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Comment by lmz | Hacker News Reader

Eh. That sort of sentiment is not exclusive to the USA. Try applying for a visa if you're not from a rich country.

I'm originally not from a rich country.

Before I became a Swedish citizen I never had a bad experience traveling back into Schengen, border agents were always cordial even on the instances where they were stern and serious. Even had nice interactions sometimes, at Schiphol with Dutch agents once they were quite funny, and light-hearted.

Every single time I traveled into the USA I experienced CBP agents being rude and suspicious, treating people like cattle on immigration lines, being talked down when being questioned, etc. The experience applying for my B1/B2 was also really annoying, not a great one being interviewed and grilled by a consul.

It's definitely different to go through USA's borders than most other places I traveled to.

I've been profiled for my racial heritage when trading currency in Sweden. I'd go into the currency exchange as a non-white person and have a bunch of $20s get rejected. I sent my white friend in with the $20s they rejected and from him, they somehow were fine.

Currency exchange is not a border issue, not sure what's the connection.

I did it in different European countries.

In all cases it was a good experience. The process was more or less straightforward, and I was treated with respect (and in some cases kindness) by the public servants I dealt with.

Not once I was treated like I was an unwelcome guest.

I suspect this only applies if you have low melanin levels in your skin.

Incidentally, I have brown skin.

Not exactly black, but far from white.

You may be right but it did not align with my experience as an Indian applying for a German, French and Swiss visa.

It's an anglophone thing. US, UK and Australia all do it.

I don't think it's even possible to generalize this to a nation. You could theoretically determine it as an average by the nation, but getting this information is borderline impossible, as its entirely the perspective of the applicant. And without this kind of data you're basically left with a few anecdotes, which entirely depended on the mood of the worker that handled the case of the person providing the anecdote...

When I go through border security at an international airport, I usually can see what is happening at almost all the control gates... So even as a white man I have ample time to see the behavior of border security guards with others.

And yeah, the cliche of AMericans being haughty gung-ho cowboys is true. They bark at people and clearly play the bully.

I thought the process we were talking about was the visa application?

And Canada. UK and Canada gave me the hardest times at any border.

I feel like a criminal going into the UK even though I'm British.

When I traveled a lot 15 years ago, I found the US border to be the worst experience, even as a citizen.

Yeah Japan is famously friendly and welcoming to different cultures and ethnicities. Unless?

None of my Indian friends who have applied for and received Japanese visas had anything negative to say about the process, so I don't know what you're alluding to.

Are you including Ireland in the anglosphere?

Was show shocked/disappointed when I went to China. It was such a more welcoming experience every time I have come back to the USA. I expected China to be the one that felt more authoritarian. Coming back from the border with Canada after camping it was known that if you simply annoyed border patrol they would make you unpack all of your camping gear and waste 3-4 hours (I'm talking about known among young families with kids that just want to go camping).

From my experience as an American I have never had the kind of hostility, the power trip, the 'why are you worthy to be here' that I receive coming home be experienced in any other nation.

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