Key points
- Experts suggest there are three types of travellers
- Say they should know their rights
- Risk assessment can save them from deportations: expert
ISLAMABAD: The changes that have come amid a broader crackdown by the Trump administration to reduce both legal and illegal immigration to the country have made travelling risky for people even with valid green cards and visas.
Travellers to the US have reported lengthy forced stays at airports, scrutiny and even deportation.
Some US universities have urged its international staff and students to postpone any plans to travel outside the US “out of an abundance of caution.”
Canada, along with several countries in Europe, including Denmark, Ireland and Germany, have also updated their travel guidance for the US, urging their citizens to strictly adhere to U.S. entry rules or risk detention.
Here are a few steps travellers can take before leaving the US to ensure a care-free return.
Know your rights
According to Stephanie Gee, senior director of US legal services at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), there are generally three kinds of travellers who enter the US.
She told NPR that US citizens have guaranteed access to the country.
Green card holders have procedural rights, meaning only an immigration judge can revoke their green card status.
That means US citizens and green-card holders can choose to not answer CBP officers’ questions or let them search their electronic devices, though refusing to do so can result in a delay in entry, NPR reported.
On the other hand, travellers with a temporary visa, which is common among students and tourists, have the “fewest rights,” Gee said. CBP officers have the final say on whether these travellers can enter the country, and can simply deny entry if a visa holder refuses to answer officers’ questions.
Risk assessment
There are additional factors that could raise a traveller’s risk level.
Though there’s not a list that’s currently in effect, Yale-Loehr advised that travellers from the 11 countries in the proposed “red” category — places where travel to the US would be banned outright — should think twice before flying here. These countries include Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.
Yale-Loehr added that typically, visa holders who are denied entry are simply put on the next plane back to their home country. But some people have recently been taken into custody and detained for days and weeks on end. “ It’s a seemingly growing problem,” he said.
What basic rights do people have?
For green card holders, factors like a long trip abroad can raise suspicion at the airport. Lately, some immigration attorneys have also been warning that green card holders with a criminal record, no matter how minor, should avoid leaving the country.
In a recent case earlier this month, 34-year-old electrical engineer Fabian Schmidt, a green-card holder originally from Germany, was taken to immigration detention from Logan International Airport in Boston over a decade-old misdemeanour charge for marijuana possession.
Gee from IRAP said the best practice is for Green card and visa holders to consult an immigration attorney and get tailored advice on their personal situation, NPR reported.
Customs officers’ powers
CBP officers can ask travellers to unlock their cell phones, give laptop passwords or hand over digital cameras. U.S. citizens and green-card holders can’t be turned away simply because they refuse, but visa holders can, according to Yale-Loehr.
He said during an electronic search, CBP officers often look for material that would suggest non-citizens are ineligible to enter the US.
That includes criminal convictions, domestic violence and support of terrorism.
If a traveller’s electronic device gets confiscated, the American Civil Liberties Union suggests asking for the officers’ names, badge numbers and which agency they work for. It also advises that travelers should call the agency to request a receipt documenting that a personal item was taken away, NPR reported.
