Why Are Plainclothes Border Agents Questioning Domestic Travelers at Detroit’s Airport?

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This week, we stumbled upon an intriguing, potentially concerning series of incidents in the Checkpoints and Border Policy Debate forum. In a thread titled CBP Screening Passengers in Jetway on Domestic Flight, FlyerTalker RastaPasta writes, “I’m currently on a flight from [Detroit] DTW > [Los Angeles] LAX on Delta. Just like last time I took this same flight two months ago, there were plainclothes [Customs and Border Patrol] CBP agents in the jetway pulling random passengers over for questioning…

“Last time they pulled the guy in front of me (if they picked me I was gonna joke about finally getting my global entry interview) but this time I was picked and asked quite a few questions like I just came back in the country.”

RastaPasta goes on to write that, after displaying CBP badges, the agents asked to see travel documents, then asked a number of familiar questions: “Why are you traveling to Los Angeles? What was the purpose of your trip in Detroit? Where in the Detroit area did you stay while you were here? How long have you been in Detroit for? Do you have any narcotics/contraband including medical marijuana, vapes, dabs, edibles, shatter, etc etc (I swear he listed every kind of weed – maybe he knew I was rasta) How much cash, financial instruments, yada yada do you have on your person?”

“It was a bit much for a domestic flight,” RastaPasta added. “Have never really seen this before, anyone know what is the deal?”

And, as it turns out, while this experience is uncommon for domestic flights, it’s not uncommon at Detroit Airport. FlyerTalker chrisl137 reported that “I’ve been stopped in the jetway a few times on flights departing DTW, and it’s the only place it’s ever happened. The person wasn’t uniformed and identified as some security contractor or other.

“They never asked any drug questions, though, and I think both times were before recreational weed was approved in either state. I don’t think they ever showed an actual federal ID- it’s annoying enough (since you lose overhead space) that next time I’m going to ask to see a PIV-II card.”

FlyerTalker  HkCaGu helpfully pointed out that DTW falls well within the special 100-mile border-zone, which gives CBP broader authorities. The special border-zone is not carte blanche for the Homeland agency, however.

When CBP officers held passengers on a Delta Air Lines plane arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) until each and every passenger presented identification proving citizenship or immigration status in February of 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took the CBP to court, eventually winning a settlement. As part of that settlement, the agency agreed it would not attempt to detain passengers on domestic flights without suspicion, solely for the purpose of ascertaining their right to be in the country.

“Although CBP has the authority to stop people arriving from abroad to determine that they are admissible to the United States, that authority does not extend to people arriving on domestic flights,” the ACLU said in a statement announcing the terms of the settlement.  “If officers want to check those passengers’ identification documents, they can only do so with the passengers’ consent. And if a passenger does not consent, the officers cannot detain that person, even for a brief period, without reasonable suspicion of a violation of the law.”

The binding settlement still allows CBP agents to detain passengers on domestic flights if they have reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed. And the agreement does not prevent CPB officers from voluntarily asking domestic passengers to answer questions or show identification. Of course, there are no rules preventing fellow passengers from asking each other to answer a few questions or present identification either – just as long as refusing a request is an option.

FlyerTalk reached out to Customs and Border Protection about the unconfirmed claims that its officers have on at least two occasions randomly interrogated and asked for travel documents from passengers boarding domestic flights at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW). A spokesperson for the agency’s Great Lakes of Field Operations promised to look into the allegations. We will update this story when any additional official comments are made available.

Have you ever been approached or questioned by CBP officials when boarding or disembarking from a U.S. domestic flight? Why do the oddest things always seem to happen at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)? Why in the world would a frequent flyer ever take a Greyhound bus from Bakersfield to Las Vegas? The Flyertalk community has all these answers, along with a refresher on your rights as a passenger in the Travel Safety and Security forum.