That just sounds like fearmongering. I can't see any way that helping to fund someone's court case can be considering a crime, even if he were completely in the wrong.
I strongly suspect that there are favourable legal precedents, even.
Non-citizens can be turned away at the US border for any reason, or no reason at all.
Considering that a person's ability to travel to the US is so professionally important in this industry (for conferences, business meetings, etc.), I do not believe this is fearmongering.
Remember the case of the man refused entry after a misinterpreted Tweet about 'destroying America'? [1]
It seems clear NSA surveillance informs CBP's entry decisions in at least some cases. Credit card payments are surely surveilled by NSA, so this actually sounds like a pretty well-grounded fear.
If such donations really cause problems at borders, then it will be a sign that the place is FUBAR and you (and everyone else) should avoid traveling there.
As posted in this same thread, David House discovered that donations to legal defense funds can indeed cause problems (even for citizens) at the US border.
I do not think the US is FUBAR: FU, certainly, but not BAR. And although I refuse to be frightened into Appelbaum-esque total exile from my own country, I do take appropriate precautions before crossing the US border (CBP take note before sending me to secondary screening next time...).
As a non US-citizen, I have, upon entering the US in the past, almost without fail been subjected to "additional scrutiny" and questions upon entry simply because I live on a farm, which triggers an automatic customs red-flag. (I understand the concern about having been on a farm - they don't want me importing foreign weed-seeds or insect eggs via my shoes. But the customs system makes no distinction between someone flagged for such concerns versus someone flagged for more legitimately nefarious reasons.)
Since things got more draconian it has become one of my very, very few non-negotiable conditions of contract that I do not travel to or through the USA or any of its territories. It's just not worth the hassle.
If you really believed that kind of fear were justified, why would you post a comment like this? It seems a lot more like you are just making up excuses to support your already-formed decision to not donate.
I really do believe this kind of fear is justified.
I posted this comment because:
1) I believe my analysis is sound
2) As I have posted previously, I am a US citizen and therefore cannot be denied entry to the US
I have already donated, and though my speech (through both keyboard and wallet) might bring additional attention from the alphabet-soup agencies, I believe it's important to speak up rather than give in to fear.
> I am a US citizen and therefore cannot be denied entry to the US
That's what the no-fly list is for.
There have been some court cases where they have ruled that forbidding a US citizen to fly on his return trip to the US is stranding/abandonment[0], but... even then, it took a while to get those rulings, and things were pretty messy for the person in the meantime.
[0] I'm blanking on the legal term but there is a specific term for this.
It doesn't have to be illegal for it to be a weapon in the wrong hands.
"Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Lavabit Party?" [1]
"Your Honor, respected members of the jury: In 2013 Mr. Karana donated funds to an organization known to be in collusion with terrorists, as designated by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security. He is by no means an 'innocent man' as he claims in this trial." [2]
[2] Assume a trial in 2025 completely unrelated to this topic, with the Terrorist Sympathizer designation coming in 2023 after the leadership of the fundraising organization was taken over by people you've never heard of.
Fuck them, if we have to be worried about being on this list the whole thing is a complete loss. We can't be afraid of letting them know just how many of us are against them.
I had the same reservations. But you know what? Fuck it. I'm so tired of this bullshit that I'm more than willing to take the risk at this point. This angers me to no end.
