I got a weight off my chest: I turned down an invitation to a math conference in the US and cancelled another I had already accepted. I know I'm probably overreacting, but I was worried about being deported since I've read many news stories about this happening to people with valid visas —including Europeans, so I don't like my chances as a brown Mexican! And even though I know it was unlikely to happen to me (it probably only happens to a small fraction of visitors), I'm happy to stop the nagging worry in the back of my mind. It's a shame: both events would have been great and I would have seen many American friends I don't get to see often.
@oantolin For whatever it's worth, I'm American and I don't think you're overreacting. For similar reasons I'd only leave the US in the near future if I didn't intend to return. Flying here is a bit scary now, anyway.
@nilesjohnson @caten @oantolin highly random stuff, indeed .. When we landed in Chicago in Oct last year, a border agent with a Ukrainian surname barely looked at our Dutch and Estonian passports, could not be bothered with H1-B paperwork, said "Welcome" with a warm smile, and waved us through...
Although I had been held for hours at US border before few times.
@dimpase @nilesjohnson @caten I've been lucky that I've never been held for hours. As a vaguely middle eastern looking person named Omar, suspiciously traveling with a Mexican passport, I have been made to speak Spanish by immigration officers. And sometimes their Spanish is poor enough that I don't quite understand what they're asking so I'm afraid it will seem like *I* don't speak Spanish. But this has never resulted in being denied entry or even detained for a while, fortunately.