EU or non-EU? Which passport queue should Brits use after Brexit?

Brexit might have become reality, but Brits shouldn't experience any changes to travel within the EU until the end of the year. Although don't be surprised if officials, perhaps unwittingly try to usher you into the wrong passport queue.

At midnight on January 31st, the UK entered the so-called "transition period", during which negotiations on post-Brexit deals are set to take place.

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https://feeds.thelocal.com/app/android/article.php?e=which-passport-queues-should-brits-use-now-that-brexit-has-happened

Brexit : Scaring Northern Ireland residents that violence could be reignited

'Torn apart' by Brexit: Northern Ireland residents fear border could reignite violence

Read more at: 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/londonderry-brexit-irish-backstop-1.5005258

USA: Trump on US border control: 'We may have to close up our country'- by Josh Delk

President Trump lambasted U.S. immigration policies Saturday, stating that the U.S. may have to "close up" its borders.

Speaking at a business roundtable in Cleveland, Trump acknowledged that officials are working to repair certain areas of the nation's border controls, but said the U.S. needs "much more money."

"We may have to close up our country to get this straight," he said, but did not offer more details on the logistics.

"You can't allow people to pour into our country like they're doing," Trump went on. "If we don't have borders, you don't have a country," he said, chiding Democrats for "open border" policies.

Trump's long-standing promises for a new wall stretching across the U.S.-Mexico border suffered a blow earlier this year when Congress allocated only $1.6 billion toward border security measures in a trillion-dollar spending bill - billions less than the White House demanded.

Read more: Trump on US border control: 'We may have to close up our country'

EU Security - anti-terrorism - illegal migration: EU proposes three-year internal state border checks

Internal border checks are likely to continue for years given a new proposal by the European Commission to reform the so-called Schengen borders code.

Temporary border controls inside the European Union’s free-travel zone could be extended for up to three years during a crisis, the European Commission proposed on Wednesday, giving it more leeway to stem migration.

The proposal by the EU executive comes as border controls in Germany, Austria, Denmark, and Norway expire, part of the European Union’s response to a surge of refugees and migrants in November 2015 that tested EU rules on passport-free travel.

Those countries must lift the frontier checks by November this year under a two-year-limit set by the bloc in the so-called Schengen area, which is named after a town in Luxembourg and aims to be a symbol of free movement in the bloc. 

While not referring to the four countries, the Commission’s plan, if agreed by EU governments, would allow them to keep the controls in place for another year if they can justify them.  

EU home affairs commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said the threat of migrants coming through Greece and the Western Balkans was no longer a valid excuse for frontier checks. 

The EU has taken in more than 1.7 million people from the Middle East and Africa since 2014. But after a mass influx in 2015, numbers have gone down steadily following a 2016 deal that closed the route from Turkey to Greece. The EU has also stepped up support for Libya to curb arrivals in Italy.

Sweden has lifted its border checks but has stepped up internal controls. Norway is part of Schengen but not the EU.

Read more: EU proposes three-year internal border checks

Visit USA ? Have you ever smoked pot? Saying yes can get foreigners barred for life at US border - by Rob Hotakainen

USA Tourism: Foreign Pot smokers will be banned for life

Canada's likely move to completely legalize marijuana next year promises to produce immediate spillover effects in the United States, starting with increased confusion at the U.S.-Canadian border.

"I'm expecting my business to boom," said Len Saunders, an immigration attorney from Blaine, Wash.

With recreational marijuana already legal up and down the West Coast, from Alaska to California, he said, more Canadians may let down their guard and admit to U.S. authorities that they've used marijuana, reason enough to get foreigners barred from entering the country. Beyond that, pot retailers and legalization backers say it's difficult to predict exactly what might happen if Canada, as expected, becomes only the second nation in the world to fully legalize pot for anyone over 18 on July 1, 2018.

Even with such a big move, Jacob Lamont figures the Canadian customers will keep coming to Evergreen Cannabis, his pot shop in Blaine, just a few blocks from the U.S.-Canadian border.

