Last week 28 year old Nigerian engineer, Celestine Omin was detained while traveling from Nigeria to the U.S. while on a work trip. He says he was questioned and told that since he did not look like an engineer he must take a test to prove it. He was asked two extremely difficult Computer Science questions in order to prove his abilities. The startup that Omin works for trains software developers in Africa and gives them full-time roles at international companies. With over 215 developers who work with over 60 companies, the company is breaking barriers. However, Omin was detained for over 3 hours and after the company for which he works (Andela) co-founder Christina Sass spoke with U.S. Customs and Border Protection he was finally let go.
Sass notes that nothing like this has ever happened, despite her employees taking dozens of short work trips outside of the U.S. all year long. In the CNN tech article attached, Sass notes that she and her company strive to follow the rules, as long as they know what they are. However, is this sort of questioning a violation of basic human rights? Is being questioned and tested on your skills a good way to reinforce border security or is there a larger issue at play? Should we continue to abide by these types of unwritten rules and regulations, in the Trump era or should we stand up and voice our concerns for these types of issues, specifically as they relate to those in the tech industry?
http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/02/technology/andela-engineer-customs/index.html?sr=fbmoney030517andela-engineer-customs0431PMVODtopLink&linkId=35070538
All soverign countries have the right to restrict who enters. Nigeria is a hotspot for drug cartels and smuggling so its reasonable there is special attention paid. However, asking difficult questions on the spot to someone seems like just an excuse to kick them out. Personal biases of the security personnel may play a part as well...that's the nature of humans. Technology is starting to have a positive impact - retina scans, fingerprints, facial recognition and evident in some airports. Perhaps in the not too distant future technology will mature to the point where security is managed 100% by digital technologies and robots.
ReplyDeleteNigeria has its issues but Im sure that was not what the custom officials were concerned about. He was not stopped or doubted because he was Nigerian but because he is black and African. They do not expect a man from Africa to have the opportunity to work with a company in the US and also be an engineer. Its completely racist because I am sure if a white french man came to the country claiming to be an engineer will be questioned that much.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this I thought of one of my very own blog posts, how Trump's travel ban will disrupt the hiring of skilled foreign workers into the tech sector. Simultaneously, this may open a window for Canada to obtain a portion of America's skilled workforce. Although we won't be able to match the funding American jurisdictions, such as Silicon Valley possess, I believe we can offer foreign workers stability and a home where they can work to their full potential.
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