Well this is nice and normal.
A new report in the Wall Street Journal says that the Trump administration officials are considering requiring foreigners entering the United States to hand over their mobile phones first.
Even for just a short trip, visitors to the States could be forced to disclose contacts, social media passwords and financial records, and to answer probing questions about their ideology, a vetting method last used to screen for Commies during the Cold War.
A senior Homeland Security official told the publication that the general aim it to “figure out who you are communicating with. What you can get on the average person’s phone can be invaluable.”
Person: can I see your phone?
Me: yeah sure just a sec
Me: pic.twitter.com/Yue93xkygH— ?? (@Lolitaisashrimp) March 29, 2017
The same official said the idealogical questions under consideration are whether they “believe in honour killings, their views on the treatment of women, and who they see as legitimate targets in military attacks”, according to The New York Post.
It comes after Trump’s attempt at two different travel bans – the Muslim Ban and the Muslim Ban Lite – were blocked by federal judges.
His revised executive order (Muslim Ban Lite) called for the policy review, which was allowed to continue even after a federal judge in Hawaii blocked it.
Civil rights groups have, of course, condemned these proposed changes, on the basis that they’re blatantly invasive and are a lot more likely to deny people entry based on, oh, say, their country of birth or religion than they are to stop terrorists from entering the country. Ugh.
Photo: Win McNamee / Getty.