"I enjoy my brothers and sisters from the north — obviously they support my business quite well," said Lamont, who estimates that Canadian customers make up 60 percent of his year-round business. "They still come down here. They buy a lot of milk, they buy cigarettes and they buy alcohol, because the taxation is so high up there. And I have a feeling they're going to follow suit with marijuana."

Oregon Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a longtime champion of legalization, said it could be a game changer for Congress.

"It completely changes the dynamic," he said. "Some regard Canada as the 51st state. This is going to make a big difference in terms of adjusting attitudes and accelerating progress. ... It's going to help us bring these things to a head."

Saunders scoffed at the idea that the United States would ever legalize marijuana with President Donald Trump, a teetotaler, in the White House.

"You have a president who not only has an attorney general (Jeff Sessions) who is going to fight drugs, but you have a president who's never even had a sip of alcohol," Saunders said.

One of Saunders' clients, Alan Ranta, 36, a freelance music journalist from Vancouver, British Columbia, got barred last year as he tried to drive his Toyota Yaris into Washington state. During questioning, he was handcuffed and told a U.S. border guard he had smoked marijuana in the past. Even though he was not carrying the drug with him at the time, Ranta said, he was told that under U.S. law he had committed "a crime involving moral turpitude."

"It lulls you into a false sense of security when you don't have anything on you and you've done nothing wrong and you're going to a place where it's legal," Ranta said. "You keep thinking, 'This is crazy, why am I getting in trouble?'"

He figures he was stopped because he and a friend were headed to a music festival, with a banana suit, tutus and a psychedelic top hat visible in the car: "If it's an electronic music festival, we like to dress up in weird things that we'd never wear day to day."

Saunders said that even Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as a private citizen, could be denied entry since he had admitted to smoking marijuana in the past. Saunders is advising people not to lie to border authorities but to refuse to answer any questions about past pot use.

Note EU-Digest: "Dear potential visitors to the US  - either you lie, or better still choose another country than Trumpland to visit".  

Read more: Have you ever smoked pot? Saying yes can get foreigners barred for life at US border

Netherlands- Border Controls: Netherlands Freezes Border Control Negotiations with US

"We ain't scared of big barking US bullies"

Local Dutch news reports that the Netherlands has frozen negotiations with the US on cooperation between the two nations’ border control authorities, which were aimed at allowing people traveling to the US from the Netherlands International Schiphol Airport to pass through US-authorized border control at that Airport to avoid waiting in lines once they arrive in the US.

The Dutch government said it did not see the possibility for continuing talks in light of the travel ban imposed on seven predominantly Muslim countries by the Trump administration – a policy which the Netherlands Government considers discriminatory.

EU-Digest

Germany imposes ′temporary′ border checks

The German government ordered police to begin checking travel documents Sunday from anyone entering from the southern frontier with Austria, where migrant arrivals have soared since Chancellor Angela Merkel effectively opened German borders to refugees a week ago.

"The aim of these measures is to limit the current inflows to Germany and to return to orderly procedures when people enter the country," German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said. "This is also urgently necessary for security reasons."

Berlin has become increasingly frustrated with the reluctance of many within the 28-nation European Union - especially those in the former Eastern bloc - to share the burden of hosting refugees.

Germany is a preferred destination for many people fleeing Syria's civil war and other troubled nations in the migration crisis in which despite entreaties by the European Commission remains divided on a common response.

Read more: Germany imposes ′temporary′ border checks | News | DW.COM | 13.09.2015

Refugee Crises: Italy imposes Austria border controls 'for next few days' - by Nikolaj Nielsen

Italian regional authorities announced on Wednesday (2 September) that they are imposing border control checks near Austria.

A statement issued by Bolzano, a German-speaking Alto Adige region in northern Italy, said the police checks are a “temporary measure” to help cope with the number of refugees heading towards Germany.

"Bavaria is witnessing record arrivals of refugees, mainly via the Balkan route, which is creating an unmanageable situation”, the statement said.

Emilia Muller, Bavaria's social affairs minister, issued the request for the border controls.

A Bolzano spokesperson told this website that Italian police have, since midday, started checking IDs on trains that cross the border. She added that the controls would probably continue "for the next few days."

