{"id":35,"date":"2005-06-03T02:07:35","date_gmt":"2005-06-02T17:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2005-06-03\/35"},"modified":"2005-06-03T02:07:51","modified_gmt":"2005-06-02T17:07:51","slug":"fumie-is-a-threat-to-homeland-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2005-06-03\/35","title":{"rendered":"Fumie is a threat to homeland security???"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fumie has a green card (permanent-resident card), and while the CIS<\/a> (new name for the INS) has its rules about\nwho may hold it and how it may be used, yet it seems that the Customs and Border Patrol<\/a> have their own\nmake-up-as-you-go ideas about it..... but won't tell you exactly what they\nare.\n\n<\/p>

The CIS\/INS says that one can leave the US and still return using\nthe green card so long as you return within a year.<\/span> However, if you don't\nintend to live in the US again, you may not use the green card (must\nabandon it). In our case<\/span>, I'm sure we<\/span>'ll live in the US again, but we don't\nknow when.\n\n<\/p>

In any case, when Fumie came to The States in March (having been out\nof the US for 10 months), she was given considerable hassle for some hours\nat SFO immigration, with her being threatened for deportation. The belligerent<\/span> officer said that she was out for “too long”. Fumie\ntried to get a definitive<\/span> answer of what was “too long”, but\nthe guy wouldn't say other than “10 months is too long”.\n\n<\/p>

Everything I'd seen on the CIS\/INS web site indicated that 12 months\nwas that magic limit, and my calls to the US Embassy in Tokyo (with a fee<\/span>\nof $30 for 12 minutes) confirmed it. It seemed<\/span> that the guy at SFO was just\nbeing a jerk<\/span> (as small people with big power can tend to be).\n\n<\/p>

When Fumie entered SFO again two weeks ago (after having been out\nfor only two months), she was again given the third degree (this time by a\nmore<\/span> cordial officer, at least). He said that<\/span> she shouldn't really be\nallowed in, but he'd let her in this time (which is what the belligerent\nguy had said the previous time as well). They would not say why she wasn't\nsupposed to be allowed in, but mentioned something about being outside the\nUS for 180 days. This time, he gave Fumie a printout<\/span> of the CIS\/INS web\npage as documentation for what was required.\n\n<\/p>

Unfortunately, the web pages says clearly and unambiguously that the\nlimit is 12 months. There is no mention of “180” days or\n“6 months” or the like. We have no<\/span> idea what the guy was\nthinking. At least<\/span> she could come in.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A call earlier this week to the CIS\/INS again confirmed that the\nlimit was 12 months. They had no idea why the CBP would give Fumie hassles,\nbut gave us their phone number. After consulting with the CBP, it seems\nthat while the limit is indeed 12 months, but any green-card holder who's\nbeen out for more than six months is subject to “secondary\ninterrogation”. And, unlink the CIS\/INS rules, it seems that they\nconsider your use of the green card to be illegal if you don't intend to\nimmediately return to the US to live permanently. At least, this is the\nbest I can<\/span> guess of what they're thinking.\n\n<\/p>

It has to remain a guess because neither CIS\/INS nor CBP would give\nFumie any hint as to what's in her “record”. None of what\neither agency explained about the rules explains why Fumie was given\ntroubles after having been out for only two months; the lady at CBP agreed\nthat it was likely because there was a “red flag” on Fumie's\nrecord. Is there<\/span> any office, I asked,<\/span> which we can visit – any way at all\n– to find out what the deal is, and discuss with the CBP why they think\nshe's run afoul of some rule.\n\n<\/p>

The answer was a flat No<\/b>. There's simply no way<\/i> for\nsomeone to find out what might be recorded about them. Even if we left the\ncountry and re-entered (thereby guaranteeing us a face<\/span>-to-face with an\nimmigration inspector), we were told that they would not divulge what might\nbe in there.\n\n<\/p>

As far as we know, it says “she had smelly shoes – keep her\nout”. Who knows.\n\n<\/p>

At least the homeland is secure. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fumie has a green card (permanent-resident card), and while the CIS (new name for the INS) has its rules about who may hold it and how it may be used, yet it seems that the Customs and Border Patrol have their own make-up-as-you-go ideas about it..... but won't tell you exactly what they are. <\/p>

The CIS\/INS says that one can leave the US and still return using the green card so long as you return within a year. However, if you don't intend to live in the US again, you may not use the green card (must abandon it). In [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}