New Form Of Screening At Us Immigration

[pgrin]

Wharton School professor arrested at Dulles airport on child-porn allegationsBy Robert Moran

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Lawrence Scott Ward, a Wharton School professor emeritus, was arrested Sunday morning at Washington's Dulles International Airport after he allegedly entered the country with videos of him engaged in sex acts with underage boys.

Ward, 63, who has a 1999 Montgomery County conviction for attempting to solicit sex from an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old boy, was arriving on a United Airlines flight from Brazil when he was flagged in a sex-predator crackdown for having taken "excessive" trips to Thailand, a haven for sex tourism, authorities said.

In Ward's luggage, customs agents discovered three mini-DVDs showing the renowned marketing professor performing sex acts with boys who appeared to be between 14 and 16 years old, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declined to comment.

I think they should put this jagoff's balls in a vice but I am a little concerned about the protocol used to catch him. I have over 20 Thai entry stams in my PP and will go home to the US in Nov. I have nothing to hide but it will be interesting to see how thet screen me. I'll post an update.

P

[sbk]

You don't suppose the previous conviction had anything to do with it?

[britmaveric]

You don't suppose the previous conviction had anything to do with it?

I agree I'm sure the lad was flagged and they decided to take a closer look next time he passed through Yank Immigration. Good on them for catching the perv!!!

[daveh]

You don't suppose the previous conviction had anything to do with it?

It's possible, but I doubt it. I have a friend who lives in Thailand and get searched just about every time he returns to the United States. My friend does not have any convictions for anything. You have to remember for some people sex tourism=child prostitution. Like it or not, Thailand has a reputation for sex tourism. Therefore, to some people, lots of trips to Thailand imply sex tourism which implies child prostitution.

When they search you, they look at all your DVDs, turn on your computer and go through all your pictures, and look through all the pictures on your digital camera. This guy had videos of himself having sex with what appear to be underaged boys.

I've never been searched when coming back from Thailand, but this is probably because I travel with my Thai wife.

[britmaveric]

Must fit a particular profile I suspect. But personally never been stopped once by immigration either in the UK or Yankland.

[IMA_FARANG]

Wharton School professor arrested at Dulles airport on child-porn allegationsBy Robert Moran

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Lawrence Scott Ward, a Wharton School professor emeritus, was arrested Sunday morning at Washington's Dulles International Airport after he allegedly entered the country with videos of him engaged in sex acts with underage boys.

Ward, 63, who has a 1999 Montgomery County conviction for attempting to solicit sex from an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old boy, was arriving on a United Airlines flight from Brazil when he was flagged in a sex-predator crackdown for having taken "excessive" trips to Thailand, a haven for sex tourism, authorities said.

In Ward's luggage, customs agents discovered three mini-DVDs showing the renowned marketing professor performing sex acts with boys who appeared to be between 14 and 16 years old, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declined to comment.

I think they should put this jagoff's balls in a vice but I am a little concerned about the protocol used to catch him. I have over 20 Thai entry stams in my PP and will go home to the US in Nov. I have nothing to hide but it will be interesting to see how thet screen me. I'll post an update.

P

This item was previously posted but the topic was then closed. If you go back and find the original posting, you will see that he has previously admitted to being accussed of sexual relations with a teenage boy. He pleaded nolo contende, and he admitted to the act, but did not admit to any guilt. He is therefore on a sexual offender watch list. That is why he was flagged coming back through U.S. immigration, and not because of the number of trips he made to Thailand.

You can't believe someting just because it is in the newspaper.

[Thaiquila]

It is definitely true that if you are a single male traveller, they do access your previous travel destinations. Sometimes I get searched, and the last time, the officer was reading off a screen all the countries I have been to for the last 10 years, NOT from my passport, but from a screen.

This guy was a comical. He was totally focused on some BOOKS I have in my luggage. He actually started reading the content. I wish I had brought in 1984.

Probably random, but after that one thorough search and no results, have been left alone lately, so I wonder if wasting their time in the past factors in their decision process.

Over the years, I have also encountered the most unpleasant scowling and sarcasm from officers when they say the word Thailand. I think they were jealous.

Our tax dollars at work!

Edited August 31, 2006 by Thaiquila

[shotover]

I also have over 20 entry stamps to Thailand, and have been questioned twice by US Customs officers in my approximately 12 returns to the USA during the past 5 years. Both times the Customs officers' questions focused on drugs (I'm a normal looking guy in my 50s).

However, with media analysts annointing Thailand as the 'child sex capital' of the world in response to John Karr's arrest, the narrow-minded US Dept of Homeland Security will no doubt react accordingly, and presume all male visitors to Thailand are sex tourists and pedos.

[chuchok]

It is definitely true that if you are a single male traveller, they do access your previous travel destinations. Sometimes I get searched, and the last time, the officer was reading off a screen all the countries I have been to for the last 10 years, NOT from my passport, but from a screen.

This guy was a comical. He was totally focused on some BOOKS I have in my luggage. He actually started reading the content. I wish I had brought in 1984.

Probably random, but after that one thorough search and no results, have been left alone lately, so I wonder if wasting their time in the past factors in their decision process.

