"What we have here is a failure to communicate..."

[libertango]

So, a Canadian blogger was denied entry to the US. Why? Because he was off to meet a bunch of other bloggers, and apparently the Immigration guy at the airport didn't believe him.

Check this dialogue out... And, while some bloggers have played up the "bloggers don't get no respect" angle, consider also the fannish implications:

*^*^*

Him: Why would you visit someone in the states you’d never met? (I mentioned I was planning to visit several people whilst down there)

Me: Well, I have met most of them, but I’ve talked to them dozens or hundreds of times online.

Him: Do you have any of their phone numbers?

Me: No, but I talk--

Him: You can’t talk to someone without a phone number. Stop lying to me.

Me: No, really, I can talk from my computer to theirs--

Him: Don’t be a smartass. If you don’t have their phone number, and you’ve never met them, how can you have ever talked to them.

Me: … (at this point I’ve learned that sarcasm doesn’t help, nor does answering questions he doesn’t want to hear the answer to)

Him: So, you’re trying to tell me that you’re going to visit someone who you’ve never met, never talked to, and who knows nothing about you? And I’m supposed to believe this?

Me: … (This was two hours in, and minutes before I demanded to be released)

*^*^*

I'm pretty sure we didn't have too many phone numbers during the TAFF trip, for example. Though maybe akirlu can comment on that.

{from Leslie Winer, whose post was titled, EverWideningGap. Clicked to by way of Doc Searls, while just cruising around.}

Comments

[cluefairy-j.livejournal.com]

I was once stuck in customs purgatory on my way to Toronto on a business trip. Scariest 30 minutes of my life. I had passed through customs and was told to go wait in line "over there". As I walked towards that area, I remembered that my backpack with my work laptop was on the plane. I went back to the customs agent and asked if I could go back to the plane (Hey, I was freakin' out and not exactly thinking straight). No. Fortunately, One of the pilots was coming through and went back to get it.

Anyway, my big mistake was saying I was a consultant. What with NAFTA and all. The guy gave me a lecture, I turned on the stupid blonde trick, took his pamphlets and got to leave.

Moral of story: Don't ever tell anyone you're a consultant when travelling to Canada or elsewhere. Just say your job title (project manager, at the time), when traveling on business. When you're vacationing. Just say you're a tourist. I only say what I need to say when answering their questions.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

One of the comments I saw on this (and it's been a little while, as I recall this happend two-three weeks back) said he may have been harrassed because some of his answers implied he was a journalist.

Journalists are now required to get a special visa (they are, by implication, seen as a threat) and he didn't have one.

This visa is a blanket need, there is no exemption for being from a friendly nation, nor for non-business reasons.

Which bothers me more than just trivial abuse of petty power.

TK