corporate666

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.

saizai

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)

corporate666

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.

jkhuggins

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.

Often1

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.

corporate666

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.

Often1

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.

saizai

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

fritzzz25

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.

cbn42

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.

corporate666

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

corporate666

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?

saizai

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.

jphripjah

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.

yandosan

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?