Originally Posted by vesicle

I will use the word 'jihad' is I like regardless if it offends yours or anyone else's sensibilities...in fact it was to that very end and worked spectacularly.

A government official saying "how much did you pay for that?" to someone with an adopted baby needs to be AND can be disciplined with the right push. The above is NOT the duty of the officer. I don't believe for a second this was some 'behavioral test' but rather it was an @sshole in a position of authority who has an attitude problem. Do you think it is ok if a US citizen who is black upon returning from an African vacation is asked "How was the family's hut spearchucker?"...no different than what the mother above experienced...blatant and very wrong racism. I would have gathered any witnesses and taken contact numbers and statements, filed a complaint before leaving the area, contacted all media outlets and legal counsel in addition to anyone else who could publicize this behavior and the officer's name. It is wrong and should not be tolerated unless you want more of the same.

If you deem this behavior acceptable and wish to gloss over it then that is your choice. You see resistance to being treated wrongly and sometimes illegally as being "belligerent and a smartass"...I see it is standing up for right and I will do so within the boundaries of the law if it is necessary. Regardless of the pigeon hole many people like to put people like me in it isn't like we look for a fight...hell many times I have zero problem..we just react when one is brought to us rather than accept the raping. All systems have some good folks in them and no reasonable person would cause trouble just for the fun of it.

I am not saying bucking the system is easy...but when you are clearly in the right all it will give them in the end is a huge mess. There is only so much that can be swept under the rug these days...contrary to the fear mongers you will not be convicted of a crime or sent off to Cuba for following the law and insisting they do the same.

People who defend the goonish behavior are as sick as they are and I hope they get stuck on the bad end of the very things they accept...poetic justice.

Originally Posted by Polonius

The important legal principle to understand is that although there is an explicit exception to 4th amendment protections at the border, the exception was created for purposes of controlling who is admitted, for preventing the entry of contraband, and to ensure that goverment revenues due for tariffs and duties are collected. The exception was NOT created to give the government free rein to have a poke around in anything they feel like just because it's a border, even if the FBI, DEA and other agencies have been somewhat successful at exploiting this hole in 4th amendment protection for such purposes. I was once referred for secondary inspection and had an inspector start rifling through a stack of credit and membership cards that was in my briefcase -- I objected successfully to this attempt at searching through these cards because there was no possibility that any of them could have contraband or an undeclared import and therefore they had zero reason to be looking through them.