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

226 points proberts | 1 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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tempfile ◴[05 Dec 25 20:30 UTC] No.46166842[source]▶
> Foreign countries have no obligation to admit you within their borders.

That doesn't sound relevant.

Nobody said that they were obliged to admit you, they complained that the reasons for declining admittance were unfair. Unless you think "no obligation to admit" means carte blanche to decline for any reason, and to treat you however they like?

If so, then that is unreasonable. It is a much stronger condition than "I don't have to let you in".

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mpweiher ◴[05 Dec 25 20:47 UTC] No.46167069[source]▶
Yes, "no obligation to admit" means they don't have any obligation whatsoever, and that includes doing so for any reason they see fit and not having to disclose those reasons (if any) to you.

It is exactly the same as "I don't have to let you in".

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tempfile ◴[05 Dec 25 20:55 UTC] No.46167166[source]▶
No, it isn't.

For example, I do not have an obligation to let people into my house. I can choose to let them in or decline them entry. But there are certain preconditions I cannot apply. I cannot, for example, say "you may come into my house only if you murder my neighbour". That's because I'm legally bound not to induce people to commit murder. It would obviously be disingenuous to say this means I have an "obligation to admit" them.

It's the same with immigration. They actually are legally bound in certain ways - an immigration official can't assault you for instance. It's not hard to imagine them being legally bound not to search people's phones. That doesn't mean "they have to admit people".

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1. nkrisc ◴[06 Dec 25 12:36 UTC] No.46172844{4}[source]▶
Your house has nothing to do with this.

The United States does have some rides about what border agents can and can not do. They can not sucker punch you, for example. They can request to see the contents of your phone and if you refuse they can choose to refuse you admittance into the country.

It’s not a question of fairness.

For what it’s worth I’m very much in favor of immigration and people visiting the United States, but this country and all others have the right to admit or not admit whomever they choose.