Over the years, I have also encountered the most unpleasant scowling and sarcasm from officers when they say the word Thailand. I think they were jealous.

Our tax dollars at work!

How is that possible?

[Thaiquila]

It is definitely true that if you are a single male traveller, they do access your previous travel destinations. Sometimes I get searched, and the last time, the officer was reading off a screen all the countries I have been to for the last 10 years, NOT from my passport, but from a screen.

This guy was a comical. He was totally focused on some BOOKS I have in my luggage. He actually started reading the content. I wish I had brought in 1984.

Probably random, but after that one thorough search and no results, have been left alone lately, so I wonder if wasting their time in the past factors in their decision process.

Over the years, I have also encountered the most unpleasant scowling and sarcasm from officers when they say the word Thailand. I think they were jealous.

Our tax dollars at work!

How is that possible?

How is what possible?

[OldAsiaHand]

Respectfully, it's not possible.

I have no doubt that the massed might of the United States government could put together a reasonably complete travel record on anyone they wanted to if it was important enough, but for a casual traveler? Nope, no way.

To determine what other countries you have entered, they would have to access other databases, which is possible, but not easy or routine. A list of the countries you have entered is not in a US Immigration database, not unless they are watching you for some reason perhaps.

[chuchok]

It is definitely true that if you are a single male traveller, they do access your previous travel destinations. Sometimes I get searched, and the last time, the officer was reading off a screen all the countries I have been to for the last 10 years, NOT from my passport, but from a screen.

This guy was a comical. He was totally focused on some BOOKS I have in my luggage. He actually started reading the content. I wish I had brought in 1984.

Probably random, but after that one thorough search and no results, have been left alone lately, so I wonder if wasting their time in the past factors in their decision process.

Over the years, I have also encountered the most unpleasant scowling and sarcasm from officers when they say the word Thailand. I think they were jealous.

Our tax dollars at work!

How is that possible?

How is what possible?

NOT from my passport, but from a screen.

How is THIS possible ?

Edited September 1, 2006 by chuchok

[Thaiquila]

It is definitely true that if you are a single male traveller, they do access your previous travel destinations. Sometimes I get searched, and the last time, the officer was reading off a screen all the countries I have been to for the last 10 years, NOT from my passport, but from a screen.

This guy was a comical. He was totally focused on some BOOKS I have in my luggage. He actually started reading the content. I wish I had brought in 1984.

Probably random, but after that one thorough search and no results, have been left alone lately, so I wonder if wasting their time in the past factors in their decision process.

Over the years, I have also encountered the most unpleasant scowling and sarcasm from officers when they say the word Thailand. I think they were jealous.

Our tax dollars at work!

How is that possible?

How is what possible?

NOT from my passport, but from a screen.

How is THIS possible ?

OK, that is what I thought you meant.

The answer is I don't know how it is possible, but I can testify that this happened to me because I was there. You can believe me or not.

This is what happened. I entered the US and passed the passport stamping station, and I the officer looked at me funny and marked some kind of code on my form. Then later I was ordered to have a full luggage screening. At this point before the officer even opened my luggage, he started reading from a screen and called out different countries, expecting me to acknowledge that yes, I had indeed travelled to that country, for each country. Frankly, I don't remember if he mentioned the YEAR of the visits or the NUMBER of visits for some countries I had been to multiple times, but I clearly remember he was looking at a screen. Then he proceeded to open my luggage and read the arcane novels he found.

You know when you enter the country you are asked to list the countries you travelled to on that trip. So perhaps all of that information is entered into a database. Not exactly rocket science, huh?

Anyway, I am positive that is how it happened. From a screen, not my passport.

Edited September 1, 2006 by Thaiquila

[chuchok]

OK, that is what I thought you meant.

The answer is I don't know how it is possible, but I can testify that this happened to me because I was there. You can believe me or not.

This is what happened. I entered the US and passed the passport stamping station, and I the officer looked at my funny and marked some kind of code on my form. Then later I was ordered to have a full luggage screening. At this point before the officer even opened my luggage, he started reading from a screen and mentioning different countries, expecting me to acknowledge that yes, I had indeed travelled to that country, for each country. Then he proceeded to open my luggage and read the arcane novels he found.

You know when you enter the country you are asked to list the countries you travelled to on that trip. So perhaps all of that information is entered into a database. Not exactly rocket science, huh?

Anyway, I am positive that is how it happened. From a screen, not my passport.

That sounds more feasible.

It always used to be that very few countries computer systems could talk to each other.That's why if you had a criminal conviction and you marked yes, then normally the USA would refuse a visa.On the otherhand, if you ticked the 'no criminal conviction box', the chances are that you got in ok.

Things might be changing though....

[Crushdepth]

About 5 years ago I met a guy who was developing a computer system for Oz immigration that allowed them to track entry and movement of people around the world. It was in a pilot phase then but he could give the exact times and points of entry for my friends kids who were holidaying around Europe.

