Complaint against CBP - worthwhile or not?
 

I arrived at BOS last night - upon getting to the baggage claim I turned on my phone as I was waiting a call from my ride. My phone rang as I was walking to the desk where you show your Global Entry receipt. I answered - it was my ride home - and they told me where they would be waiting and right as I was ending the call I heard the CBP agent at the desk say something, the following conversation ensued (as literally recounted as I can remember)

Me: Excuse me? I didn't hear you
CBP: I SAID SHUT OFF THE PHONE!!!
Me: Sorry, I didn't realize they weren't allowed here
CBP: WHEN I TELL YOU TO SHUT IT OFF, SHUT IT OFF!
Me: Uhh, sorry, I didn't hear you at first, I was waiting for a call about my ride
CBP: I don't care
Me: Excuse me?
CBP: I DON'T CARE!
Me: Well, I do care
CBP: I DON'T!!!
Me: I do
CBP: You like global entry?
Me: Yes
CBP: You keep up the wiseass bull**** and I will drop you from GE
Me: I was trying to be polite but it takes two to be polite
CBP: Go stand over at the yellow line for secondary inspection
Me: <lifts my bag off the floor to put it on the cart>
CBP: GO STAND OVER AT THE YELLOW LINE!!!
Me: I'm going, and I am taking my bags with me


After a couple of minutes, another officer came over and asked for my documents - I handed him my PP and GE receipt. He said "Oh, you're GE?" I said yes. He looks at the receipt and says "Did you forget to declare food items or something?". I replied that I had not, but the guy at the desk had become enraged when my phone rang as I was approaching the desk. This CBP agent sort of rolled his eyes and said "sorry, long day I guess... you're all set". I thanked him for his time, we made some small talk, we shook hands and he welcomed me home and I wished him a good night.

I have a few problems with the first CBP guy

1) He was rude and aggressive from the start, becoming more so when I didn't grovel before him

2) He threatened me (to remove my GE status).

3) He initiated a retaliatory secondary inspection for no reason other than he wanted to inconvenience me to the maximum possible.


I did not get the first guy's name or badge number, but I would recognize him in an instant and I could easily identify him in person.

My questions for anyone who read this far are

1) Is filing a complaint worthwhile? Or do they go nowhere and achieve nothing?

2) Have other pax filed complaints over rude/aggressive treatment by CBP personnel? Were they treated seriously or brushed aside?

3) Does a singular CBP officer have the authority to remove someone from GE? I believe all they could do would be initiate a strike against my membership, but I am sure there are circumstances whereby someone will be kicked out of GE. I am sure "the pax talked back to me" isn't grounds for GE dismissal, so presumably his thread to eliminate me was both a hollow one and/or signaled his intent to make something up which would be grounds to remove me.

4) In such cases, is it best to ask for a supervisor? When I looked at the CBP site, they have a complaint form where they ask for the name and badge number of the agent in question. So presumably CBP officers are obligated to give a name and/or badge number upon request? Is that the best option or is it better to escalate to a supervisor during the incident? If you ask for a supervisor do they have to comply or are they free to refuse?


Any other advice on handling such situations is appreciated. I realize stories like these are always told in the light that is most beneficial to the aggrieved party telling the story, but I have listed the exact language as carefully as possible.

Thanks.

1. Worthwhile: maybe. Might as well get it on the record.

3. No idea re. GE. However, they generally can order you to secondary for any reason they feel like. Doubt you'd have e.g. a Bivens claim over this, though; making a phone call at the border checkpoint is not a protected right TTBOMK.

4. Escalation is usually good when lower level people violate policy. OTOH it subjects you to more scrutiny. So probably it would've taken longer in total if you'd escalated, with some tiny chance of getting the guy reprimanded by his supervisor (after you're gone).

No idea whether getting a supervisor is required by CBP policy; doubt it's required by law.

(IANAL, IANYL, TINLA)

Thanks for the response.

It's not that I was upset and thought I had a legal right to use my phone, but rather I don't like the attitude and rude behavior of the CBP agent - I imagine it's against policy to behave in such a manner and I would guess their supervisors would want to know, but wasn't sure how to best go about that.

