You’re moving the goal posts a lot by asking about denial of reentry. Under both the U.S. Constitution and long-standing case law, citizens have an unconditional right to return to their country. You’re not likely to find any US citizen being denied reentry for any reason. What CBP can do, as this piece discussed, is delay your reentry by questioning and searches. That’s their job, so we’re really talking about the reasons behind the additional scrutiny.
My point is that political speech shouldn’t be a reason, short of the overt incitement to violence noted in my article. Are you disagreeing with that premise? Or are you just trying to reframe it as irrelevant because all US citizens get to come home eventually?
You imply that citizens have been prohibited from re-entering: “ During the Cold War, suspected communists and leftist intellectuals were flagged or barred from returning to the US,”
So…if I was coming in to the US and the border patrol asked me to see my laptop (I’ve entered 7-8 times a year for 25-years, never happened) I’d give them the password and if they asked me about the content, I’d say fuck off, get out of my way.
I see the Substack comment UI misled me into posting my prior reply as a new comment. Glad you saw it, and were able to continue the conversation there.
yes this has definitely been problematic in the past too. Let's hope there is improvement in the future....
You’re moving the goal posts a lot by asking about denial of reentry. Under both the U.S. Constitution and long-standing case law, citizens have an unconditional right to return to their country. You’re not likely to find any US citizen being denied reentry for any reason. What CBP can do, as this piece discussed, is delay your reentry by questioning and searches. That’s their job, so we’re really talking about the reasons behind the additional scrutiny.
My point is that political speech shouldn’t be a reason, short of the overt incitement to violence noted in my article. Are you disagreeing with that premise? Or are you just trying to reframe it as irrelevant because all US citizens get to come home eventually?
You imply that citizens have been prohibited from re-entering: “ During the Cold War, suspected communists and leftist intellectuals were flagged or barred from returning to the US,”
So…if I was coming in to the US and the border patrol asked me to see my laptop (I’ve entered 7-8 times a year for 25-years, never happened) I’d give them the password and if they asked me about the content, I’d say fuck off, get out of my way.
Ah, I see your point. I widened the scope of discussion too much in the history lesson. I can see how that would be confusing.
I’m not sure about your rights to resist detainment by CBP. If you get the opportunity to try that out, let me know how it goes!
Can you give an example of any AMERICAN citizen being denied re-entry to the US based upon political speech? (Hint AI can’t.)
I see the Substack comment UI misled me into posting my prior reply as a new comment. Glad you saw it, and were able to continue the conversation there.