VelvetJones

Let me ask you this. How much proof do you really need? Unless your fine computer systems are down, once you scan the persons passport and hook up to your Orwellian database you have all of the info you really need. Are you suggesting that it is somehow possible to hack the US CBP database?

GUWonder

While a valid US passport for ordinary US citizens are ordinarily prima facie evidence of US citizenship, questions about identity and/or citizenship of the bearer may still arise even when bearing a US passport. But sometimes the questions about identity and citizenship are just part of an interest in considering going on a fishing expedition for other things.

A lot of people (i.e. witnesses/observers) have more problems matching a present individual with a presented photo of the individual or with a previous image (say in the witness/observer's head) of the present individual when the person presenting himself/herself is of some ethnic group(s) with which the observer had limited/no and/or stereotypical exposure when growing up or even later. [This cross-race identification bias/disability/effect is also a problem when it comes to witness/suspect identification in criminal investigation matters.]

The CBP personnel may be using these kind of ID-based questions as a crutch of sort when unable to as reliably match a present individual with a presented photo in a passport, including for reasons related to "race"/ethnicity.

I certainly have no doubt that CBP/passport control's identity and citizenship questioning of US citizens more frequently are directed toward those US citizens who are not generally identified as being wholly of European ethnic background(s). These kind of questions are too often a sign of micro-aggression.

gj83

White woman here and I've been asked over a dozen questions reentering the US at the Lewiston crossing. Don't ever get a mini van as a rental.
Even when crossing in a sedan they've asked me so many questions.

tev9999

I'm a white male US Citizen and have gotten the "Where were you born" question on a regular basis. Even with a US passport, it could be a way to trip up someone traveling with a stolen passport. Kind of like asking Nick Papagiorgio about contact lenses at the craps table.

Many years ago (pre 9/11) I worked with a woman who's husband was CBP. I asked him one time why they ask such stupid questions at times. His answer was basically to trip people up and to alleviate boredom. I suppose the mental stimulation working a border crossing is not that much higher than TSA screener on many days.

GUWonder

How regular, in terms of frequency?

Any of your over a dozen questions that include questions doubting your US citizenship status? If so, how frequently?

Their job training involves asking questions and so they often ask questions. But that doesn't mean that all questions are asked of all people on an equal and equally frequent basis.

jphripjah

CBP must be vigilant in confirming that the person standing in front of them is the person depicted on the passport and described in their systems. I know your response might be "Just look at the photo!" but it's not always that simple. Passport photos may be up to ten years old. People change appearance as they age, they may gain weight, lose weight, have cosmetic surgery, or change facial hair. People do try to enter the US on stolen or "borrowed" passports issued to people who look like them. Importantly, people often use the IDs of a close family member who make look very much like them.

If CBP officers were restricted to simply holding up the passport and then silently determining "yes" or "no" as to whether it's the same person, their jobs would be harder, their determinations would be less accurate, more bad guys would enter the US, more good guys would be denied entry simply because they no longer look like their passport photo.

I think it is well within a CBP officer's reasonable authority to ask people questions to confirm citizenship, including where were you born, where do you live, how did you become a US citizen, etc. If the person claims to be a native born citizen who has lived in the US his entire life, but he is speaking with a foreign accent, that would invite further scrutiny. If the person starts stammering and sweating when asked basic questions, that's suspicious too, of course.

The OP makes an accusation of racism, but presents no evidence to suggest racism. I'm a native born white US citizen, I am often asked questions when re-entering the country. I'm not usually asked questions about my citizenship, perhaps because I was born here and speak with an American accent.

I am often asked questions though that are designed to determine whether I'm a criminal, like what were you doing on your trips, did you meet with anyone, are you traveling alone or on a group tour, what do you do for a living, how did you pay for your trip, etc. Those questions may seem innocuous, but make no mistake, they are designed to determine if I am a bona fide tourist with the financial means to pay for my own travel or if I'm a smuggler pretending to be a tourist whose trip was paid for by a drug cartel.

I agree that a US citizen should be able to confirm citizenship and refuse to answer any other questions. In theory this is true, they still have to admit you if you refuse to answer questions, and they can't arrest you for refusing to answer or force you to answer. In practicality though, it may get you delayed for hours as the officers go over your records and luggage with a fine tooth comb in order to: (a) determine if you are remaining silent because you are really hiding something nefarious, since everyone else just answers the questions, or (b) to retaliate against you for challenging their authority and refusing to answer their questions. You might also then have you records flagged as someone to be stopped on future re-entries if they are not sure about why you refused to answer or if they just want to retaliate further.

It's just a question of whether proving the point is worth the hassle to you.

GUWonder

It's not really surprising that members of, or operating on behalf of, the dominant/dominant majority demographic group(s): (a) find excuses on why racism doesn't exist even where it does exist; or (b) find excuses to otherwise try to downplay racism's application by those provided authorization by the dominant/dominant majority demographic group(s). The downplaying or denial of racist outcomes is so common that I sort of expect it as a given turn in discussion whenever someone feels like racism applies, as it too often does, and dares to mention that it is in play.

For a long time I too wanted to believe that racism was no longer a substantial factor in questioning of US citizens about identity and citizenship when US citizens returned to the US; but the facts of time to process people in US citizen lines at a couple of major US ports of entry were powerful enough that I'd say it has to be considered as a significant factor and that there is reason enough for passengers and other non-governmental parties' cameras to be allowed for use in the CBP processing areas so that numbers can be more broadly collected and shared publicly. All sorts of confounding factors can be brought into the picture on why the processing times may vary, but there is no good reason to conclude that racism has been wiped out as a factor in CBP handling of passengers at US POEs.

maksimfa

Was only asked a few questions coming back from Niagara Falls with wife on foot.

