Love in a No Man's Land

[Steven]

I have never heard that question asked.

I'm astonished, I get asked it all the time at POEs. They even say "moral turpitude". In fact I was watching Homeland Security USA a few weeks ago and some old geezer was denied entry for a conviction and the agent didn't say "armed robbery", he said "a crime of moral turpitude".

In fact I just looked it up and it's question B on the back of the I-94W as well.

I appreciate that a conviction is needed to deny the entry, or something like being a fugitive, etc. The problem is the question. You could have been arrested in a dragnet in China looking for a murder suspect. Such a thing doesn't happen in the US. So it's a bad question to ask, because it wastes the time of CBP and embarrasses the person being questioned to no advantage.

Needs to be more carefully worded so it fits with what section 217 of the INA says.

[lawsrlaws]

At my POE we do not use the term Moral Turpitude, it confuses people. We simply ask "have you ever been arrested or fingerprinted?" Any more details and people seem to look at you with a blank stare.

[Reba]

I was fingerprinted when I was applying to immigrate to the US