Mastodawn

Jason Lefkowitz

Look: I, a US citizen, born and raised in the United States, holder of a valid state ID and federal passport, with no criminal record, am not confident I could pass through a US border checkpoint right now without being harassed or even detained. (I have been critical of Donald Trump in public, and that seems to be all it takes.)

If *I* am not confident about that, imagine how anyone without those credentials must feel.

If you are organizing conferences, meetings, etc. that require people to pass through those checkpoints to attend, you need to grapple with this. You are asking attendees to take a serious personal risk.

CM Thiede Apr 11

@jalefkowit I've been harassed on 2 occasions when times were great, won't bother rolling the dice now that they aren't.

Iain Collins Apr 11

@jalefkowit Yeah, despite having my own bio page on an america.gov site, and being married to an American, I'm wary of traveling to the US right now.

This story I saw today didn't do anything to boost my confidence: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly22xm8kx1o.amp

British man's tattoo wrongly linked to Venezuelan gang in US government document - BBC News

A tattoo belonging to a man from Derbyshire has appeared in a US government document used to identify members of Tren de Aragua, a notorious Venezuelan gang, despite the man having no connection to the group.

BBC News

Irenes (many)Apr 11

@jalefkowit oh for sure. we cancelled all our professional engagements this year. it really hurt to do, we were really looking forward to one conference in particular, but we're not interested in dying in a concentration camp.

Irenes (many)Apr 11

@jalefkowit it's difficult to generalize, but the impression we have gotten is that conference organizers know this, but sponsors are unwilling to back anything that isn't an in-person-only conference. the obvious reason for that would be that in-person is the best advertising.

Andreas K Apr 12

@ireneista
Ah, but would they have insisted on an in person conference held in China, Belarus or Iran last year?

No problem if they insist that on in person, on site for good reasons, but why must it be in a toxic, racist, misogenic place?
@jalefkowit

Irenes (many)Apr 12

@yacc143 @jalefkowit yes, well, by holding our ground we are conveying that. they can think of it as a market correction if they like.

Dormouse Apr 12

@ireneista @jalefkowit take guns, then.

Andrew Shields Apr 11

@jalefkowit I’ve wondered about that myself, as a US citizen who is a long-term resident of Switzerland. https://andrewjshields.blogspot.com/2025/03/snoopy-and-his-plans-to-visit-his.html

Snoopy and his plans to visit his mother in Plunderland

Snoopy left Plunderland many years ago, but sometimes he returns to the country to visit his mother at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. Having rec...

Saupreiss #Präparat500 Apr 11

Why on Earth should international conferences still be held in the US?

Tbh I wondered about some before. For those in LV, NV, I had the Impression it was rather about meeting up with booze and… um… ladies. Both is available elsewhere, legally…

As for other Locations: There are less dangerous locations to travel to.

Kevin Standlee 💉x7 Apr 12

@jalefkowit @Saupreiss The next two World Science Fiction Conventions are in the USA, and because of how sites are selected, it’s nearly impossible to change that. However, I expect at least the next four after that will be elsewhere. See the list of sites bidding at worldcon.org.

Kevin Standlee 💉x7 Apr 12

@jalefkowit @Saupreiss And most of the people voting on Worldcon site selection are Americans, so even we know how toxic we’ve become.

Debra Shannon Apr 11

@jalefkowit if I go through one, I won't be coming back.

Richard W. Woodley ELBOWS UP 🇨🇦🌹🚴‍♂️📷 🗺️Apr 11

So basically no conferences in the United States with non-American attendees and none outside the United States with American attendees. So have them all on Zoom with the NSA monitoring everyone.

Dima Pasechnik 🇺🇦 🇳🇱Apr 12

@the5thColumnist @jalefkowit there are open-source analogs of Zoom available, they work peer to peer, and one can secure links.

OTOH is't not different with in-person conferences - these who want to listen and observe will find a way, especially if it happens in a usual setting of a congress centre, not in the middle of nowhere in a forest.

