Can a US citizen be denied entry back into the USA?
 

Can a US citizen be denied entry back into the USA?
(a 100% law-abiding citizen with a valid US passport)


Is there somewhere in the law books or the Constitution
that guarantees a US citizen's right of entry?



Thanks!

No.

Yes. I was denied entry when returning from Canada when I was a very drunk passenger in my friends car. The person at the border said that my "body is a container," and I was "smuggling alcohol." The same for the rest of the drunk passengers.

We had our buddy drop us off as a Holiday Inn in Windsor, he drove back to Detroit and picked us up in the morning with a change of clothes for all of us.

The short answer to the question: no.

It is highly unlikely that such a person (over 18) exists. Ever "borrow" a pencil and forget to return it? Go 1mph over the speed limit?

Most people don't commit serious enough offences or annoy a LEO enough to have the laws enforced...

Joking aside, AFAIK, even criminals who as citizens cannot be denied entry, so long as they can prove citizenship. The government does, however, deny people the right to leave.

Sometimes, thankfully rarely, it forces people to give up their citizenship (sorry, they 'voluntarily' give it up): Hamdi and Arthur Rudolph for example.

Wow. Scary. Were you under 21?

You could have been under your friend's exemption (1 liter). If you had more than 1 liter worth of vodka in you at the time, you wouldn't be posting now.

Only 1 liter of vodka? Speak for yourself! :p

made-up rules
 

Betcha there is no reg about drunks coming home.

When agents abuse their power, it should be reported. They have much better things to do than waste time in that way.

Wow... that's almost like the incident they encountered, but there was no alcohol or anything illegal involved.

I was 20, almost 21 at the time. There were 5 of us in the car, 1-19, 1-20, 2-21... and the driver was one of the 21 yo's 18 year old brother. 4 of us were denied... the 18 year picked us up the next morning.

Since the drinking age in Canada is 19, I didn't think any part of is was illegal.

immigration/customs agents are not police officers.... thus they don't enforce drinking-age violations... I think... :)

I dunno. People can DRINK 1 liter of vodka pretty quickly and not die, but the alcohol starts to get metabolized pretty quickly. Having 40cl of ethanol (1liter * 40%) in you some time after consumption...

cargoship should have been under the exemption for the people > 21...

However it appears that > 21 year olds were also denied entry. That seems very wrong. However, public intoxication is a crime in most the US, so the border guard was preventing the commision of a crime. :rolleyes:

Customs do enforce alcohol laws BUT im rather sure that your constitutiona rights were violated by not bieng allowed back in the US.

They could have just paid the excise tax, if necessary.

To me, this just sounds like an abuse of power.

Have you seen Leaving Las Vegas? The quantities consumed were not an exaggeration. :eek:

This sure sounds like a customs agent way out of control. It sounds as if you could have easily "surrendered" what you were "smuggling" -- Then, you no longer would have been a "container."

"You didn't throw up in front of Dean Wormer; you threw up ON Dean Wormer!"