Fencing In Or Fencing Out? The Proposed new US Visa Requirements
One of my favourite poems is Robert Frost’s Mending Walls in which he observes,
“Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down…..
I read in this morning’s Le Figaro, France’s bestselling newspaper, that the US is thinking about requiring Europeans to obtain visas for entering the US. According to the article, the admission of the last batch of countries into the European Union has caused the guys at Homeland Security to re-think their policy about letting “foreigners” into the US. The Senate has passed a bill authorising the Electronic Voyage Authorisation procedure (EVA) in place of the current Visa Waiver Program. Modeled on the Australian system, the EVA is an electronic version of a visa requirement. This is yet another wall separating the Americans from the rest of the world. And the question about fencing in or fencing out is relevant.
What this means is that anyone wanting to go to the US can be refused admission without ever talking to an American official, at the whim of some computer sorting system, and without recourse. Under the existing Homeland Security laws, the INS can arbitrarily refuse entry or detain a prospective entrant without cause, and not subject to any sort of review, much less giving the right of habeas corpus. This, alone, is sufficient to offend many prospective visitors. When you add the almost inhuman procedures for non-American by the INS and Department of Agriculture at ports of entry, there is a strong disincentive to visit the US. All this is done in the name of Homeland Security, but these unfriendly procedures are ineffective and simply not necessary to achieve a higher level of security.
Many European friends have complained about the treatment they received at immigration control after flying from Europe. They had the opinion that Americans were cold, unfriendly, even hostile. They were then surprised at the openness and friendliness of Americans they met on their journey, attributes that are certainly much more indicative of American culture than the gun-toting immigration officials.
But the real losers in this new regime will be the Americans themselves. Now US citizens can travel throughout the European Union without a visa. In the ugly spirit of reciprocity, many European states will re-impose visa requirements. This means the re-introduction of time-wasting procedures to get visas, and the interminable waiting at border crossings as all visa are checked. This is certainly a disincentive for Americans to visit Europe. The result is that the friendly dialogue across the Atlantic will be diminished,Americans are fencing in without a doubt.
If this new system is implemented, security itself will suffer. In the monumental effort to process visa applications and keep track of all the petty violations, US security officials will lose their focus on trying to find and stop real threats. The INS and Homeland Security officials have enough power already. Now we need to demand that they meet their responsibilities. Taking away more of our rights will not accomplish this.
Grambois, France 3 June 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
glen, congratulations with the launch of your blog. I hope many people will read and react. E
well said my friend!
and they treat ex-pats really rudely at the checkins...
I want to take on the health system here... the richest country in the world with so many people who cannot afford life sustaining medications?
Hugs to you
3 Cheers on your launch!
I hope there is more to come.
How many years, decades, will it take to neutralize the policies and fall-out of our present government?
If it can even be done - ever.
Most in the U.S. have no idea how difficult the paperwork and costly it can be for other nationals to enter our country.
In Chile I was surprised by the $100 visa charge U.S. citizens had to pay at the airport upon entry. Why? Reciprocity. We started doing that to Chilean citizens first.
Such reciprocity only hinders the flow of ideas, cultures, hopeful exchange. Think Spain after the Moors were driven out. That is a stretch, but George and Isabella share a few traits.........'
We don't need no ideas from outsiders.'
Quote
Build bridges, not walls!
Unquote
This is an interesting viewpoint. Not very realistic, but interesting. Living far away from the everyday gun battles and death along the Southern border of the United States perpetrated by not just narco traffickers, but also from international criminals, including those from EU nations, I can see how you migt have this viewpoint. There must be a middle ground some where. I guess the question is what price you put on life. Is a little inconvience too much to pay? Some of the most dangerous people I have ever had the displeasure of encountering are clean cut, educated, and members of the middle and upper classes. It would be so much easier if the bad guys would just wear some type of uniform. To sum up the situation, you can please some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time.
Good post.
Post a Comment