Under the American Radar

 

Under the American Radar

 

My husband asked me to post this only after he safely returned to European soil.

He was traveling to the Unhinged States of MAGA for a conference and was genuinely afraid of being detained or deported by out-of-control immigration authorities.

His message:

In Fear of My Birth Country

You’ve probably heard the news about the French scientist who was traveling to a conference in Texas. When he landed in the US, immigration officials insisted on checking his mobile phone. On it they found messages with his colleagues which disparaged ‘scientific’ policies of Trump and his cartel of know-nothings. The French scientist was deported back to France and not allowed to attend the conference.

This is not an isolated case, nor a misunderstanding. US goons (CBP, ICE, FBI, etc.) are systematically snatching up students, professors and others whose only crime is supporting oppressed people such as the Palestinians. The detainees have told stories of being thrown in cold, barren cells for days and weeks, not allowed even a phone call to an attorney or family member. They are not allowed a hearing – simply transported to a way station in Louisiana or shipped to whatever fourth-world prison the US can get to take them. (Look up habeus corpus and the Patriot Act. "Patriot Act II" Provisions in H.R. 10 (As Passed by House) | American Civil Liberties Union)

US Secretary of State ‘Little Marco’ Rubio recently stated that “Freedom of Speech” is only for US citizens. Non-citizens do not have freedom on speech on American soil (or off, apparently).

As I write this, I am planning to attend a conference in Florida. I am not a foreign scientist. Worse, in the minds of the Trumpistas, I am a foreign journalist. Specifically, I am an aviation journalist, Swiss citizen.

As a foreigner, there’s a good chance I will be asked to present my phone and computer at the US immigration checkpoint. (Not sure if that will be in Frankfurt as I emplane or Orlando as I deplane.)

As of mid-March, there would have been all sorts of pro-democracy, pro-Ukrainian, pro-Palestinian people, anti-MAGA, anti-Musk, anti-Drumpf, anti-Putin messaging: on my Facebook feed, Messenger shares, email inbox and sent folder… pretty much everywhere in my digital footprint.

So I started to purge those messages…

I had no conception how difficult that would be. Between Facebook/ Meta and Google alone, there are layers upon layers upon layers of nooks and crannies where they capture and store your data. (Even if you thought you opted out.)

I was amazed to find out, for example, that Facebook has a section which logs videos I watch on the phone and computer. Mostly videos of cute dogs and stupid construction faux pas. But nonetheless, FB captured that data, apparently so it could ‘tailor’ what it sends me to my ‘preferences.’ Maybe they’ll start sending me videos of cute dogs making construction mistakes.

I found photos (and the occasional anti-Troomp or anti-JD Dunce cartoon – you remember, the a**-kissing hillbilly VP who likened DJT to Hitler) which I thought I had long ago deleted. Only to find

them in a Trash file, which required another step to fully delete (maybe).

To get rid of friends, photos, messages, files, etc. sometimes required a simple ‘Delete’ button. Other times it required digging down through the layers, finding instructions on the internet, and ultimately just trial and error (wonder what happens if I click this symbol?)

I decided, on the advice of many, to buy a new cheap – clean – computer to take on the trip. I would load only essential software on it: my business-only non-MS Outlook email account, a word-processing program – not MS Word), LinkedIn (only business messages), and the programs to update my aviation newsletter and website. When I get to Florida, I will attempt to restore my personal email and other software, so I will need to remember some usernames and passwords.

That was the easy part. The phone is more problematic. I have thought about a ‘burner’ phone, but that may appear too suspicious. So I have focused on purging my phone of potentially offending messages, while still retaining the ability to call or message my wife in France or a friend (or attorney) in the States… and leaving a couple photos of our cute dog to appear normal. (Thought about switching phones with my wife – saying I grabbed hers by mistake - but that would require even more clean up, and much as she hates the phone she doesn’t want me messing with it – understood.)

As I was unfriending, restricting or blocking long-time friends, it felt like something of a betrayal. I simply did not want to risk them sending me political messages while I was enroute and not having opportunity to delete them before the checkpoint. Or have immigration type their name into a search engine and discover our share ideology.

It’s my intent to restore my friends when I am ‘safely’ back in Europe. They are the primary reason I am still on FB, though we are steadily moving to other platforms such as Substack (which has a lot of great writers of thoughtful commentaries).

Am I a hypocrite? Frankly, if I was not the chair of the conference I am attending, I would not make the trip. We’re talking a substantial part of our current income. And with Musk mucking around with Social Security, our pension – to which we ‘donated’ all our US careers - may disappear too.

I am a rebel and fighter by nature. I’m trying to live to continue to fight the battle. Much as I would like to tell the immigration officer to F-off, that’s not a battle I am going to win. He/ she is low level, following orders and misguided instincts. I am best at fighting with words, with persuasion, and I cannot do that from a detention cell.

Out of this experience may come a book, one for which I had an idea long ago when the Surveillance State was just ramping up – tracking our phones, our computers, cameras on streets and roadways, in businesses, satellites, drones and other snooping devices… all meant to control us. (Good thing they cannot yet read minds…)

I reference my ‘birth country’ in the title of this blog. Yes, I was born in the USA… but that was a very different America in the late 20th century. I left a dozen years ago because I was in love with a woman who lived in Switzerland and France, and I quickly fell in love with Europe too.

I am angry beyond words at how the Musk/ Trump gangsters and DOGE-bags are destroying the States and anything else they can get their hands on to make their rich friends richer and punish anyone who disagrees with their current whims. They are the scourge of our lifetime, as Hitler was in our parents’ era. I am

saddened, too, that our children and grandchildren, and those of our friends, are caught in this maelstrom, which cannot end well – even for the MAGAs.

If you’ve read this far, you know I am back home, or almost, in Europe, ready to restore and expand my connections… and resist with every ounce of me the nightmare of America.

LIVE. RESIST.

Note: My husband did not have a problem but three French scientists, who were planning to attend the same conference, were pulled aside, had their passports confiscated, taken to a room and questioned. Eventually they were released.