Originally Posted by
HSVTSO Dean
While it is true that the stamps showing where you've been is none of their business, the fact remains that they're also probably not thumbing through the passport looking at the stamps, either.
It's standard practice for me, on any of the two older variety of US passports (the old one with the digital image of your face on the left, and the old-old one with the actual photograph). The newer one, the RFID-equipped one, is the only one that I don't have to flip through the pages for.
You can ask me to call for a supervisor, and I would, naturally, comply. I can also guarantee you that the supervisor would take my side.
Huh? You're usually pretty reasonable, but I don't get this one. All of the ID information that TSA thinks is relevant is on the ID and photo page. The authentication features on this era of passport (at least the one with the digital photo, like mine), are on the ID page. The only information on the other pages is visa information, arrival/departure stamps, and the place where you are supposed to voluntarily pencil in your address and emergency contact info. None of that is TSA's business.
Writing/stamps/etc on those pages are not considered alterations of the document that void the ID. So what's the point?
There have been repeated reports of power-tripping TDCs pawing through passports and a handful of reports of them either declaring the pax's travel history "suspicious" and sending them to SSSSecondary or finding an expired visa and declaring the passport expired on those grounds.
Would you remove a pax's paperclip to paw through the visa pages? I haven't had any problems since I put on a clip, and I doubt that all of those TDCs are somehow violating SOP. (Looking forward to applying for my passport card next year and taking away one more opportunity for TSOs to power-trip.)