Deeg

Who is giving you iris scans? It's not CBP. I believe Canada uses them in certain programs, but I'm unaware of any such use in the US.

Very misleading statement. The people referenced in the URL were placed on the No-Fly List. They were not refused entry by immigration authorities. They could have, theoretically, flown to Canada or Mexico and driven back across the border. US citizens, whether naturalized or by birth, have an absolute right to enter the country.

Rudie

Maybe someone can answer this. What time frame does a CBP have to detain a us citizen? (example cops may only detain you 2-30 mins with a reasonable articulable suspicion) they can detail longer if PC exists.
I must be on some list; I am always taken to secondary, usually harassed about some BS from 20 years ago and then released. I have even been threatened and intimidated. I am always compliant, I answer questions etc...
Now that Ii have been reading up on my rights and liberties etc.. I don’t think I want to answer any more questions but I don’t know what the CBP's limitations are. Any ideas?

sbagdon

If a US citizen, I'm hearing that you have to answer zero questions. They can go through everything with a fine-tooth comb (including all digital and analog documents on your person, hard drives, laptops, usb drives, etc. Yet questions? I'm hearing none.

Start123

I was detained for 9 hours, interrogated, screamed at, good cop/bad cop routine, lied to, short of water boarding! I said "I am not making any statements" and that's all they ever heard from me!

loops

Probably checking to make sure you weren't an alien trying to sneak onto the planet... only true human beings have authentic belly-buttons.

Ari

Unless you want to tell us more about your experience, there isn't much to discuss.

Houston.Business

I was asked similar questions, even before 9/11. I never found it to be a problem. When asked the "Gun" question, I tell them that everyone in Texas owns a gun.

If there's more to your story, feel free to share. If you did it simply on principle, you simply wasted 9 hours of your life.

Start123

I exercised my rights : mainly the right to privacy and my fundamental right as a US citizen to come back to my own country without some goons on the border asking me questions.
You gotta try it sometime! They had a REAL problem with that! So I didn't waste my time, I've done something very useful with it!

Houston.Business

But seriously, where do you draw the line? There has to be some sort of security. They don't know you personally. You could be anyone. I could be simply returning from work, which I am, but how do they know that? I could be a smuggler, convict, hit man, child molestor, or a number of other things. I've never been asked more than 3 questions, and I'm sitting here as free as I was when I came home a few weeks ago. That Officer never recorded anything, and he's since forgotten about me.

People get up in arms when a person comes into the country and commits a terrible crime. Citizen or not, everyone screams and asks how that person got through in the first place.

I'm all for freedom, but in reality, how would you handle the thousands who cross the border every day?

PTravel

US citizens have a constitutional right to re-enter the country. Period. Once you have established your citizenship by, for example, presenting a bona fide US passport, the job of the border agent is done, at least with respect to your right to enter.

Houston.Business

Understood. That's the way it should be. This country is getting to the point where I wonder what will happen next.

squeakr

Discussions may be begun and continued in the TS/S Policy Debate forum..

thx

squeakr

co Mod TS/S

ESpen36

True, in part. But CBP officers do much more than verifying your passport. Just being a US Citizen with valid, legitimate proof of identity and citizenship doesn't mean you aren't hiding a violation of a law that CBP officers are charged to enforce at ports of entry. Plenty of US Citizens with valid passports enter the USA every day and are cited/fined by CBP officers for customs/agriculture violations (ever seen the Customs secondary inspection area full of college kids coming back from Jamaica after Spring Break)? And some US Citizens with valid passports are arrested at ports of entry for outstanding warrants, felony smuggling, and other serious crimes.


So, the part that is true is that a US Citizen possessing a valid passport cannot be denied entry to the United States. You can refuse to answer any questions, and you still cannot be denied entry. However, if you do not cooperate with even the most basic questioning, the CBP officers can choose to search you and your belongings very thoroughly without a warrant, and detain you for the period of time necessary to carry out this search. Could be a few hours or more... And, if they find you in violation of any laws they are empowered to enforce, you could be charged on the spot without the benefit of legal representation!

bertgolz

looks like American nation is a bunch of criminals. As the US is the only country in the world I'm aware of that interrogates its own citizens upon returning home.

König

You might want to change it to "civilised country" because there are other countries who interrogate their own citizens but mainly to extort a small bribe. I agree that the US CBP should not be on a fishing expedition when it comes to US citizens - if there is a hit in a database, then bring a person to secondary and go from there; otherwise, quick swipe and "thank you" will be enough.