GUWonder

The CBP as a whole is an organization that not only defends the use of racist profiling but encourages racism in the rank and file by having formally defended racist profiling. With that kind of organizational environment, racism becomes more endemic in an organization than would otherwise be the case — even more so given the tendency of how people socially bind within groups.

I’m not going based on the alleged “remotely mind read” attributed to the OP.

Boggie Dog

There is nothing during a single interaction that is not recordable by the person being examined that is conclusive. The only corrective action available are reports from the public with a hope that the agency will act on reports in good faith. A more ideal situation would be for all agents actions to be video/audio recorded and available for civil/criminal review if necessary.

Belmont_

Is CBP racist? Yes, likely because their training and experiences with profiling suspicious persons led them to be. They are not the only border guards that do so, albeit CBP seems more overt about it from the stories I'm reading here.

The Bundespolizei while at MUC came straight up to me while queued up in a long line for the second security checkpoint. I was completely washed out and was stammering at their questions, fumbling my passport, actually even forgot where I was coming from - total fail. I thought I was toast but they actually just moved me on. Then it became clear why they came straight up to me, the tall blonde-hair blue-eyed guy, as just behind me in the queue were two travelers in full islamic garb and appearance, who actually answered all of their questions head-on but were taken off for secondary. Can't be picking people directly out of the line but starting with the guy in front of the target is enough cover I guess.

xobile

My main takeaway from this is a head scratching wonder why SeaHawg or Ms Seahawg have not taken the 20 minutes to fill out a Global Entry form for her. The 3 minute interview isn�t even an issue considering you can do enrollment on arrival. If I had to travel internationally 40x with someone and had to wait each time for them to come through the slow lane I�d be furious and annoyed that they can�t see how their refusal to do a GE application affects other people and their time.

catocony

Or a housewife, if only her husband had been in line with her. Going through GE and leaving the wife to go solo through regular Immigration is about as bad as getting one upgrade on a flight and you take it instead of her.

Next time, go through the regular line with your wife, and she won't stick out like a sore thumb.

GUWonder

Nothing alike in that regard. Unlike with grabbing an upgrade from a travel companion (i.e., spouse, partner or otherwise), the GE member making more of a beeline to the baggage claim area than the non-GE companion can jointly benefit the GE member and the non-GE travel companion.

About sticking out like a sore thumb, that can happen to one or the other or both even if going through the same line together.

The benefits of going through together are that there is an additional witness when CBP misbehaves and that mental laziness in people is such that CBP gets both distracted more and comforted more when the travel party sticks together.

Blogndog

Definitely racist - there have been multiple whistleblowers exposing this

just another example of their racism in action - some people are us citizens, some people are culturally American, some people are neither and some people are both. It�s only the first question - is the traveller a US passport holder? � that CBP is entitled to concern itself with. They could be inspecting a US citizen making their very first visit ever to the USA, who may not have the first clue about American football and indeed may not even speak English. They are entitled to the same respect and deference a white Iowa born native citizen is, and to not be singled out for not conforming to an agent�s prejudices about what an �American� should be

seawolf

Please provide reference. Thanks.

What were the questions asked on the first traveler? How did you know they were also about football?

Which particular federally prohibited discrimination are you pointing out and which of those 25 questions is leading you to suspect this huge black dude CBP officer is discriminating against?

person's national origin
race
color
religion
disability
sex
familial status

Going back to this thread�s OP and claims of racism. Which of the following did the wife felt discriminated against? The only thing we know about OP�s wife is her gender.

Seems to me the hubbub here is not really racism or discrimination and more of I�m a U.S. citizen and getting upset on any additional questions after stating I�m a U.S. citizen. Yes you have a right to enter the US, but you are still subject to additional examination stemming for CBP enforcing other regulations outside of immigration such as customs, agricultural, financial etc.

