[aorth]

American citizen living abroad for almost 20 years here. This happens to me ever so often when entering the US. Last under Biden, when I had been living in Jordan for a few years. I got pulled aside for a secondary inspection and the guy asked for all my phone numbers and social media accounts, and was surprised I didn't have Facebook—I just said I was a computer scientist and didn't like Zuckerberg. I gotta give him credit for being patient as he asked for all my addresses abroad etc. But this has been happening before Trump.

[wasabi991011]

Yes, secondary inspection has a lot more checks, this has been true a long time and is true for many countries.

This is not what TFA is about though.

TFA is about collecting this information through the ESTA for all visitors of countries part of the visa-waiver program, before the visitor even arrives at the border.

[kylehotchkiss]

You can decline to answer these questions if you're re-entering as a USC correct?

[dghlsakjg]

Technically, yes. You have an absolute right - as a US citizen - to enter the country. You have a right to silence - beyond identity/citizenship and possibly travel history - and legal representation as well. They can ask you questions about politics, religion, social media, etc. but there is no legal precedent for them not allowing admittance based on refusal to engage on those topics.

Of course this is all true to the extent that you don't mind spending hours or days in "secondary" since the government does have the right to submit you to inspection at the border. It is also limited by your willingness to pursue your rights, and the government's willingness to abide by court rulings.

[xpe]

I would like to see an analysis of the following policy proposal. Explore various ways for tracking how much citizen time the US executive branch is using and wasting. Make this information available to all branches of government.

I’m quite tired of the executive branch being able to trot out the “for national security” boilerplate argument with minimal data or record keeping to assess the efficacy of various systems and procedures.

I’ve been kept in some random airport security room for something like 2 hours while government officials try to sort out some accidental name collision. I got no useful explanation during or after. I am lucky I didn’t miss my connecting flight. I bet there is currently minimal incentive (if any) to reduce this citizen hassling. Requiring metrics on how much time squandering happens seems like a small step in the right direction.