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Comment by ahdlakg | Hacker News Reader

It is amazing how the U.S. consistently gets away with this and is still perceived as a free country.

In the 1980s the only border I knew where printed material was searched was the East German border. Back then the practice was considered outrageous.

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What I find more egregious is, if this somehow sticks, non-USA citizens are still not protected from these invasive searches. This should be a human rights issue, not a local law.

Non-citizens don't have a right to cross the border.

Yeah but it doesn't mean that anal cavity search is necessary

As opposed to a cavity search in the mouth? They aren't dentists.

Given your username, this seems an especially sensitive topic for you.

In what part of the article or thread to which you commented asserted a "necessary" anal cavity search?

Make an account...Wait 4 months for the correct subject to come along....

Visa holders?

If they have a visa, of course they have the right.

In the US visa does not give you right to enter. It gives you the right to show up in front of the CBP officer [1].

Edit: add source 1. https://www.cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/visa-waive...

Of course not but they should still be protected when they seek permission to do so. Perhaps more countries need to enact symmetrical immigration rules where US citizens are subject to the same bs that the US subjects their citizens to. Then again, US citizens seem to be unbothered by the five eyes arrangement where the US cannot spy on their own citizens but they can politely ask their allies to do so so maybe this wouldn't get them to see the problem. Still would be fair though.

The US also asks for a list of social media accounts, which is creepy.

I've crossed the border hundreds of times and no one has ever asked me for my social media accounts.

It’s a question on the DS-160, IIRC.

Also a question on the ESTA application.

Australia does this too.

In the post-9/11 world, whats the current status of "free" countries and how they vet people crossing the border?

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