GUWonder

And the CBP speaks with a forked tongue when it comes to talking about racist profiling.

https://www.cbp.gov/faqs/what-happen...ties-have-been

But behind the scenes, CBP has even actively encouraged racist profiling even by their own agents — minorities and otherwise — protesting against racist profiling. And CBP has a litany of excuses that not only protect racist profiling but even encourage it also against US citizens under cover of so-called compelling national security interests.

Boggie Dog

What race are suspicious people from?

aroundtheworld76

Wow. There's a lot of victim blaming in this thread. Some here really seem to like the taste of boot leather.

"Why doesn't she have Global Entry?" Maybe because as an American citizen she has the right to reenter her own country without being harassed.

"She would get that treatment any country she goes to?" Umm no. At least not anymore. If she lands at LHR with her American passport, she would simply scan it into an E-gate reader which would likely slide open and let her in without any intimidation or abuse whatsoever. The fact that a US passport lets you enter the UK with less hassle than entering the US is quite telling.

"OMG she had stamps from THREE Muslim countries!!! She's clearly deserving of this interrogation. I bet her suitcase is full of Hijabs!!." A quarter of the world practices Islam. The presence of those stamps is indicative of nothing other than the bigotry of the person pointing them out.

When I am king, they will all be replaced by Chik Fil-A drive through workers. Less rude, more efficient and better able to follow a script: "Good Morning/Afternoon! I see you have a valid US passport. Welcome Home. Do you have anything to declare above your duty free allowance?" Though replacing most of them with E-gates followed by random bag checks like most civilized countries seems more reasonable. It's not their business where I was, what I was doing or who I was doing it with. Determine if I have anything dutiable or prohibited and let me get on my way.

We as a populace get exactly what we will accept from CBP. File complaints. If needed, call your congressperson. I had to do that (on advice of a lawyer) in 2015 due to ongoing CBP hassle that was interfering with my job. It worked and I get hassled and secondaried far less often now.

SkyLich

I've been sent to secondary at land and air borders, intensely questioned, intrusively searched and treated with suspicion before being moved on.

I've often thought there were characteristics of my travel that caused me to be profiled. Single male coming from South America. Frequent travel to SE Asia. I don't think government employees are motivated enough to create additional work for themselves unnecessarily, even to express their "racism".

As a White male, what can I blame this on, since it's obviously not racism? I mean, you'd be hard pressed to find a difference between my experience and the OPs, with the only difference being it's happened more frequently to me.

If I were of a different race, does that make the exact same treatment racist?

GUWonder

Never underestimate the ability of people to go through extra hoops to justify their racist prejudices or defend racist profiling when on board with racist profiling. Even if it means more work for some government employees or themselves or just breaks up the monotony of an otherwise “too” monotonous day.

It wouldn’t be hard pressed to find a difference between your experience(s) and the OPs’ experience, unless wanting to now claim to have flown with a wife on the same trip at the same time and with the same travel history as the OP; and that too with a wife of the same ethnic, age, geographical and travel background as the OP’s wife.

“White male” traveling alone repeatedly to/from Colombia (or some other parts of Latin America), SE Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa unfortunately too often also get subjected to racist profiling: that of being considered “more likely” sex tourists and/or drug runners. And whether or not the “white male” has or will have a young daughter — whether from a broken or intact nuclear family — doesn’t necessarily move the needle on that. Perhaps that was also a part of the story behind the initial GE membership application of some “white male” with your travel pattern not coming with a quick final approval despite the GE applicant’s best effort at the time.

seawolf

Still waiting for OP�s response on details of spouse and what exactly spouse felt she was discriminated against. Was it one or more of the following?

• Race;
• Color;
• Religion;
• Sex (including pregnancy and related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity); or
• National origin

i0wnj00

Nope, it doesn't go away.
I'm not sure about the jerky/racist part that the OP has alleged. but they are nosy, and IMO they like to see consistent travel patterns and once you start breaking from your norm, they start asking questions. CBP already has a "baseline" for me because of my travel patterns, and once I deviate for personal reasons, I'm almost expected to be asked questions about it.The ones on the Southern Border tend be more slightly fidgety and will look into your travel patterns closer. Been there, done that.