Are These Visa Questions Sufficiently Probative?

bhkad · 06-15-08, 02:47 AM

Are These Visa Questions Sufficiently Probative?

Considering the ease with which the 9/11 hijackers entered the United States, do you think these Visa application questions are sufficiently probative?

Quote:

38. IMPORTANT: ALL APPLICANTS MUST READ AND CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX FOR EACH ITEM.
A visa may not be issued to persons who are within specific categories defined by law as inadmissible to the United States (except when a waiver is obtained in advance). Is any of the following applicable to you?

* Have you ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or crime, even though subject of a pardon, amnesty or other similar legal action? Have you ever unlawfully distributed or sold a controlled substance(drug), or been a prostitute or procurer for prostitutes?

Yes No

* Have you ever been refused admission to the U.S., or been the subject of a deportation hearing or sought to obtain or assist others to obtain a visa, entry into the U.S., or any other U.S. immigration benefit by fraud or willful misrepresentation or other unlawful means? Have you attended a U.S. public elementary school on student (F) status or a public secondary school after November 30, 1996 without reimbursing the school?

Yes No

* Do you seek to enter the United States to engage in export control violations, subversive or terrorist activities, or any other unlawful purpose? Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization as currently designated by the U.S. Secretary of State? Have you ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi government of Germany; or have you ever participated in genocide?

Yes No

* Have you ever violated the terms of a U.S. visa, or been unlawfully present in, or deported from, the United States?

Yes No

* Have you ever withheld custody of a U.S. citizen child outside the United States from a person granted legal custody by a U.S. court, voted in the United States in violation of any law or regulation, or renounced U.S. citizenship for the purpose of avoiding taxation?

Yes No

* Have you ever been afflicted with a communicable disease of public health significance or a dangerous physical or mental disorder, or ever been a drug abuser or addict?

Yes No

https://evisaforms.state.gov/ds156.asp

If not, what questions would you ask those wanting to come into our country?

Arcana XV · 06-15-08, 06:04 AM

Don't make me laugh.

I get the exact same questions on the Visa Waiver form I have to fill in every time I visit the US and my usual reaction is that one would have to be a real moron to answer YES to any of those questions. What are they gonna do, actually check that we're telling them the truth?

bhkad · 06-15-08, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcana XV

Don't make me laugh.

I get the exact same questions on the Visa Waiver form I have to fill in every time I visit the US and my usual reaction is that one would have to be a real moron to answer YES to any of those questions. What are they gonna do, actually check that we're telling them the truth?

Law enforcement seldom catches criminals in the act. They rely, instead, on snaring law breakers after the fact. And they do that in many ways. But in this regard if someone lied on the Visa form they could be snared by those answers even if they were doing nothing wrong or something else that was perfectly legal.

FBI agents...

Quote:

"...arrested Moussaoui (Zacarias Moussaoui, the 20th hijacker on 9/11) on an immigration violation--mainly as a way of keeping him out of circulation until they could determine what he was up to. In questioning at the time of his arrest, Moussaoui denied being the member of a terrorist organization and said that he was not taking flight training with the intention of killing Americans. Instead, he told them that he was learning to fly for his personal enjoyment--and that he hoped to visit New York City and Washington D.C. as a tourist.

Checking Moussaoui's name with foreign intelligence agencies, agent Harry Samit of the Minneapolis Office learned that Moussaoui might have terrorist connections.

The trial of Zacarias Moussaoui: An Account