"Police will try to convince people to stay in Brennero [Italian border town], we will take of them, and after a few days they can travel on because they don't want to stay in Italy."

Read more: Italy imposes Austria border controls 'for next few days'

Terrorism: Up to 6,000 Europeans joined ISIS in Syria

Between 5,000 and 6,000 Europeans have traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State, the EU Commissioner for Justice says stressing that 1,450 of them are French citizens.

The EU officials believe that “the figures are strongly under-estimated,” as foreign fighters are hard to keep track of, French newspaper Le Figaro reported citing Vera Jourova, the EU justice commissioner.
"At the European level, we estimate that 5,000 to 6,000 individuals have left for Syria," she told the paper in an interview.

Jourova added that the majority of them – 1,450 people – are French nationals.

The Commissioner added that they are eyeing more measures to avoid the suspected jihadists leaving the EU countries, considering “prevention [measures] rather than suppression” of the flow.
“We’ve allotted a budget of €2.5 million to provide training of prison and probation staff, as well as that of European prosecutors,” Jourova said.

The EU nationals traveling to Syria cause authorities’ concern, as the European governments fear they may return and carry out attacks on home soil.

At least one European, Mehdi Nemmouche, participated in such an attack, and suspected of killing four people in Jewish Museum in Brussels last year.

"At the time of the attacks in Paris and Copenhagen, we decided not to allow ourselves to be guided by fear," Jourova said, speaking of January’s deadly assaults in the French capital, and the fatal shootings in Denmark a month later.

Read more: Up to 6,000 Europeans joined ISIS in Syria – EU — RT News

EU: Russia must stop extra border checks from Lithuania

Russia and the European Union – of which Lithuania holds the rotating presidency – are each trying to convince Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to join their respective trade blocs.

Russia last week introduced lengthy extra checks on trucks and goods originating from Lithuania, a former Soviet republic which has a large trucking and warehousing industry due to its strategic location between Russia and the EU.

"In our view, there appears to be no justification for such action by the Russian authorities which substantially disrupts trade," said John Clancy, spokesman for Europe's trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht. "In this respect, we expect the Russian authorities to immediately lift such unjustified restrictions."

Russia started subjecting Lithuanian-registered passenger cars to lengthy border checks in August, causing the number of crossings to fall 90%.

Lithuania called for European action under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in a letter sent to the Commission on Tuesday.

"We consider these restrictive measures applied by the Russian Federation absolutely ungrounded, discriminatory and violating commitments of the Russian Federation to the WTO," said the letter signed by Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius.

Read more: EU: Russia must stop extra border checks from Lithuania :: The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics

New center-left Danish government withdraws border control plans

Germany has welcomed a plan by Denmark's newly elected center-left government to reverse a decision to place permanent customs controls at the country's borders.

"This is a decision in favour of liberty for European citizens," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in Berlin.

Germany, along with the European Commission, had been among the harshest critics of the plan, which was introduced by Denmark's previous center-right government.

The German foreign minister's statement came in response to the announcement earlier in the day by Denmark's new Social Democrat prime minister.

For more: New center-left Danish government withdraws border control plans | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 04.10.2011

EU warns Denmark over border controls - by Ian Traynor

The European executive raised the prospect of a legal showdown with Denmark over its snap decision to restore border controls within the EU's single market and passport-free travel zone, turning the Danish move into a test case for prized liberties in Europe.

José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European commission which initiates and polices EU law, told the centre-right government he had "important doubts" about whether it was complying with European and international law. He warned the Danes against acting unilaterally and threatened to take Copenhagen to the European court of justice. "We will take all necessary steps to ensure the full respect of the relevant law," he said in a letter to the Danish prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

Denmark stunned its EU partners on Wednesday by announcing, without consultation, that it was reintroducing customs controls and border checks on the frontiers with Germany and Sweden as part of a campaign said to be directed at combating transnational crime and thwarting mafias from eastern Europe.

For more: EU warns Denmark over border controls | World news | The Guardian

Washington Post: Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At US Border - by Ellen Nakashima

For the complete report from the washingtonpost.com click on this link

Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At US Border - by Ellen Nakashima

US Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed. Also, US officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.