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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

226 points proberts | 2 comments | 05 Dec 25 16:04 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

As usual, there are countless immigration topics and I'll be guided by whatever you're concerned with. Please remember that I can't provide legal advice on specific cases for obvious liability reasons because I won't have access to all the facts. Please stick to a factual discussion in your questions and comments and I'll do the same in my answers!

Previous threads we've done: https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts.

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miotintherain ◴[05 Dec 25 16:44 UTC] No.46163747[source]▶
Hi Peter, thanks for the AMA!

I work for an American company and I am based in Europe. I visit the US for work every now and then. I heard a lot of horror stories regarding border entries. If I am ever in a situation where the border police asks for access to my personal phone and pin code, what are my options? Can I refuse and what happens then?

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proberts ◴[05 Dec 25 18:26 UTC] No.46165193[source]▶
You are within your rights to say no but if you say no, almost certainly CBP will assume that you are hiding something and deny you admission.
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ToucanLoucan[dead post] ◴[05 Dec 25 18:29 UTC] No.46165239[source]▶
[flagged]
nkrisc ◴[05 Dec 25 19:14 UTC] No.46165909[source]▶
Foreign countries have no obligation to admit you within their borders.

There’s many points you could make about the United States and immigration, but I don’t think this is one of them.

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1. wonderwonder ◴[05 Dec 25 19:59 UTC] No.46166495[source]▶
He's not talking about other nations, he's talking about the US and saying if you are not a citizen of a nation, its a foreign nation to you and they have no obligation to let you in.
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2. comte7092 ◴[06 Dec 25 17:25 UTC] No.46174969[source]▶
> Foreign countries have no obligation to admit you within their borders.

This is obviously a general statement about any nation, comparing the US to its peers.

In the context of the conversation it is clearly an argument that “we don’t have to let you in, we can require whatever we want, including trampling on your rights as an individual”, which is unamerican.