Stefan Monnier Apr 12

@the5thColumnist @jalefkowit Or have federated in-person meetings. I.e. conferences that take place at several locations, which is also a good way to reduce (air)travel (and avoid the price-gouging imposed by those venues large enough to accommodate everyone at a single location).

Mark Crocker Apr 12

@the5thColumnist @jalefkowit or Signal?

Lot⁴⁹ Apr 11

@jalefkowit I think everyone now understands that disagreeing with the king is treason.

Dima Pasechnik 🇺🇦 🇳🇱Apr 12

@12thRITS @jalefkowit they will eventually make it difficult for dissidents to even get a passport, as it used to be the case in the USSR.

Nochem ben Shlomo Apr 12

@dimpase @12thRITS @jalefkowit

As it used to be in the US in the 50s

@jalefkowit I've always been a bit cautious when it comes to putting personally identifiable information out in the public internet. This is why when I leave the country briefly in the next month or so I will be nuking all my social media and communication apps before I return.

Colin the Mathmo Apr 11

@nechesh What makes you think it hasn't already been archived by TLAs?

Deleting old posts is probably security theatre.

CC: @jalefkowit

@ColinTheMathmo @jalefkowit not deleting posts - deleting the apps. I don’t post my real name or pictures here, so in general if it isn’t on my phone it won’t be linked to my real person.

Colin the Mathmo Apr 11

@nechesh @jalefkowit If you're not a person of interest then that's probably enough, though it would look suspicious not to have any social media apps on your phone

If you are a person of interest then deleting the apps won't help.

But you already knew all that.

Edit: somehow someone has interpreted this as saying "if you aren't doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about", but in fact it's saying exactly the opposite. *Everyone* should be worried!!

@ColinTheMathmo @jalefkowit I like to think of myself as an interesting person, not a person of interest. Anyway, I'm pretty boring but I do criticize this administration.

Colin the Mathmo Apr 11

@nechesh If I get the chance tomorrow I'll clarify further, but it's 1am here now, and I need to be up in 6 hours.

Suffice to say, *everyone* should be concerned.

CC: @jalefkowit

Piggleston Pecanpants Apr 12

@ColinTheMathmo @nechesh @jalefkowit Why is it suspicious to not have social media apps on one's phone? I don't have them or email on my phone. If I desperately need to check in, I use the web interface on my phone, then nuke the session when I'm done. I'm security conscious and don't want to leave myself vulnerable. And I've been this way since way before this administration.

Colin the Mathmo Apr 12

@LilPecan You are unusual in this regard, and anything unusual is regarded as suspicious.

I'm not saying it's right, proper, or rational, but the vast majority of people that border officials see will have social media apps on their phone, and border officials can ask to see them. Not having them will then, /ipso facto/, raise suspicions.

To some extent the key is in your own words: "I'm security conscious". If they notice this, border officials may then think: What do they have to hide?" ...

CC: @nechesh @jalefkowit

Piggleston Pecanpants Apr 12

@ColinTheMathmo @nechesh @jalefkowit I'm sure you're correct. I've been preaching for years that people should be more cautious online but they always say they have nothing to hide. Funny then that they don't live in glass houses with glass walls.
Good thing I'm not going anywhere unless it is to leave for good. I'm female and alone. I can't trust what the government would do to me if I came to their attention.

Cluster Fcku Apr 12

@ColinTheMathmo @LilPecan @nechesh @jalefkowit I know several people who don't care at all about social media, but they have profiles on various platforms like Facebook and Linkedin with clean pictures, clean contacts, just so that they come up clean when searched. Just because that's what employers or customers check. Don't get drunk or smoke up where your boss or the authorities hang out.

Piggleston Pecanpants Apr 12

@clusterfcku @ColinTheMathmo @nechesh @jalefkowit That's a good point. I forgot LinkedIn, where I have minimal, innocuous information and there's my annually visited Pinterest page, equally innocuous. When grilled I can credibly say, "I tried MySpace but discovered I have little interest or time for social media. I have LinkedIn and Pinterest pages but don't use the apps because I rarely login. My passwords are at home." Hopefully they'll find that satisfactory.

