Entry denied

Travel is getting seriously messed up. Recently, a French scientist who was coming to attend a conference in the US was stopped at customs on arrival (it’s unclear why he was ‘selected’). His laptop and phones were confiscated while he was asked to wait.

When the agents returned, they said they found social media posts and messages criticizing tRump’s stance on the sciences. That, apparently, qualifies as “hate speech” and classifies the speaker as a terrorist. The scientist was refused entry and put on the next plane back to France.

In a sense, he got off easy: others (Europeans and Canadians) have been imprisoned under apparently very harsh conditions (according to reputable sources like The Guardian) for as much as 20 days for what might otherwise have been minor infractions…

It’s amazing to me that the administration ‘s main “tools” are blackmail, intimidation, and fear mongering. Nothing good can come of this in the long term…