I am still curious if a single CBP agent has any authority to remove someone from GE. I seriously doubt it, but would very much like to know - as well as the best course of action for any future incidents.

I know with LEO's you can request a shift supervisor to come to the scene if you are having a problem with a LEO and while I've never done it, I believe they do it if requested.

I don't know ... but without being able to identify the particular agent by name, I'm not sure that filing a report with CBP will do any good. Even assuming that CBP would want to take corrective action with the agent, there's no way for them to know which of the many agents on duty at that time was the one who treated you so poorly.

1. A single CBP Officer (who by the way is a LEO), can order you to secondary for virtually any reason. This would include using a cell phone inside the secure area.

2. While the single officer could not likely revoke your GE himself, his report could easily lead to that, not for any reason other than that you disobeyed a CBP policy (which I believe is posted).

File a complaint if you want, but nothing will come of it. Whether your GE is revoked will depend on whether the Officer pursues the matter. If he doesn't, it won't be. If he does, it's all dependent on review.

You say "could not likely" - but then say his report "could easily lead". Are you basing these statements on first hand knowledge of the CBP rules or based on assumptions or something else?

We can make many assumptions about what could happen, but I am really looking for what the actual rules are.

Is that because CBP generally doesn't pursue complaints as a rule, or that in order for a complaint to be looked into, a specific officer name/badge needs to be attached to the complaint? I'd be happy to return to the airport to identify the agent in question.

The GE program is implemented at a level far above a CBP agent checking GE receipts, so I would imagine said CBP agent has no authority to individually revoke someone's GE membership, and I would also imagine that making threats is against CBP policy. I've had excellent interactions with CBP "management" at BOS before and I would be very surprised if this agent's supervisor would deem this agent's actions and demeanor acceptable.

Read the GE rules and you will see that it is subject to revocation in the sole discretion of CBP. So long as the reason isn't the result of some unlawful selection e.g., because of your race, religion and so on, it's CBP's sole discretion.

Talk w. people who have lost GE due to a single report from a CBP (or Ag) Officer and you will know that it can and does occur and does so for things which many here might consider miniscule such as a forgotten piece of fruit. Whether it's the Officer's sole discretion or someone above him is immaterial because the result is the same.

Know the date, time, and description of yourself (possibly lane number) and they can find it on camera.

You can file a complaint, however you will NOT get a response other than "thank you for your complaint". You will not get told of what action, if any has been taken against the CBP personnel. I know this from the process of lodging two complaints in the past about CBP on power trips.

Sometimes people are just jerks. Avoid engaging with them and move on as soon as possible.

From the dialog you posted, it does seem like you provoked him. If it had been me, I would have said "OK, sorry" and been done with it. His behavior is not justified, but when you are dealing with someone in a position of power over you, mocking, teasing or insulting them is not going to end well for you regardless of the situation.

Call me a sheeple or whatever you want, but to me this just isn't a battle worth fighting. It's going to unnecessarily aggravate you and get you nowhere.

Can you link me to the rules you are talking about? I can't find anything on the GE website or through Google that states membership is in their sole discretion barring unlawful factors like race/religion, etc.

And while I agree with you that membership in GE is at the sole discretion of CBP, that is a different thing than the sole discretion of a single CBP agent - they are very different things. Case in point - a prosecutor has the discretion on what charges to file against what people (or to file no charges at all), but that doesn't mean a prosecutor can file charges against you because they don't like the way you spoke to them. They could only do so by lying about the basis for the charges.

The only reports I have read here from people who lost GE were because of a violation, whether it was forgetting to declare something or having some other disqualifying factor (an arrest, or the mysterious "information from 3rd party sources"). Do you have any links to someone who was kicked out for other reasons that were not specifically listed as violations by CBP? I haven't been able to find any.

That is only true if an officers can write a report against an individual for something that is not in violation of GE rules that would lead to revokation of GE membership, and I haven't seen anything that indicates that to be the case, other than a chain of assumptions that are really just guesses.

