbeds of violent jihaddi output?

Sorry, but the election is over and you don't get to point the finger at Obama when Trump does all his daffy shit. He could have made his own list. Remember, he "knows more than all the Generals", he said so himself.

It's odd, isn't it, that not one of the countries where Trump has business interests made it on to the list, including Saudi Arabia where almost all of the 9/11 hijackers came from?

I'm sure that's just a funny coincidence, kind of like how Trump now wants to drop all sanctions against Russia for no apparent reason, and without asking for anything in return.

Well

[JWW]

While checking their phones is disturbing, facebook is public folks. That shits posted straight there and it sure as hell isn't the posters anymore when it hits faceboooks servers.

We can whine all we want about lack of privacy, but not after willingly abdicating it...

Facebook is evil for many reasons, this is one...

This Is What Happens When You Ignore The People

[Anonymous Coward]

For many years the left have shut down any discussion about immigration by screaming "racist", "bigoted", "xenophobic". Instead of listening to people's concerns about high levels of immigration and rapidly changing demographies, the left brushed those concerns aside and ploughed on with bringing anyone and everyone into the country. Then finally, after many years, a presidential candidate appeared who took their concerns of the people seriously and the public jumped at the chance to elect him.

So now, after years of the left steamrollering over the views of those of us on the right, we're now the ones in the driving seat of the steamroller. We'll show as much regard for your concerns and opinions as you showed for ours. Had you listened to the voices of those on the right, and taken a more measured approach, we might not be in this situation where the left and right are so divided. But hey, you created this situation and now you'll have to watch the results, with more to come over in Europe.

One thing surely even the left can agree on about Trump is that he's probably the first politician in history to deliver so thoroughly on his campaign promises. Obama couldn't do a simple thing like close Guantanamo Bay, and he certainly didn't deliver the transparent government he promised. Trump is doing exactly what he said he'd do. He's doing a fantastic job.

Re:This Is What Happens When You Ignore The People

[naughtynaughty]

Strawman. Haven't seen anyone, much less some imaginary group you refer to as "the left", who has suggested bringing "anyone and everyone" into the United States.

Would you mind quantifying the risk we face from terrorism in the United States so we can see how serious the "concerns of the people" should be taken?

I think the CDC publishes a list of causes of death. Give me an idea what sort of risk we face, is it like the risk of being eaten by an alligator or the risk of getting pancreatic cancer?

Re:This Is What Happens When You Ignore The People

[Xyrus]

...Trump is doing exactly what he said he'd do. He's doing a fantastic job.

Goebell would be proud.

Let me know when you pull your head out of your fascist ass so you can see what's happening. This has zero, zilch, nada to do with preventing terrorism. Not one single terrorist who has attacked the US came from any of the countries mentioned. The countries where terrorists have actually came from are not on the list.

Strange isn't it? Not really. You see, Trump has business partners in those countries, so of course they're not going to be on the list.

Trump is a neo-fascist, along with the rest of his crew. They're following the exact same pattern that Hitler used with his rise to power. And you're cheering this on.

You're a coward and a traitor, just like the rest of the people who support this crap.

Re:Well, yes. As they should.

[elrous0]

This. Does anyone seriously advocate that someone who posts something like "Death to America!" and has images of ISIS flags all over their Facebook page NOT be stopped at the border?? That's some pretty basic vetting, right there.

If I posted "Death to the Queen!" on my Facebook page, should I be pissed if the UK then denied my travel visa? If anyone thinks this is wrong, I'd like some of what you're smoking.

Re:Well, yes. As they should.

[bit trollent]

I think the real question is - when I post "Donald Trump is a bigoted tyrant" what should happen to me at the boarder.

Let's not forget - We aren't even 2 weeks into the Trump presidency, and he is already using his power to intimidate and stifle free speech..

To say nothing of his cruel bigotry and inhumanity towards legal visa holders, and green card holders.

2 people were told to sign away their green cards without an attorney present on Trump's unconstitutional orders.

This idiocy and bigotry will backfire, but Donald Trump is intent on silencing dissent on Facebook via bigoted actions at our Airports.

Donald Trump is a national disgrace, and his supporters (along with non-voters) should be ashamed of themselves.

Because the nation list was created under Obama

[Anonymous Coward]

The list of nations Trump was working from was "previously identified by the Obama administration as posing extraordinary risks."

So I guess Obama had business dealings there to? Or was he working for Trump?