Piggleston Pecanpants Apr 12

@clusterfcku @ColinTheMathmo @nechesh @jalefkowit And re: Colin's point, I must remember to never tell anyone in authority that I am security conscious. The more clueless I appear about #infosec, the better.

@ColinTheMathmo @nechesh @jalefkowit I’ve been wondering how we have arrived at a place where one has to consider wiping out ALL texts, emails and Apps are actual safety plans now.

Heck, I’m an older white woman citizen who thinks about how an “accidental” mistake could cut off my Medicare or Social Security or declare me Dead. The risks for all Americans are increasingly clear.

And what shall be done about a few newspaper articles years back where I’m quoted in unfavorable views of “government”?

Maybe I should just divert all remaining dollars I have from expected future elder care and medical needs to equally expensive legal services. Omg.

@cobalt123 @ColinTheMathmo @jalefkowit how did we get here? The glib answer is by electing a fascist wannabe dictator with mush for brains. It's a longer and slightly more complex story of how we got to that point, but not dramatically so. People hate and fear those different than themselves and they see the past through rose colored glasses. They long for a return to a time that only exists in their minds and vote for people who claim they can bring it back.

Maggie Maybe Apr 12

@nechesh @ColinTheMathmo @jalefkowit I don’t know what kind of phone you use but on my iPhone in the settings if I click apps then “not on this phone” is lists every app I’ve ever installed since I’ve been using an iPhone, except for the apps that aren’t in the store anymore at all. Maybe your phone doesn’t do this, I’m just saying that they’ll know you deleted the app at some point if it does. (You could probably make a new apple ID and log on with your “travel ID” that only has apps you need to use, then log back into your regular Apple ID once you are home safe.)

Compassionate Crab Apr 11

Same.

Heck, I won't even travel through red states now. Not even by car.

Kevin Standlee 💉x7 Apr 12

@jalefkowit @Compassionatecrab I drove from Nevada (Reno) to Manitoba (Winnipeg) and back in 2023. I wouldn’t do it now unless I detoured to BC and through the Pacific states

@jalefkowit its true

samiamsam Apr 11

i'm anglo (white), female

my great grandparent came through Ellis Island

my parents were born in Chicago

i was born in the US at the Colorado AF Academy

i have an Eastern European maiden name

i kept my Hispanic married name after the divorce because i now live in the SW US so easier

i got my first passport in July 2024 'just in case'

and i am also NOT CONFIDENT that i won't be swept up due to both of my last names

this is fucking insanity

Maggie Maybe Apr 12

@samiamsam @jalefkowit my 32 year-old baby brother is half Puerto Rican. He has his father’s last name and he’s definitely brown.

I remember almost laughing at myself when I was worried about him, I reminded myself that Puerto Rico is part of America. And he was born here. But now it seems none of that matters.

I hate it here.

Alun Jones Apr 11

@jalefkowit I'm sure it'll all be fine by the FIFA World Cup.

samiamsam Apr 11

@ftp_alun @jalefkowit

lol sure, right lol

Gurre Vildskägg Apr 12

@ftp_alun @jalefkowit
Iirc the Olympics are coming to LA before the next elections too.

FIFA...
An opportunity to burn FIFA to the ground and get a new international organisation for football ⚽️ going?

spiegelmama Apr 12

@Gurre @ftp_alun @jalefkowit 2028. Last year of trump's term. Not sure when he's planning on leaving, though.

Kevin Standlee 💉x7 Apr 12

@ftp_alun @Gurre @spiegelmama @jalefkowit Right now, I expect that the only way he will leave is feet first.

Gurre Vildskägg Apr 12

@KevinStandlee @ftp_alun @spiegelmama @jalefkowit
I see three possible ways:
* Ejected by Vance supported by the supreme court to get a just as white nationalist far right regime but less unpredictable.
* dies of old age (his recent health check is just lies, obviously)
* military removes him for being a foreign agent actively aiding and abetting a hostile foreign government dismantle the US.

