
Arizona State Students from China Detained at LAX, Denied Entry to US - jseliger
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/30/arizona-state-students-from-china-detained-denied-admission-to-us/2171189001
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ericmay
"The Chinese students were deemed inadmissible to the United States based on
information discovered during the CBP inspection," the CBP statement said.

Look. The Feds don’t always have bad reasons for doing things. I know we have
a lot of problems and the social media and computer searches aren’t something
I find myself condoning, but before we jump to any conclusions we should at
least wait to see why exactly they were denied entry. It could be BS, or they
could be targeting Hong Kong supporters amongst Chinese students currently
studying in the US or Canada or elsewhere. It seems odd to me that the Feds
would target these specific 9 students so I think it’s worth the time to wait
until we hear more.

~~~
aqme28
> before we jump to any conclusions we should at least wait to see why exactly
> they were denied entry

I understand it's not as easy, but we should at least try for "innocent until
proven guilty" when it comes to the government denying privileges. I'm all for
the government denying entry, but it should be clear what the offense was.

~~~
taxidump
>we should at least try for "innocent until proven guilty"

This method of justice is reserved for our court system inside the US and most
likley not work for our borders due to the fact agents must make educated or
gut decisions.

>I'm all for the government denying entry, but it should be clear what the
offense was.

This seens to be a contradiction to your other thought.

~~~
dragonsh
> This method of justice is reserved for our court system inside the US and
> most likley not work for our borders due to the fact agents must make
> educated or gut decisions.

You mean there are two standards in USA one at the borders another in the
country.

So all countries denying reporters, human rights workers or dissidents or
protestors to enter their borders are doing it correct, because the rule of
law is inside borders not outside.

So your thought justify very much the border agents analysing your phones and
electronic media before entering, like the way in recent memories happening in
Hong Kong borders due to protests.

You might, but personally I cannot agree with such a notion of dual standards
of law. I understand entry to a country and visa is a privilege not a right.
But if a country believes in rule is law and on foundations of " _Innocent
until proven guilty_ ", then it should abide by it.

~~~
taxidump
>You mean there are two standards in USA one at the borders another in the
country.

Yes. Also there are seperate policies and rules for citizens and non- citizens
at the border.

>So all countries denying reporters, human rights workers or dissidents or
protestors to enter their borders are doing it correct, because the rule of
law is inside borders not outside.

This discussion pertains to entry into the US.

~~~
HarryHirsch
_This discussion pertains to entry into the US_

Most of the students will have been in the US before, they are continuing
their degree and just went home for the summer. If the FBI or whoever has
something on them they can apply for a warrant and have them arrested. But the
government instead chose not to admit them at the border.

It goes the opposite way as well, if the student chooses not to leave the
government has to find something of substance and convince a judge, just
saying "I want you out" doesn't cover it. Nothing of this makes sense, and as
far as national security goes, I find it hard to believe that students are
permitted near classified data.

------
Leary
A few days ago a Palestinian Harvard student was denied entry into the US
after the CBP searched her phone for social media content and found anti-
American posts made by her friends that she had no control over.

[https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/8/27/incoming-
freshm...](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/8/27/incoming-freshman-
deported/)

~~~
mieseratte
Was covered in TFA:

> Earlier this week, the Harvard Crimson reported a Palestinian student was
> detained by Customs and Border Protection and sent home to Lebanon. In that
> instance, the student claims customs officials found posts from people that
> included political views that opposed the U.S. on his friends' list.

------
mud_dauber
Maybe I'm just dense - but it seems much more sensible to grant or deny
permission to enter from a flight's originating airport.

~~~
reaperducer
_it seems much more sensible to grant or deny permission to enter from a
flight 's originating airport._

It's a thing that happens in every country. That's how people occasionally end
up living at airports or days, weeks, or months. They can't enter the country,
and they can't go home for various reasons. (There was a movie made about this
a while back, I don't remember if it was about a real person.)

Back during the first bird flu scare (90's, I think), one of my family members
was denied entry into Hong Kong from Macau because she was scanned with a high
temperature. No country is going to say, "Hey, you're undesirable. How about
you stay here with us?"

~~~
saganus
The movie is The Terminal. Supposedly based on this person

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehran_Karimi_Nasseri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehran_Karimi_Nasseri)

Interestingly, there's also

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_lived_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_lived_at_airports)

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Trias11
It's unclear when it happened. 12 hours ago or 12 days ago?

If CBP is concealing information for a long time - this will certainly cause
lots of negative grief amplified by press.

------
solotronics
Meanwhile the Chinese visa process is extremely strict and a Chinese citizen
has to account for you and explain why you are there. They are finally getting
reciprocity in the actions the Chinese government takes against everyone else.

~~~
mikeash
A Chinese visa is _way_ easier to obtain for an American than vice versa.

~~~
mieseratte
Is that across the board or for certain types of visas?

~~~
LorenPechtel
For normal tourist and business visas it certainly is.

A US citizen applying for a Chinese visa has little concern about being denied
so long as they do not in any way resemble a reporter. A young adult Chinese
citizen applying for a US visa is probably going to be turned down and
everyone will have to travel to a consulate for an interview. Despite a pile
of Chinese visas I have never so much as laid eyes on a Chinese consulate.

