The latest folly and incursion into people’s privacy and personal liberties to come from the nation which for so long has styled itself as the leader of the free world is out. It’s a plan to check how desirable or otherwise potential visitors may be in the eyes of the Trump administration.
Citizens of 42 countries, including New Zealand, are currently eligible to visit the US for up to 90 days without a visa on its Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) programme.
People applying for a visa waiver to either transit through the US, be a tourist or carry out some forms of business, currently have to apply online, avoiding the time-consuming annoyance of having to actually visit a consulate or embassy for an interview to get a full visa.
But as part of Mr Trump’s ongoing crackdown on outsiders, especially those who don’t look like him or his familiars, the Department of Homeland Security and the Customs and Border Protection have published in the US government’s Federal Register a proposal for ESTA applicants "to provide their social media from the last five years".
Included in this is a plan that applicants provide a list of all the phone numbers they have used in that same period, along with all email addresses written to in the past decade and details of family members, such as places of birth and their phone numbers.
Former United Kingdom high commissioner Phil Goff is not mincing words about the latest news from the States.
"Yet it is doing exactly the same thing to others that might criticise what their government and administration is doing in the United States."
If the US goes through with the proposal, and bans people from entering due to criticism of the Trump administration, that is contrary to principles of free speech, Mr Goff says.
He would say that, some might think. And doesn’t the US have a right to decide who it wants to let in and who to keep out? Yes, of course, up to a point.
What especially grates about this idea is the threat it radiates, dangling like the sword of Damocles, that anyone who disagrees with anything Mr Trump and company say or do will be censored from travelling to that country. Yes, there is definitely merit in simply avoiding the US at present, but that’s not a choice that everyone can make.
At this stage it is only a proposal. However, this could affect many thousands of Kiwis each year.
It also remains to be seen what the effects of this on the World Cup next year and on hordes of fans and players bound for the US may be, although we can be assured that if income is under threat, Mr Trump will quickly add some exceptions to any new rule.
Speaking of hornets nests
…And talking about unwelcome visitors, Biosecurity New Zealand is on a mission to eradicate the fearsome yellow-legged hornet before they become too settled here.
The hornets pose a serious threat to honeybees and wild bees and can inflict a highly painful sting. They were first discovered in Auckland’s North Shore suburb of Glenfield two months ago and since then 34 queen hornets and 22 nests have been destroyed.
About 650 traps have been set up within 5km of those nest sites and more than 3500 properties have been searched within 200m of the nests. Biosecurity NZ is confident its eradication campaign is working well.
At this stage there is no suggestion the hornets have moved any further south. But vigilance should be the keyword this summer throughout the country.
Enough pests have landed on these distant shores over the centuries. This is definitely one we want gone before it’s too late.
