Flying YYC->ORD->AMS today.

CBP officer asked me what my destination was (reasonable question since my residence in the USA is not near ORD).

I told him AMS.

He then asked me the purpose of my trip to AMS.

He was starting to roll with his interrogation, then he noticed someone in line using a cell phone and left his post to deal with that.

Came back, and stamped my passport, perhaps because he forgot that he thought I was a drug runner.

When the USA has passport exit controls, expect this sort of interrogation of residents and citizens of the USA.

This is one case where I enjoy the fact that most of my international travel is on official orders, which clearly state that I am not allowed to discuss the business of said travel. Any government official that asks me what I am doing (had a CBP officer ask me in the jetway on one of my flights to NRT last year) gets the orders page shown to them. If they continue, I advise them to contact my security office, as I am not allowed to discuss the issue further.

There will be no exit controls - you are under no obligation to tell the inspector where you are going and why. You can say you're going home or say you're staying in Chicago for awhile - or you can just refuse to answer. As long as you're a US citizen, you must be admitted, the only question is how much you want to escalate the interaction with the inspector.

just tell them you are going to a sex toy convention and would they like you to pick up a 'gift' for them...

When approached by a US government official and asked any questions, I follow a simple rule - minimal truthful information, if any response is required, starting with not saying anything at all as the most preferred path. My home airport, in particular, is one where I have witnessed by TSA and CBP personnel attempt to intimidate passengers with threats of 18 USC 1001.

What the heck does this have to do with exit controls? It appears that you were being questioned in order to enter the United States, not to leave.

US airports are not set up to handle exit immigration because domestic and international departures occur in the same secure areas of the airport and those areas are not sterile, meaning that any departing passenger can walk out of the departures area and remain in the USA. In the USA, only international ARRIVALS areas are sterile. There are no in-transit areas currently operating for commercial air travel.

As a result, the vast majority of travelers have no passport exit controls when departing the USA.

The only exceptions are for those subject to the NSEERS procedures, who must report to a CBP officer for an exit interview before being permitted to leave the country.

We already have exit controls, in the form of our government requiring airlines to send a list of passengers on any international flight to be cleared in advance of the plane leaving. It's too bad, as it's none of the government's doggone business where its citizens travel to.

I saw something odd at ORD a few years back. I was at the gate waiting to board a flight to London. At the next gate was a flight to Delhi. Suddenly a herd of men in identical jackets with the flip down back panels revealing them to be CBP swarmed the area. Some carried bullhorns, others had passport scanners. They started shouting that all passengers leaving the US had to "check out." In English, only. The announcement was also made at the desk of the flight to Delhi. White, American types were ignored and the few that tried to show US passports to the agents were waved off. They only seemed interested in the Indians. As quick as they came in, all the men suddenly disappeared through a side door. The guys weren't there long enough to scan every Indian's passport.
ORD isn't my usual jumping off airport for international flights so I don't know how often this occurs. Last time I was there nothing strange happened.

I'm not a U.S. citizen. And even if I were, as I have Global Entry, lying (telling the officer I am going home when my pocket has a BP for ORD->AMS ... really a bad idea) and/or dissembling to the CBP is not in the cards.

I was being questioned about why I was leaving the US the same day I was entering it. "Leaving" == "Exiting". Questions about why I am "exiting" == "exit controls".

Well there are U.S. airports that have separate concourses for international and domestic departures. Setting up exit controls is not big deal, and I can easily imagine how it work at airports that are already set up with entry controls for CBP.

The point of my post is when CBP does this across the board, what sort of questions one might expect.

For what it is worth, the country of my citizenship (the Netherlands) and the area of my passport control zone (Schengen) have had entry and exit controls for as long as I remember. I must have entered and left more than 500 times in my life, and I have never been asked a single question on any of my entries and exits. I just can't understand why US citizens are asked any questions at all at the US borders.

I'm looking forward to visiting your country tomorrow.

Why should we be? It's nobody's business where we're going. Let the country we're traveling TO ask the questions.

Well, for the record, I've entered and exited the EU/Schengen zone through various countries numerous times, and never, not once, has the passport control officer asked me a single question. In fact, he or she usually says nothing at all, just glances at the photo page and then stamps me in. A couple of times last year the guy didn't even swipe my passport in his computer, just stamped and tossed it back at me without even making eye contact.

The EU seems to be much more relaxed about this stuff.

I also love how they have "Green" and "Red" customs lanes, and the Green (nothing to declare) lanes usually aren't even staffed, so it's just on the honor system, and you can just walk out the door if you have nothing to declare without being given the once-over by a customs officer.

I'll bet you have been given the once-over each time, via camera.