Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
On any nonUSA-USA-XXX itinerary that doesn't do pre-clearance (for example, DUB), you must claim your bags when you land in the USA and walk them through customs. At that point, you could simply not recheck the bag--except if you land at ATL E, where you would be forced to go through TSA airport security (so you'd be forced to recheck liquids, etc.) before going airside to exit the airport.
I thought some US airports (not all) were set-up so that if you were doing INT'L-US-INT'L, you did not have to claim bags in the US on arrival and then recheck for the onward int'l leg. The passenger still has to do immigration/passport check and technically go through customs with anything they were carrying but checked bag would not be sent to baggage claim, though in this scenario I would probably still wait at bag claim until the "Last Bag" notice to verify it didn't come out and was properly sent onward.