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2w ago

French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found

www.theguardian.com

French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found

Summary

US immigration officers denied entry to a French scientist traveling to Houston after finding phone messages criticizing the Trump administration.

French research minister Philippe Baptiste condemned the decision, stressing the importance of academic freedom.

US authorities reportedly accused the scientist of "hateful and conspiratorial messages" but later dropped charges.

Baptiste has been vocal against Trump and Elon Musk for cutting research funding and invited American scientists to relocate to France.

21 comments

I want to know how they got access to his phone. Did he hand it over willingly? Did they run some kind of scan by connecting it to a device? Did they have a court order or authority to search it?
How do we help others avoid this sort of thing? My recommendation: start using Signal.
- Anecdotal, but I think the US has been allowed to seize the electronic devices of people trying to enter the country since like forever.
  They're also weird as fuck about letting people enter the country and now it's obviously getting even worse and lots of media attention
  
  Since the Patriot Act.
- It was there since a long time. People coming to US are warned by foreign organizations about the port checking the contents of their phone, text, photos, apps etc. It just didn't happen as often as it does now.

21 comments