|
Just a bit of perspective: I am a foreigner (Italian) living in the USA. Thanks to the non-easy immigration process, I have been here for 15 years (with a brief break) and I still do not have residency - but a working visa. I have always been here legally and done everything by the book. I have a PhD and I teach at a major University.
So my case might be a bit peculiar. But I remember my PC/phone and other electronic equipment often being swiped and I have been asked many times to turn things on and to log in - I think to demonstrate that the devices are actually what they look like. I think this happens more often in Europe, actually. So I say... welcome to my world. But I don't understand what has changed, since they seemed to be able to do with my devices what they wanted even before. Unless I received different treatment because of nationality, which is plausible.
And yes, the 100 miles zone is very real and very arbitrary. I live in Buffalo, NY now and being pulled over for no reason is not frequent, but it happens, because of the proximity to the border. I have never been given a hard time (I don't always have my passport and visa with me). But I was pulled over in south Texas once, close to the Mexican border (in South Padre) and the officers gave me a very hard time because I did not have my passport with me (despite the fact that I was far from the border and had no intention of crossing). They finally figured out that my employment authorization card was a valid ID for their purposes and let me go, but with considerable delay. But, not familiar with the area, I was surprised that they had these random road blocks checking every car. Here in Buffalo I have not seen road blocks, but I see them pull over cars randomly for checks.
|