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Hey everyone. I'm a US citizen. I just got back from my trip to Buenos Aires. It was a really long, tiring flight, and the last thing I needed was to be harassed by Customs and Immigration.
I had an early-morning layover at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta Airport. I went through Immigration without any problems- other than the incredibly long line.
Things were going smoothly until I claimed my luggage, and was about to exit Customs. When I handed my blue card to the Customs officer, he stopped me, and asked me for my passport. He then placed my passport and blue card into a plastic bag, and ordered me into a waiting room that contained conveyer belts and x-ray machines. They told me to leave my passport and blue card on one of the desks, and to have a seat.
After waiting for an entire hour, they called me up to one of the conveyor belts, and ordered me to empty out my luggage and carry-on bags onto one of the conveyor belts.
The Customs officers then proceeded to go through all of my luggage and carry-on bags, scattering my clothes and personal items around. After poking through every pocket and crevice inside my luggage, they took a large knife and tapped the exterior surfaces of my luggage.
During this entire process, they asked me ALL of the details of my trip. They demanded to know where I had stayed, what I had done, and how much money I had spent. They also asked me a ton of personal questions that I did not feel comfortable answering. They wanted to know if my parents are still alive, if I am married, if I have kids, and if my career is stable.
They then ran my luggage through one of those x-ray machines. After asking me how many pesos I had taken with me to Argentina, they finally let me go.
Oh yea- And I missed my connecting flight because of all this.
Could be someone with a name like yours is on their target list, or you did something unbeknownst to you that looked suspicious along the way and the TA was notified, or you had some money on you with cocaine residue that was picked up somewhere, or you just stood out from the crowd for one reason or another.
Random checks to that extent like that are rare unless something you did warranted an explanation.
Did you ask why.
It doesn't sound random. It really sounds like they thought you were someone else, probably due to a similar name. Something like that happened to my husband when he was coming back from Canada last summer. I'm sorry that happened to you
I used to work on a Navy base. Whenever they were on red or orange alert, I knew I would be flagged over for a car search. In order to AVOID looking like they are racial profiling, they end up having to racial profile what they aren't looking for. I was a blond female.
So, don't take it personal. It's just part of the deal in them covering up what they do have to 'check and look for' without getting accused of anything not politically correct.
A random search doesn't make you a victim.....it ultimately makes you safer.
No. I was afraid that they would do something else if I had asked for a reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GloryB
I used to work on a Navy base. Whenever they were on red or orange alert, I knew I would be flagged over for a car search. In order to AVOID looking like they are racial profiling, they end up having to racial profile what they aren't looking for. I was a blond female.
So, don't take it personal. It's just part of the deal in them covering up what they do have to 'check and look for' without getting accused of anything not politically correct.
A random search doesn't make you a victim.....it ultimately makes you safer.
Just look at the botton of your pre-printed boarding pass; if has 3 S's (on american at least); you will be pulled, definitely. But sometimes, your number is up and it is the way of this Millenium. It is simply the way it is... look different, I as do, yet still an American Citizen, then they do what you want OR call your attorney as a witness before the poking the prodding.
You do have rights; one is to call your attorney.
I don't think it was random - more like they had word that someone might be attempting to bring something in on your flight, and you fitted the information they had (perhaps that was why they also asked questions about your family and work etc). It happened to me years ago - arriving in Sydney (which was home at the time) from New Zealand. The customs people took apart everything - they examined the hems of all my clothes and even opened a carton of cigarettes and then ripped into each of the ten packs within the carton. They actually told me at the end that they had information about someone travelling on that flight and that I fitted the profile. I missed the last bus from the airport and had to call a friend to come and get me as I had only $3 cash and no credit cards (it was 1973)!
As for the SSS on boarding passes (or in the case of flights booked outside of the US I think it's SSSS) - yes, you will be pulled over every single time. I was travelling with a friend and we were flying into and out of five or six US airports during our trip. My friend had the dreaded SSSS on every single one of her boarding passes - whereas I didn't. After the first three times of being pulled aside and having her luggage searched, we mentioned to the next checker that if my friend was indeed carrying something she shouldn't be carrying, didn't they think she was smart enough to have moved it into one of my bags by now! It didn't go over too well, but at least the guy had enough of a sense of humour not to arrest us for being smart alecs! The check wasn't nearly as detailed as what the OP described - just a poke around in her bag - little or nothing was taken out... which makes me think the OP wasn't picked at random.
Funnily enough, a couple of years later we did another US trip. And my friend AGAIN had the SSSS code on her boarding passes. I guess she's just lucky!
Just look at the botton of your pre-printed boarding pass; if has 3 S's (on american at least); you will be pulled, definitely. But sometimes, your number is up and it is the way of this Millenium. It is simply the way it is... look different, I as do, yet still an American Citizen, then they do what you want OR call your attorney as a witness before the poking the prodding.
You do have rights; one is to call your attorney.
The multiple S's are for screening prior to boarding an aircraft. Such as the virtual rape you go through when you get groped by the TSA. Customs and Immigration doesn't use that system, they don't even see your boarding pass in most cases.
Since you mention you are Asian American and were comming from a Latino country, by yourself, may possibly have set off a red flag, since a lot of drugs come from both areas. And if you had a one way ticket that could be another reason.
There are so many reasons, that sometimes it's difficult to ever find out.
My wife is white 60 yrs old, has a handicap that shows,arries a cane, and many times when we travel by air she is pulled out of line and totally checked. We were told that in order to show that they, the TA, were not racialiy profiling that they just pull people at random to prove it.
If you continue to get pulled at various destinations, then I'd try to find what is the common denominator for the trigger point.
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The check wasn't nearly as detailed as what the OP described - just a poke around in her bag - little or nothing was taken out... which makes me think the OP wasn't picked at random.
