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At, say, the US/Canadian border? No, not accurate nor realistic at all.

Then again, you don't even need a $5 attitude readjustment tool when you can just shrug and say "Whatever. You are detained until you cough up what we want." - and are able to do just that...

They can't detain you indefinitely without articulating a good reason, even as a non-citizen. What they can do is deny you entry. For citizens, not even that.

* What they can do is deny you entry. For citizens, not even that.*

Job lost. Father died without you seeing him. Thousands of dollars gone in lost ticket, reservations. That's more than enough for 99% of people. The other 1% don't even try to enter USA

This happened at a US port of entry https://www.cnet.com/news/researcher-detained-at-u-s-border-...

He didn't get hit with a wrench, but rather got all his stuff seized by the FBI.

He didn't get hit with a wrench, but rather got all his stuff seized by the FBI.

I don't know if you've ever been hit with a wrench, but those two things are nothing alike. Starting with the fact that the FBI might not have gained access to the data in your story.

Without context, they are very different things. In this context, however, they amount to the same thing. Your technical solution doesn't work when someone can use force against you.

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