If I am wrong, I'd very much like to know - but I still don't believe an individual agent has the authority to kick someone out of GE, and I don't think they could do so even if they "wrote a report". I'm happy to be proven wrong if there are any links or evidence to the contrary.

Thanks

I didn't provoke him until I had all I could stand of his provokation - which he continued after I apologized at least twice for the mistake. It may be a bad character trait, but I can't accept such behavior from people when it is unnecessary and unwarranted. I also believe we all have a responsibility to challenge people on such behavior or else we are the ones to blame for allowing it to continue.

Anyway, I received a response from CBP this morning apologizing for my experience and saying they will be looking into the matter. I don't expect I will hear anything more and I am positive the officer in question didn't "file a report".

Still curious if anyone knows whether asking for a supervisor works? In other words, is a CBP agent obliged to get a supervisor? Or, rather, is a supervisor obliged to see a passenger if the pax requests it?

Not quite true. You are probably a federal felon. It's just a question of finding something to charge you with.

However, after (if) you win the criminal case, you could sue them back for malicious prosecution, though that's very hard to win — and (roughly speaking) prosecutors have absolute immunity for what they personally do as part of their job.

For what it's worth, they can absolutely identify the officer in question. Every time you are referred to secondary inspection, an electronic report is created identifying the agent who referred you, the reason he typed in for the referral, (so that the secondary officer can read it and know why you were referred) and the results of the inspection.

You can make an easy online FOIA request for all of your entry/exit and primary/secondary inspection records, they will black out a lot of the info, including the officers' names, but it might say "Passenger corporate666 was referred to secondary inspection by Officer (redacted) due to evasive answers to primary inspection questions" or something like that.

http://www.cbp.gov/site-policy-notices/foia

I once sent a letter complaining about CBP officers wrongfully seizing my anti-American propaganda from North Korea. I just sent it right to the airport's Port Director rather than following the procedure of making a request to Washington DC. It must have worked, they Fedexed me back my books and newspapers and postcards about three days later.

Let us know how that goes.
I once wrote a diatribe against Miami Customs goons on FlyerTalk
called "Miami Customs Freak Show" and even named
the jerk CBP that was acting like he was going to beat us all up.
Someone signed up for Flyertalk just to lie and say they
were behind me in line and I was causing a big commotion but
couldn't say what I looked like when asked.
When is the madness going to end?

You should also try CBP ombudsman. Without going into too much detail, they actually helped me. It only took one letter with careful explanation of what happened. But it took them. 7 months to come to a resolution. I'm still glad that they resolved my situation.

I've begun writing letters, like actual paper letters to 3 people whenever I run into an unprofessional CBP officer. I use CBP.gov to get the Port Director & the Professionalism Services Manager name, and send it to the PD c/o the PSM. Then I CC: Assistant Commissioner for Field Operations (which all airports fall under). It's short, one paragraph and I state usually something to the effect of "the total interaction was under 30 seconds, but I found him hostile, unprofessional and _______". I then go on to state I sign the letter anonymously, for fear of retaliation. I don't know about you, but if somebody sent a letter about me to the VP of my division as well as my director and the HR person - I'd certainly take it seriously.

No one is a felon until convicted.

They will reply you with email saying they got it and will review it but due to privacy reasons they can't tell you what they will do! I have done twice = against a CBP officer on power trip during a recent outbound flight & a CBP officer at the border for rudely questioning me about my national origin, demanding I show legal alien immigration green card even though I already handed him my US passport book and US passport card. You get official reply with a Senator or Congressman/woman help. I had a lawyer telling me they protect their buddies but every complaint filed stays on record and that means they will know someone complained against this officer. Strike 1

Yes, but read the linked article, coauthored by Judge Kozinski (9th Circuit).

I haven't read the complete article but the gist of it is that many people could be prosecuted for some violation of the law. Correct?

I think we can all acknowledge that there are so many laws on the books that it is near impossible for the average person to know them all and inadvertently having a violation.

Regardless only after being prosecuted can they be found guilty.

The question is does government have the resources to prosecute every single violation? And if they did just how long would some of those laws remain on the books.

