[ta1243]

> Out of curiosity, what do you think it's like to travel to Europe as someone who is dark-skinned, has a beard, and does not have a European passport?

With a Canadian or American passport (until recently)? No problem.

With an Iranian passport? Probably more problems.

[chimeracoder]

> With a Canadian or American passport (until recently)? No problem.

First of all, the folks profiling and detaining you don't ask you where your passport is from first - they'll generally make the decision and then ask for your documentation.

But even then, I have a US passport, and I've had far more issues being detained in European airports than I have in the US - which is really saying something.

[hylaride]

> First of all, the folks profiling and detaining you don't ask you where your passport is from first - they'll generally make the decision and then ask for your documentation.

It depends. Most countries do have certain kinds of extra policies for passports of certain countries. For example, Visa fraud, especially for education visas, is extremely common from India. So extra checks for those that the acceptance letter isn't from some diploma mill and that they're not coming to work illegally tends to to occur more often.

But the same is true for local citizens that make odd, quick trips to certain countries that tend to be sources for drug smuggling - you're going to probably get pulled aside.

Being a border guard is 40% art, 40% science, 10% luck, and 10% other.

> But even then, I have a US passport, and I've had far more issues being detained in European airports than I have in the US - which is really saying something.

You're a citizen, though. Unless they think you're importing something you shouldn't, you're far less likely to be hassled as you have more rights than others.

As a Canadian, I found that Canadian border agents tend to harass their own citizens, especially at land crossings, because the default assumption seems to be we're trying to dodge paying duties.

I've found American border guards mostly tend to act terse and rude (possibly as a strategy to try and trip you up?), though some of the nicest I've ever met were also American. I've found most EU guards with my Canadian passport to be bored and slow, though that may be because most Canadians going to Europe are just vacationing?

[chimeracoder]

> It depends. Most countries do have certain kinds of extra policies for passports of certain countries

That's not relevant when, as I said, they detain you without knowing what passport you even hold.

> You're a citizen, though. Unless they think you're importing something you shouldn't, you're far less likely to be hassled as you have more rights than others.

Being a citizen does not, in fact, exempt you from being profiles and detained at border crossings, either in the US or in Europe.

[przemub]

It’s saying that citizens are more trusted than non-citizens, obviously.