OldGoat

Anyone who refuses a private grope should be celebrated as a hero. To all of you who have: Well done!

jphripjah

So as I mentioned in another thread, I refused to answer some questions from CBP while re-entering the country by air, and ended up with a secondary inspection, two hour detention, bag search finding nothing, interrogation, etc.

At the end of the incident, the officers were typing up notes for my electronic file. One of the officers gleefully informed me that I would know be red flagged and thus likely to be selected a lot for secondary inspection in the future because of my history of being "uncooperative."

Anyone ever been red flagged by CBP like this and what should I expect on future re-entries? Automatic secondary inspections for life or if I feel like cooperating in the future could secondaries be avoided?

Often1

Red flagged simply refers to the old paper system in which they literally put a red sticky on your file. Now, it means you're flagged in their system and will, for some period of time, be flagged for secondary inspection and additional questions when you enter the country.

Because the US shares its database with certain other countries such as UK, may also mean additional screening there.

coachrowsey

^^ Mikey where was this ?

jtodd

Absolutely ^

sbagdon

What I'm really getting out of this is process-over-performance. It appears to be that the process is... if a non-postive ETD can not occcur, a resolution pat-down must be performed. The issue is, the cause of the lack of a non-postive ETD isn't taken in to consideration. Examples... all the ETD machines are broken, the SOP says to do an ETD, they can't so they have to do the rpd. Or... the ETD fails the control test before testing the pax, they can't do an ETD, so they have to do the rpd.

GUWonder

Highly unlikely outcome when it comes to arrival in the UK.

GaryD

"Secondaries" cannot "be avoided" no matter what you do or did.

I'm much more willing to resist the obedience conditioning by CBP than by TSA: (1) I'm returning to my home country, usually no plane to catch, (2) the immediate "security" issue is even more bogus, and (3) other than a customs inspection, which should be satisfied by certain questions on the written form, and a search of baggage, there is no legal basis for any delay, once my identity is established.

jphripjah

I agree. Sorry, I meant to start my CBP question as a new thread. Didn't mean to hijack this one.

It surprises me that it seems that a lot of people resist TSA screening and refuse to play the name game, etc. but everyone more or less acts like sheep with CBP and submits to their intensive interrogations.

studentff

Incorrect in a subtle but significant way. As written, it suggests that repeating the ETD test and getting a negative will prevent the rpd. As implemented, once they get *any* positive ETD after touching your body/stuff, they insist on performing an rpd, even if they believe the machine is broken.

I think there's even more to it than that. During the extensive bag search after my rpd at PDX, I started trying to root cause the source of the original alarm, and the STSO agreed to ETD a bar of hotel soap in my rollaboard at my request. Before doing so, he *loudly* announced to the other TSOs in the room that this test did not "count." Presumably, if it had "counted" and been "positive," something even more offensive would have happened to me or my stuff. As it was, the test was negative.

CBP have guns, actual law enforcement authority, and the ability to detain you, forcibly x-ray you, and force laxatives into you. And as with most law enforcement, they likely will suffer few if any consequences for abusing those powers.

The worst TSA can do to you is make you miss your flight and threaten you with a civil fine that is apparently quite rarely imposed.

johnston21

You forgot: ...they can confiscate your (business) laptop.

jphripjah

Yeah, it was the CBP threat to confiscate my business iphone that got me cooperating pretty quickly. I really didn't want to have to explain to my boss and IT department that my phone had been confiscated for refusing to answer questions from CBP officers.

JoeBas

So OP, did you travel today? How many probes did you endure?

TheGolfWidow

What was the obsession with your groin area as opposed to your armpit, the inside of your socks or any of the other little hiding places one might have on their person?

TheRoadie

Probably because TSA is always fighting the PREVIOUS war, and there haven't been any armpit, foot sole, or butthole bombers. This may change.

(Yes, I know about one BB incident, but even the DHS must discount that as a credible airline threat. The BB would have to moon the window to be effective, and that would require an empty middle seat to pull off, and those are very rare nowadays.)