At airports, most of the time they don't even ask me any questions. Last time I just got global entry. Win.

Yoshi212

Hopefully this won't get kicked over into OMNI but remember that even the "dominant/dominant majority" are without additional power when it comes to dealing with CBP. We don't get to play the "white privilege card" for everything. Also remember that many CBP agents are themselves not of the majority. People who abuse their "Authoriteh" do so for their own enjoyment. Their targets can be because any number of reasons. Racism/discrimination sure being a huge if not the largest reason, but it could be out of boredom, having a bad day, you remind them of that aunt who used to pinch their cheeks as a child and so on. I don't think anyone here is saying the OP didn't get extra scrutiny because of an ethnicity or being an immigrant, but rather that CBP had a huge population of agents who like their power and don't like it challenged by anyone.

Blueskyheaven

exactly makes me sad to be treated like a foreigner even after becoming a US national. I have driven to and flown to canada many times, flown internationally to Europe and Asia with my US passport and never had been grilled about my nationality. At the broder a month ago, i showed my US passport card that says valid for land and sea crossing, he kept staring me and asked where I was born , I thought maybe he doubted my citizenship, I showed him my US passport book, then asked me how I first came to US and when. His questions about my birth country, my arrival date, our names and never stopped for about 6 minutes. My wife is a legal permanent resident with green card for almost 5 yrs. She too was asked when she came. I was asked how come I didn't have green card, how came my baby and wife didn't have birth certificate like our 3 month old baby and why we didn't have same names. I told him I just showed you proof of everything and it is not a requirement to have same names. I wanted to get to airport and i have baby so I didn't want to piss him off. I remained calm and politely answered each questions. I politely asked his name and he gave me his last or first name and thanked him.


My latest border crossing from Canada was at the Michigan , We were wearing sunglass and the female officer asked us to remove our glasses. I totally understand why they would ask this and we obeyed. Asked us how long we were in toronto and if we were carrying food, or purchased anything there. It was not difficult.

VelvetJones

Wow, I'm really glad CBP and DHS are working so diligent in making sure no "bad guys" enter the US. I guess that is why they recently released thousands of illegal criminals out of US prisons and back in to the county. That sure is a job well done. I guess that is also why our southern border is basically wide open, while women traveling alone are repeatedly accused for being home wreckers and prostitutes for daring to cross the border with some condoms in their purse. Good job CBP. ^

SeriouslyLost

So what you're saying is that people should just be docile and allow CBP to break the law and intimidate the population unnecessarily just so that they can "avoid a bit of hassle"?

I'd have to question how much you value the rule of law, individual rights, and professional conduct from government employees? I disagree with that approach entirely. It isn't done in some other countries so there's no reason it should be tolerated in the US, and especially not where the US tries to claim the moral high ground.

GUWonder

Whether we like it or not, there is often a kind of trade-off between convenience at a given moment and paying a price for exercising one's rights. I don't generally like it, but the trade-off does exist and it's doubtful that any one's going to change that by way of deciding what to do or not do at the POE.

I'm curious, which countries have no history of claiming the moral high ground and/or no history of having immigration and/or customs personnel behaving in much the same manner as CBP employees with at least some citizens? I've seen lots of countries have immigration and/or customs or other LE personnel engage in micro-aggression under color of authority; and CBP is far from unique in having some such characters behaving in such ways with some returning citizens. While the proportion and frequencies are different, the outcome possibilities are all that different? At least the OP didn't end up strip searched on a flawed basis, as was something that African-American females at US POEs were experiencing way out of proportion to anything reasonable.

jphripjah

Not at all. I wish every US citizen would refuse to answer their questions. If even 10% of US citizens refused to answer their questions, they'd probably have to stop asking them, because they don't have the resources to detain vast numbers of US citizens to try to figure out why they are not answering them. I don't like answering the questions; I also don't like being delayed for 2+ hours because the officer thinks I'm hiding something criminal because I have refused to answer questions that everyone else answers.

Back to the racism point, it is the job of CBP officers to prevent inadmissible aliens from entering the country, even if they are bearing documents falsely purporting to be US citizens. That's why they question people. And, a lot of you won't want to hear this, but non-white people with foreign accents presenting US passports and green cards are more likely to be frauds than white people with native born American accents presenting US passports. Think about it for a moment. 95+% of white skinned people born since WWII are citizens of the US or Western Europe or Australia/NZ or Israel or South Africa or some other country whose citizens are allowed visa free entry into the United States or entry with an easily obtained visa. The vast majority of foreigners who try to illegally enter the US on false documents are not white skinned.

When a CBP officer sees white skin and hears an American accent and sees a passport that looks like the person, the chances that this is a foreigner pretending to be American so as to enter the US are infinitesimal. That is why those people are not asked many questions about citizenship. Similarly, native-born African Americans who speak in an American accent probably get the same pass on citizenship questions.

Foreign born travelers with foreign accents who were born in developing countries where people have been known to try to illegally immigrate to the US (many of whom may have non-white skin) warrant scrutiny upon entry to confirm that they are in fact, who they purport to be and that their documentation of permission to enter or reside in the US is legitimate.

GUWonder

That really doesn't explain it, but it may explain the reliance on racist stereotypes. The 95% number seems made up.

On the basis of ethnic features, confusing a US citizen for an inadmissible alien on the basis of race seems reactionary and racist all in one.

A passport is generally prima facie evidence of citizenship and a photo in a passport is ordinarily considered evidence of identity. There are plenty of bad reasons for CBP to operate based on racist stereotypes, but this is a situation of a US citizen with a valid US passport.

By the way, there are a growing number of non-US citizens who are American-accented English-speaking non-US persons, and it takes more and more time to guess their history on the basis of accent alone .... regardless of skin melanin count.