Obviously there was some kind of data sharing arrangement between countries participating in the network (I got the impression it was a collaborative project). I don't think there is a single global big brother system but I can tell you that some countries definitely do share immigration records electronically and in real time. I would imagine there has been a lot more data sharing on since the War on t_Error started.

Even if you visit a 'non electronic' country, immigration at your next destination would probably record where you came from as matter of routine. If they're wired up, into the database it goes.

Edited September 1, 2006 by Crushdepth

[Thaiquila]

Things are changing, thats for sure. I feel the US is turning into a police state. Anything for security though. Its worth it! (Uh huh)

[Crushdepth]

Things are changing, thats for sure. I feel the US is turning into a police state. Anything for security though. Its worth it! (Uh huh)

Not just the US. Jackboots are back in fashion world-wide.

[Thaiquila]

Things are changing, thats for sure. I feel the US is turning into a police state. Anything for security though. Its worth it! (Uh huh)

Not just the US. Jackboots are back in fashion world-wide.

That makes me feel a lot better.

[PeaceBlondie]

I can't find my old US passport right now, but in the many times I re-entered the USA with it, I can't recall that it was stamped. I think a lot of times, they didn't put it through a reading machine. Do I just remember wrong? There was one time that I needed an actual stamp, and had to ask for it.

That's the trouble with having attention deficit disorder. My kids will never know when I go senile/Alzheimer's.

[Thaiquila]

I think they usually stamp you in. They must scan them of course. None of that would tell them what countries you travelled to. But we are required to list the countries on the last trip on the written entry form.

[astral]

I have heard of Racial Profiling,

now it is Sexual Profiling??????????

[autonomous_unit]

The other thing US citizens might not notice is that your passport data is being entered electronically when you check in to depart the US. There may be no "stamp out", but it is being recorded that you are leaving on a specific flight. The airlines are required to share quite a bit of data with the countries involved in the flight.

I noticed one time my passport number was printed on the boarding pass among all the other random digits at the bottom. I also was encouraged on one hectic day at Chicago O'Hare to use the self-checkin even though I was flying internationally. The guy even told me I would have to type in my name and passport data on the touch-screen, or get the roving counter attendant to help. They are planning to add passport readers to these checkin consoles (if they haven't already).

If you want to travel unobserved, I think you'd better build yourself a sailboat and try to launch off some deserted beach. Please let us know how far you get before the coast guard intercepts you.

[lopburi3]

As for US entry passport stamps prior to 1998 was always stamped in but since 2000 entry have not been. They surely do read the passport into the computer however.

[Thaiquila]

As for US entry passport stamps prior to 1998 was always stamped in but since 2000 entry have not been. They surely do read the passport into the computer however.

Well, clearly mileage can vary, because I am still not blind and just looked at my passport and I have several US stamp ins as late as 2005. The 2005 one says Homeland Security, our dear friends who deny us drinking water on long flights.

[autonomous_unit]

Yes, I just got stamped in at Chicago last month. I am not sure I see a stamp for every entry I've made in the past few years... but I just noticed one very faint stamp in a margin that I'd never noticed before. If I wasn't so lazy, I might try to find a blacklight and see what else might be stamped in there.

Edit: I'll also add that I've never been searched on the way into the US, even though I am almost always travelling alone, at least a half dozen times per year from Thailand as an expat male in his early 30s. It makes me wonder how they do this profiling... there must be plenty of other data they are using.

Edited September 1, 2006 by autonomous_unit

[lopburi3]

My current US passport was issued in 1999 and has no US stamps but last visit was in late 2003 so maybe it has been an on again situation.

[The Dude]

Wharton School professor arrested at Dulles airport on child-porn allegationsBy Robert Moran

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Lawrence Scott Ward, a Wharton School professor emeritus, was arrested Sunday morning at Washington's Dulles International Airport after he allegedly entered the country with videos of him engaged in sex acts with underage boys.

Ward, 63, who has a 1999 Montgomery County conviction for attempting to solicit sex from an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old boy, was arriving on a United Airlines flight from Brazil when he was flagged in a sex-predator crackdown for having taken "excessive" trips to Thailand, a haven for sex tourism, authorities said.

In Ward's luggage, customs agents discovered three mini-DVDs showing the renowned marketing professor performing sex acts with boys who appeared to be between 14 and 16 years old, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declined to comment.

I think they should put this jagoff's balls in a vice but I am a little concerned about the protocol used to catch him. I have over 20 Thai entry stams in my PP and will go home to the US in Nov. I have nothing to hide but it will be interesting to see how thet screen me. I'll post an update.

P

No date or link on this story, could be bogus or old

Edited September 1, 2006 by The Dude

[The Dude]

Thaiquila, you are one paranoid Mfer, dude

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

A wiser man, (perhaps even more so than Frostie The Tiger ) once said:

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance"

Personally, I'm with Thaiquilla. I only belive in conspiracies that are true.

(anyone for starting a 'favourite conspiracy theory thread? Personally, I think they'rrreeee ggrreeat!

Cheers

James

[gabe]

Things are changing, thats for sure. I feel the US is turning into a police state. Anything for security though. Its worth it! (Uh huh)

I agree with Thaiquila.