'Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut'

Tips for crossing the US border in the age of fascism

I have been wanting to talk about crossing the border but I waited until I got back from Paris yesterday in case I was snared. I wasn't, but I have been detained (briefly) six times in the past.

These tips are based on best practices from working with civil liberties groups and having been deposed three times under oath for political and journalistic work. Please note, many of these tips only apply to U.S. citizens. It's much more complicated for others.

1) SANITIZE ALL YOUR ELECTRONICS. Take a burner phone and use a cloud-based laptop that you can wipe. If you take your main phone, do a factory reset before entering. Have the backup on, and you can immediately download all apps and info when you are through.

I have talked to 10 people who think they can just remove some messaging apps. I asked them, would you go into space with a spacesuit that is 99% sealed? I didn't think so.

Unless you are a cybersecurity expert, you will leave holes on your phone for the gestapo to exploit. And if you were an expert, you would take burners or wipe all devices before re-entering.

2) Listen to Gentleman Jimmy: "NEVER RAT ON YOUR FRIENDS & ALWAYS KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT."

I have talked to numerous leftists recently who think they can make up stories if they are detained. This is really dumb. If you are pulled over, it's purely political harassment. You haven't done anything illegal. But making up stories is perjury and can land you in a world of pain. Just affirm your name, contact info, and basic details of your trip if asked. That's it. Do NOT make any affirmative or factual statements. Do NOT agree to anything beyond your basic personal information.

3) "I DON'T RECALL." When you are being held against your will and pressured can you really recall details with 100% certainty? Saying, "I don't recall" is honest. So is, "I don't remember, right now" or "I am not sure, so I can't say." Just repeat these over and over.

These statements are time and context specific. You are saying at this point in time, in this place, you can’t recall. That means in the future if you are hauled into court you can honestly say at that time, in that place, you could not genuinely recall. You were nervous, anxious, tired, and that affected your memory. You did not want to give inaccurate info. All these are reasonable justifications for not saying anything affirmative or agreeing to anything.

I did this for three hours when deposed for an investigative report I did for The Nation. The lawyer got my name, contact info, and a little about my education and where I had lived. By the end his arrogant smirk had turned into twisted frustration. (TBF, I also invoked 1st Amendment privilege, but that is not an option at the border.)

4) NEVER RAT ON YOUR FRIENDS. If asked whom I met while abroad, I would give first names, but I could not honestly say how they were spelled, what their last names were, where they lived, where they worked, or what they did. I would say, "I am not 100% sure, so I can't say." If cops offered names, I would say, "Maybe, could be, but I cannot confirm that."

5) COPS LIE. It's legal for them to lie. If they show you something you allegedly said or wrote, say, "I don't recall" and "I can't confirm that." If they show you a social media post, say, "I don't know if that's accurate. I don't recall." They can make stuff up. At most say, "I would have to check my own materials when I get home. I cannot confirm anything now. It could be fake. It could be Russia. It could be China. It could be a 400-pound guy on his bed in New Jersey."

6) STAY CALM. If you are a U.S. citizen, even a naturalized immigrant like me, they have to let you in. The gestapo can lie and threaten not to let you in, imprison you, and so on. They are trying to unnerve you. Stay calm. You will be fine. They can detain you for a few hours.

7) HAVE A PLAN. I have been on the board of Defending Rights and Dissent for a decade. I coordinated with them before I came back. They said, "Have a plan," and it was smart to wipe all my devices and keep my mouth shut. We had a plan to mobilize pressure if I was detained. I contacted them right before I got to the passport control. If they couldn't contact me within 30 minutes they would begin calling and posting.

8) I AM NOT IMPORTANT. YOU ARE NOT IMPORTANT. People are way too paranoid. The fascists are dangerous but they are also incompetent and shambolic. Very, very few of us are big fish. I thought I might get detained given all the reporting I did on Gaza in 2024, including student protests, the DNC, and debunking the Israeli rape hoax. But I wasn't detained. I am not important.

So keep your mouth shut, keep your electronics 100% sanitized, have a plan, but you are very unlikely to be detained.