Not just "could be prosecuted" — anyone can be "prosecuted" — but that almost everyone actually is guilty of a federal felony. Whether that has been proven is another issue. The problem, as Judge Kozinski points out, is that this enables selective prosecution. If an AUSA wants to indict you, they can probably find something you're in fact guilty of.

There are nowhere near the resources to prosecute every violation, nor even to litigate every prosecution currently being made (the vast supermajority of which are pled out). The justice system would be completely gridlocked if every criminal accusation actually had a full trial.

It's hard to imagine most the laws would remain on the books if everyone guilty (i.e. basically every person in the country) were actually prosecuted.

Can you provide a direct link to the page listing port directors?

Cell phone use in the immigration and customs hall is absolutely prohibited. If anyone is a regular international traveler they know that.

I see "no cell phone use" signs all the time when I come back to the U.S. Best thing is to turn it off after you exit the aircraft. If you forget to turn it off it rings, don't even think of answering it. I once saw a person chatting on the phone at LAS customs baggage claim a few years ago and the custom agent yelled at the top of his lungs, "Turn off the phone!". This is not uncommon.

Under what statute or regulation? A sign is not a law.

Don't have a law or statute off the top of my head. Just going by experience in choosing those practices that give one the best chance of having the most pleasant and swift entry process that is possible. I've seen people reprimanded for years on this one. If they want to get into a legal argument with a CBP officer, that is their choice but it would not be mine.

If a person believes they have been mistreated by CBP they should contact CBP.

[email protected]

or

1 877-246-8253

Can you tell me bit more about the email? who it goes to ?

I found that contact plus others on a CBP FAQ document. The link was in one of the current threads, perhaps on Omni.

41 c.f.r. § 102-74.385

OK thank you!

http://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/fil...omeToTheUS.pdf

The publication is titled "Welcome to the United States, A Guide for International Visitors"

Email, telephone and mailing address torwards the rear.

Nice. (https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/41/102-74.385 fwiw)

However, it seems to me that this is necessarily limited to what they can lawfully require in the first place. Feds can't make up laws / regs by just putting up a sign (e.g. a sign saying "Black people must use customs lane #1" would be obviously illegal). So again, what reg / statute says CBP can regulate cellphone use (esp. if it's to call a lawyer)?

ETA: Also, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/41/102-74.365 - it only applies to "property under the authority of GSA". AFAIK airports are not.

Airports are not but the FIS area of an airport is always leased by the federal government (thru GSA) for DHS-CBP. Therefore all POEs are under the authority of GSA.

The regulation is pretty well written which states "a prohibitory, regulatory or directory nature". I doubt that any government agency would put up a sign that is of discriminatory nature thus opening up opportunities for potential lawsuits. The regulation also does not specifically prohibit one from urinating or defecating in the FIS area, do you think it's ok to do so just because they didn't specify that specific action on the CFR?

That's almost certainly a statutorily enumerated criminal act, so I don't think it applies to my objection. Government can't require you to do anything it's not authorized to require; that's a fundamental tautology of our system. They have to have some law or reg saying phone use is always illegal in that area to put up a sign saying not to use your phone at all. If it's just for some purposes, then it has to be limited. I don't think they ever have the authority to order you to not call your lawyer; that's a fundamental right.

I am sorry for your experience however while taxiing to the Gate as part of the Welcome to SFO message the Flight attendant says" All passengers will be required to clear customs and immigration irrespective of destination and claim luggage. The use of Cellphones are prohibited while inside the Customs Area.

There are signs that say that Cellphones are prohibited once you enter the line to speak to an agent. The agent is right. What if you were a drug dealer or planning to work illegally and were speaking to your boss to get prepped on what to say? When I arrive at SFO I call the driver in the hallway before entering the Immigration Line.

I would not complain. You fully knew that cellphones are not allowed at any security or customs checkpoint worldwide.

This isn't true at all. Most countries have no prohibition about using cell phones in the bag claim/customs area, they only have signs up saying don't use your phone when you're right at the passport control booth.

So they could just use their phone in the hallway, like you do to call your driver, to get prepped on what to say or what have you.

Sounds like a silly rule.