Commentary With Winston Barnes: Visas, Cellphones

SOUTH FLORIDA – As the Christmas holidays and a new administration in the U.S. approaches, there are several facts Christmas travelers should be cognizant of.
First and foremost is that Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Officers at ports of entry have the authority to ask to look into your cellphone. In a recent case we heard about an arriving passenger who held a multiple entry visa was turned back, his visa terminated.
The agent determined that passenger was not only spending too much time in the U.S., but there was indication he was working and sending money back home, on a regular basis, via a money transfer company.
In another case related to us recently, as well, a passenger with a multiple entry visa, who had travelled on it only once, was also relieved of said visa. This time around the CBP agent said there were others who needed such a visa more than a passenger who used the visa only once.
Not only are these stories important unto themselves, but they are about events that have taken place before the new administration takes office in more than five weeks’ time!
This, among other developments to come, is going to be extremely painful for those who voted for the incoming president convinced that bread is going to be cheaper, gasoline is going to cost less. They failed to realize that visas are also going to become more expensive to acquire and to keep.
Photo Credit: Leroy “Dreamy” Riley
Voice your opinion on the “Open Line” with Winston Barnes daily on WAVS 1170AM or listen on-line http://wavs1170.com/