Customs Red-Flagged?
Dec 19, 2007, 2:58 pm
#17
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,410
The codes I have seen used (San Francisco) are the number that says how many people the card represents and an A if you get an agriculture inspection. The number gives the door-checker a very quick way to know how many people to let out per card received to catch tailgaters.
Dec 19, 2007, 4:46 pm
#18
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Louisville, KY, US
Programs: QF Plat - OW EMD | DL Gold / Starwood Gold
Posts: 6,106
I am usually asked these questions...like what is my SS number...where do I live...where did I live before...what is my parents maiden names...what was I doing in (germany)....how many days...for business or pleasure...did I pack my own bags...do I have a copy of my birth certificate on me? what do I do for a living..etc. freaking annoying!!
Every time I got pulled aside during the period I was flagged, most of the questions dealt with my identity and to a lesser extent finances (what do you do for a living, who do you work for, could I see your business card, etc).
As far as identity questions, where do you live, who do you live with, where have you lived in the past. To an extent, some of the financial type questions could fall under the identification category.
Given my credit file was pulled by the child support division (I have no children) from a law enforcement agency in Michigan that leads me to believe they were looking for someone with a same or similar name. If it was close enough for the police to pull my credit file, I'm thinking this same info may have been accessed by US Immigrations and flagged me each time I re-entered to make sure I was not this person.
When the consistent secondaries stopped, I figure they either found who they were looking for or that I simply had entered enough times, gone through secondary with negative results each time, that US CBP simply concluded I was not the person they were looking for.
When I spoke with law enforcement up in Michigan where my credit report was pulled, they removed it and claimed it was a clerk / data entry error. I don't buy this because my father's credit report was also pulled by them. We share a middle and last name - other than that, significantly different SSNs, different addresses, employers, telephone #'s etc. Another clerk error?
To me, it seems like they were data mining to locate someone and didn't have full/accurate info, as such the secondaries during re-entry were a part of that dragnet.
Check your credit files and conduct some searches to see if someone with a similar name is perhaps wanted. Very frustrating, but I'm glad I no longer have to deal with it.
Dec 20, 2007, 10:35 am
#19
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: LAR
Programs: UA 1P, IC Priority Club Gold
Posts: 64
Hi,
To agree with some upthread posters, it's more than likely that you have a similar name to someone who is wanted on an outstanding warrant. It happens to me, as I have a good old fashioned WASP name. Once was the full bore secondary through immigration, where they explained to me it's because of the name, now it's just secondary through customs, which takes a little more time. I have some misdemeanors in my past, and am probably going to go through the DHS dispute process soon.
Cheers.
To agree with some upthread posters, it's more than likely that you have a similar name to someone who is wanted on an outstanding warrant. It happens to me, as I have a good old fashioned WASP name. Once was the full bore secondary through immigration, where they explained to me it's because of the name, now it's just secondary through customs, which takes a little more time. I have some misdemeanors in my past, and am probably going to go through the DHS dispute process soon.
Cheers.
Dec 25, 2007, 6:44 pm
#20
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Home: Arlington, VA; Home airports: IAD/DCA/BWI
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(Not just regular porn since that's all legal and good. 
)
Dec 25, 2007, 11:23 pm
#21
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: Hilton Gold, AS Lifetime Gold (75K for this year), Marriott Lifetime Titanium Elite, OW Emerald
Posts: 176
That's really funny they would be searching for jpg files, or for that matter asking about them. Makes me wonder what kind of things they are looking for if they can't seem to find toothpaste 9 out of 10 times.
Dec 26, 2007, 2:31 pm
#22
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I was flagged for 5 years. Supposedly, I matched the criteria for an international jewelry smuggler
Then all stopped and has been fine since. I always allowed lots of extra time between entrance and my next flight after missing a flight because of the extra attention.
And no, I wasn't smuggling jewelry.
Then all stopped and has been fine since. I always allowed lots of extra time between entrance and my next flight after missing a flight because of the extra attention.
And no, I wasn't smuggling jewelry.
Dec 26, 2007, 2:47 pm
#23
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Upstate NY or FL or inbetween
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Dec 26, 2007, 3:31 pm
#24
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: ORD
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Are they allowed to ask your SSN?
I am usually asked these questions...like what is my SS number...where do I live...where did I live before...what is my parents maiden names...what was I doing in (germany)....how many days...for business or pleasure...did I pack my own bags...do I have a copy of my birth certificate on me? what do I do for a living..etc. freaking annoying!!
Dec 26, 2007, 6:04 pm
#25
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: SFO
Programs: UA1P
Posts: 613
From my personal experiences I have only been flagged once by customs and this was at LAX which is similar to the OP. First, i made it through immigration with no problems except the agent saying my passport was in poor shape and should be replaced, after grabbing my 2 bags i was going through the nothing to declare line and was directed over to the special screening line. When I got there I received the thorough bag search and a lot of questions about my work, where I visited, and what I went traveling for. The agent then asked me what was on my laptop and numerous memory cards and asked permission to search my laptop for pictures. Since I always make sure to take a clean laptop out of the country I said go ahead and the agent did a search for jpg files and found nothing of interest. Over the whole course of this the agent and I talked a bit and he explained how most likely I was simply flagged because I was a solo traveler coming back from Asia with no business reasons to be there. In addition, I should add in that the agent that did the search was professional and kept everything as neat as possible.
Dec 26, 2007, 6:36 pm
#26
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Dec 28, 2007, 6:29 pm
#28
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