Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by heyimfromreddit 5444 days ago
Not surprising. They employ people with below average intelligence who are convinced that the U.S. is such a brilliant country and every single person they come into contact with is from such a terrible shithole that the only reason they could possibly be "visiting" the U.S. is because they plan to illegally overstay so that they may enjoy a much better life in the greatest country on Earth.

...And that's if you are white.
2 comments
latch 5444 days ago
If not understanding how bitcoin works is your mark for "below average intelligence", then call me stupid.
link
esrauch 5444 days ago
Pretty sure you are overgeneralizing there.
link
heyimfromreddit 5444 days ago
Of course I am. But there is still some truth in there. Some CBP officers are friendly... many are not.

Upon entering the U.S. you effectively have no rights whatsoever. Whether or not you're allowed to enter the country is entirely at the discretion of the CBP officer you happen to get, and you have no right to appeal their decision. Run into one who's having a bad day and doesn't like the look of you and you're screwed.

link
colinplamondon 5444 days ago
That's the awesome thing about sovereignty- we get to run background checks and see if someone's been hanging out in Pakistan Frontier Provinces or Yemen lately. If someone looks sketchy, we boot them out.

Coming to an expensive first world country with $600 for 2 weeks is pretty clearly sketchy.

CBPs make wrong decisions sometimes. This wasn't one of those times.

link
owenmarshall 5444 days ago
>Coming to an expensive first world country with $600 for 2 weeks is pretty clearly sketchy.

Bingo.

Entering the US with $5000 in Bitcoin would be equivalent to crossing the border with $5000 in Somaliland Shillings. They are both currencies that are bought and sold every day, but you can't take either to your neighborhood bank and convert them to USD. They have a very limited -- hell, even zero -- utility outside of circles that deal directly with them.

As such, CBP was rightly suspicious.

link
jules 5444 days ago
The reply of groby_b was wrongly killed.
link
bigwally 5444 days ago
> we get to run background checks and see if someone's been hanging out in Pakistan Frontier Provinces or Yemen lately.

You are overestimating the competence of the US government.

> If someone looks sketchy, we boot them out.

So dress nice and talk a lot of crap and they let you in.

>CBPs make wrong decisions sometimes. This wasn't one of those times.

Yay for security theater. I am glad someone feels safer.

link