Kevin Standlee 💉x7 Apr 12

@Gurre @ftp_alun @spiegelmama @jalefkowit The Vance method seems less likely to me. Nobody but The Orange One has the charisma. When he's gone, the right-wing will fall upon each other because the spell will be broken that was binding them to Glorious Leader. Nobody likes Vance, and nobody fears him they way they do Maximum Leader.

Gurre Vildskägg Apr 12

@KevinStandlee
True, the worship is all for just him.
But if the regime is established enough, I could see a more ideological and predictable man like Vance taking over.
That said, yeah, not likely.
Which leaves us with straight up old death.

Kevin Standlee 💉x7 Apr 12

@Gurre I'm astonished that he's lived as long as he has, given how badly he abuses himself. I suspect that there is a bag lady pumping him up and bringing him down regularly.

Kevin Standlee 💉x7 Apr 12

@Gurre Possibly T having an utterly disabling stroke (a la Woodrow Wilson -- a major inspiration for the 25th Amendment), leaving Vance as only Acting President. Given his lifestyle, I wouldn't be surprised if Glorious Orange Leader has a stroke when yelling about anytime the petulant toddler doesn't get his way.

Kevin Standlee 💉x7 Apr 12

@Gurre @ftp_alun @spiegelmama @jalefkowit I do hate the idea of relying upon a military coup to restore freedom and democracy in the USA. Mind you, if Glorious Leader declares the Constitution is void (as he's trying to do with the 14th Amendment), then surely the contract that binds the states is also void and they can do whatever they want, including forming several More Perfect Unions. Pacifica (CA/OR/WA/western NV) anyone?

Gurre Vildskägg Apr 12

@KevinStandlee @ftp_alun @spiegelmama @jalefkowit
Hadn't considered that, but yeah, if the federal government stops following the constitution, then it would no longer bind the states together, that holds some logic.
I don't see it actually happening, but an interesting thought. I'd guess some might go for joining Canada though.

Kevin Standlee 💉x7 Apr 12

@Gurre @ftp_alun @spiegelmama @jalefkowit Something that many people forget is that every state has their own army (their respective National Guards). Governors of some states might want to consider activating their Guards before the Orange One tries to do so in order to invoke the Insurrection Act and impose his military dictatorship, as the Guard can't be activated twice. No, I don't want a civil war -- what sane person would? -- but times are weird.

@jalefkowit Same. None but the smarmiest fellaters of the felon shitbag are safe. Merely seeing the piece of shit as shit is enough to get anyone #disappeared #AmericanNazis

Michael Busch Apr 11

I called into a workshop this week. It was hybrid with the in-person component in Japan.

The next professional conferences I have have the in-person components in South Africa, Spain, and Finland.

There are reasons for that.

Kevin Standlee 💉x7 Apr 12

@michael_w_busch @jalefkowit I attended a conference in Victoria BC a few weeks ago. I had no problem re-entering the USA, but even I was nervous. A large number of people participated in #MTHF25 virtually.

Lynn McAlister UE

@jalefkowit I was thinking this about next year's World Cup. It's meant to be spread across North America, but I'm not sure, if I were a football team, I would want to take this kind of risk, even for the World Cup.

samiamsam Apr 12

@lmgenealogy @jalefkowit

if the world wants to send a loud and clear message

they need to all not show up for FIFA

not kidding

Lynn McAlister UE

@samiamsam @jalefkowit To be fair, this argument has been voiced for every World Cup since Argentina 1978. The fact is, FIFA controls football, and there are a lot of people (including myself) who find joy - and a sense of community with the rest of the world - in watching football at that level.

samiamsam Apr 12

@lmgenealogy @jalefkowit

well the way things are going here now, anyone traveling to the US is at high risk

i've stopped watching all sports

bread and circuses while the world burns