gnomey

how random was it? check 1 person for every 10 people that pass?

well, it could have been managed better. just have passengers disembark plane by rows: row 1-3 , row 4-6, etc.

SamirD

From what I recall of these guys and their armor and weapons, I think that would end badly.

SamirD

In my experience it was just like that 1 in every 5 or so. It was almost a 'if you knew what you were doing and didn't make eye contact you could just slip right through' situation. We didn't have to show anything, but people in front of us did.

As far as disembarking, even in this pandemic it seems no one gives a flying F about distancing. I still make it a point to keep 10ft away from someone in front of me in the jetbridge and at times I still feel someone breathing on my back. (get the F away from me!!!)

LETTERBOY

Is the the Police Department or the Public Health Department?

SamirD

This is back from July, but I remember one of the individuals was in police gear with body armor--they were probably border security versus police, but short of a helmet and a shield, it was practically riot gear that he had on.

nomiiiii

Yes they could be fully armed, but as a US citizen on US soil they can't deny you entry no matter what. You can very politely tell them to take a hike and politely remind them that you don't need to show any tests to be allowed entry into the US as long as you've sufficiently proven you're a citizen. Of course they can make things annoying for you by doing bag searches and even legally confiscating your devices/bags, but they can't deny you entry to the US.

Catbert10

True, but they could then take you to jail on suspicion of falsifying the attestation. I think at that point most people would show them the COVID test results they had to show to the airline prior to boarding.

SamirD

I wouldn't want to play 'THEMS MA RITES!' with them as it was obvious that they had the power to do whatever the hell they wanted.

The problems with the US now is that between the delay of due process and corruption creeping into every level, you have to watch yourself similar to other nations where this type of problem is prevalent. I'm not saying that it's even nearly as bad, but I see more of the same techniques being used to manipulate, compromise, and undermine the system's ability to delivery safety, security, and justice for the citizens. ymmv.

That being said, I believe they were looking at passports as well as test results.

exp

I don't know how they were pulling people but by the time I got to the choke point, one of them waved me through while two others were showing their documents.

And I'm not sure I may have mixed it up, don't know which agency was involved, but I thought I heard public health.

I was in row 16 so most of the front cabin had deplaned by the time I got out the door.

gnomey

Yeah it is CA DPH

many have reported before.

i dont know if they target flights coming in from certain countries or pure random, but so far the ones i heard that encounter spot check from CA DPH are flights originating from PPT or EU countries

jphripjah

How do you think it would end if an American citizen told San Francisco health officials "Take a hike, I'm American, there's nothing you can do to me for not showing you a COVID test result"?

Do you think they'd shoot him? Arrest him? Put him on a plan back to where he came from? Forcibly quarantine him?

No, they would do nothing.

SamirD

Try it and let us know how it turns out. In general it is probably safe to say that treating anyone with authority over you with distain will not get you a peaceful resolution--no matter what the country and no matter what 'MA RITES' are.

As previously posted above, this would be a likely scenario imo depending on how much of an ahole you wanted to be:

jphripjah

The notion that they would jail Americans who present no attestation for "falsifying" the attestation is absolutely absurd. That's like saying "If you're American and arrive at the Southern border without your U.S. passport, they will jail you for falsifying documents."

Well, there's a misconception Americans have that CBP can do whatever they want, toss Americans into immigration detention forever, deny entry to Americans, strip search and anally probe travelers on a whim, etc. And CBP likes it that way. They bark at Americans jump, because Americans are conditioned to act like sheep around authority figures.

Meanwhile, if a French immigration officer every tried to pull a Frenchman aside at the border and ask "What do you do for a living? What were you doing outside France" the Frenchman would tell him in no uncertain terms to take a hike, or whatever the phrase is in French.

"Just do what police say even if you don't have to because otherwise they will yell at you and hassle you" is how you end up with a police state.

SamirD

And there have also been instances of ticketing/gate agents who go by 72 hours versus 3 days even though it is supposed to be 3 days, so you should also prepare for that contingency.

SamirD

This will depend on the airport and I would ask in the appropriate airport thread if one exists.