Interesting Encounter at IAH
 

I was flying back to the to the US this afternoon on UA4 (LHR-IAH), and when we arrived, I went through the normal GE line, but at the exit from the GE kiosk area, there were 2 CBP officers, stopping everyone. When I got to one of the officers, he asked me:

• "Where are you coming from?" (London)
• "How long were you there?" (3 days)
• "What was the purpose of your visit?" (Visited friends)
• "What do you do for a job?" (Engineer)
• "Who do you work for?" (Livermore/Sandia National Laboratory)
• "What do you do there?" (I informed him that answering that would be leaking classified information)

After that, he let me pass, but it was all a really strange experience, because I have never been asked my job title and my employer. I am definitely reporting this to our DoD liaison tomorrow, but it's starting to make me think that when I travel, I should keep my technology to a minimum, or just not bring it.

Also, if they access a secured phone, and retrieve classified material, could the CBP officer get arrested for accessing classified equipment?

Has anyone else encountered this, or is it just a IAH thing?

You were luckier than this NASA/JPL employee who recently passed through IAH:
That thread discusses the options faced by government employees caught in similar predicaments.

Has anyone else noticed this type of occurrence, either at IAH or any other airport, or any other strange occurrences?

Except that the JPL guy probably isn't a government employee.

In my experience the agents minding the exit of Global Entry at IAH always engage in some number of general questions like that, usually 2 or 3, but not as many as your experience. This is similar to the other airports where I've used GE. As far as asking about your employer, I'd say yes, that's happened to me. I don't recall job title before though.

There seem to be a small list of questions and on a random basis, a few questions asked. I have never perceived a pattern or seen anyone taking notes of the answers.

There is usually an unclassified answer to questions which might call for information which might be classified. If CBP let you hang out at that choke point at IAD, you might be surprised to learn that 92% of the people coming through on official passports work in IT or are engineers !

I know there is, I was just caught off guard at the time.

My experience has been that I get asked these kinds of questions at immigration rather than at the end of the line leaving the customs area. Most of the time, the questions are a result of the brown passport. If there isn't much of a line, or especially at pre-clearance airports such as YOW, you can engage in a conversation. I remember once at YOW asking the guy if his job was considered an "overseas" tour, how long was the assignment, could he extend, how competitive were these jobs, etc. Another time, the agent complimented my agency in a way I didn't expect.

I don't have GE. I've been asked my occupation by CBP officers many, many times. I have been asked the name of my employer also. I have never worked for the government.

Yes, but they are well aware of you and just like to mess with you. :)

I've had similar questions coming back from Canada, asked very casually and when I told him my employer he followed up with a semi-relevant question. It was at preclearance in Montreal and the agent in question had been very obviously chatty already even to the other agents so it didn't seem particularly odd. Boredom as much as anything, and in the days before there were kiosks so a live person had to at least look at every passport.

If they ask for access to something that would give them access to classified information I'd guess you should tell them "sorry, no, you need permission from DOE (or whoever)"

They don't ask specific questions about your job out of boredom. They ask the questions to determine if you're telling the truth and to help them assess if you're involved in criminal activity.

As I understand the policy (DoD employee), if a US traveller is carrying classified material in a designated, sealed courier container, and holding a courier letter from their workplace security office, then CBP is not supposed to open the container. They can call the appropriate home office to verify the identity of the traveller and validity of their courier letter.

I've never had to carry a classified "live" device like a laptop or classified phone while travelling. But I would think rules would require those to also be in a secured container while in such a public setting, I know we're not even supposed to take a classified laptop out of the secured part of our building. Either way, I would imagine the courier status exception applies.

Government-owned electronic equipment other than classified courier material IS subject to CBP search. Since CBP is legitimate federal law enforcement, our guidance is that we are expected to cooperate with such requests while on official travel with government-owned equipment -- it's the US government searching its own property, after all.

This question in mostly in jest but also part serious: in two different threads you have used the term "...legitimate federal law enforcement.." so I am wondering, has your employer identified or referred to "illegitimate federal law enforcement" agencies?

If yes, which ones?

I was wondering which of our administrative federal state's law enforcement bodies are less legitimate than CBP? :D

I talked about what I believe is still current over on the thread about the JPL guy.

You're right. The courier letter should do the trick, including the 24/7 verification number if necessary. Fortunately, wide-spread improvements in JWICS and SIPRNET happened about the time the TSA was hatched which significantly reduced the possibility of a zealot deciding he or she was going to tear into your package of documents.

Veterans Affairs police? Commerce Dept police? CIA police?

yes, they all exist.....

Commerce LE folks do a couple of really important functions:

NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement:

...and...

Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Export Enforcement:

I wasn't suggesting they are not important, just trying to point out some of the more obscure agencies.

A friend of mine got a ticket once from the Bureau and Engraving Police.

I don't know the current number, but there used to be 34 different law enforcement agencies in DC. I'm sure the number is higher now. Growing up, we all knew this personally. If you were white and had a drunken incident in Georgetown, usually Uniformed Secret Service would magically appear. If you were black, you got Metropolitan Police. Not be confused with Metro Transit Police, or the Postal Police, or the Park Service Police, or Capitol Police, or the Housing Authority Police, or any of the others. Getting busted by the Smithsonian Institute Police was particularly embarrassing. The Amtrak Police could be real buttheads too but they rarely appeared west of North Capitol St.

Didn't come across that way. Go out there sometime with some of my friends and colleagues on nothing more than a Zodiac boat somewhere in the 200-mile economic exclusion zone dealing with armed Colombian illegal fishermen.

http://www.gc.noaa.gov/images/gces/OLE_RIB.jpg

That's how they catch people. Your non verbal answer is often more important than your verbal. Many referrals to secondary are the result of how you respond, instead of what you say.

Employment/employer type questions are pretty standard at primary.

YUL should be noted for their habit of asking wild card/behaviour detecting style questions (i.e. when was the last time you sued a U.S. citizen?, have you ever ran for office?, who is this lady luck in LAS?).

You can learn a lot in terms of how well someone can carry on a conversation. Bona fide travellers would have no problem, those who can't need to be looked at more closely

I collect passport stamps, especially ones from POEs I don't have yet, and last year I asked the agent at the exit of the GE Area in BOS for a stamp. He wasn't saying anything to people but as soon as I asked for the stamp he asked me the first four questions the OP was asked. Kind of odd, if I was up to something you'd think I wouldn't draw attention to myself by talking to an agent.

A few weeks ago there was an order given to ramp up secondary searches and be "stronger" at the border and ports of entry. It's still hard to figure out how that translates into specific numbers at this point, but you can bet that some CBP employees itching for excuses to further hassle passengers have gotten what they want and are doing so.

What's your source for this statement? I haven't heard that. I

Trump gave yet another public indication of that in a speech yesterday, and DHS/CBP sources have also privately confirmed before and after that along these lines: "not fake news, we got the message and already acted on it".

You're welcome to make of this what you wish, but they meant secondaries too.