Originally Posted by
ffay005
I've had immigration officials checking passports at the plane door a few times. I assume that when they carry out these checks, they are looking for a particular person that is supposed to be on the flight. I've had this once on TK, IST-HEL (I've flown the route countless times). Once on AY, HEL-TLL! Once on CM flying PTY-MIA, and this time I was actually the guy they were looking for

"We got him", and off we went (and they stopped checking other passports at that time. They finally told me they had profiled me as a drug smuggler based on my itinerary. It was not a nice experience, but after thorough checks and questioning, I was let go.
Heck MIA is like the drug entry airport of the US from what I read...
I think the police who do door passport checks either look for a particular person or they want to make sure everyone has the required document to enter the country (not sure if they are able to stop someone without proper documentation to deplane).