I am telling you the uniforms are dark blue. The only black on them is the strip down the leg of the class two uniform. I can assure you I am reasonably sure I am correct. As it really should not have been that hard to figure out by now that I wear the uniform every day and have about fifteen of them in my closet.

Right out of the catalog

This why sometimes you have to take your fellow travelers observations and recollections with an open mind sometimes they are wrong.

FB

I've seen it a (very) few times when flying into countries other than the US, too. Once in ZRH last year. Can't be bothered to search, but there was a thread about it happening in (I think) Japan.

It doesn't matter he will be processed the same way regardless. CBP doesn't have to be at the gate to identify him by the manifest and process of elimination.

FB

He may well be processed the same way. I'm talking about the ease of CBP determining (a) his identity, (b) his most recent origin, and (c) his nationality.

If they know which flight he was on, it's quicker to work out who on that flight hasn't gone through CBP yet. If he hides in the restroom after his flight until dozens of other flights have arrived from all over the world, then presents himself at the CBP booth without a passport or any ID papers, it's a lot harder to prove who he is and where he came from.

As I understand it, someone coming directly from their country where they were facing persecution is treated more generously than someone who has been living in (or even transiting through) a third country. A refugee from Sri Lanka is going to get more serious consideration than a refugee from France. Someone fleeing southeast Asia via the UK and then Canada is going to have to explain why they didn't seek asylum in those countries.

I have a colleague for whom this apparently happens every time he reenters the US. He is apparently on some watch list which is particularly funny since he is also about done with getting his US citizenship! (Currently a green card holder.) He actually warned me on our last trip since we were returning on the same flight into SFO that I shouldn't acknowledge him once the plane landed and that we would get the passport check in the jetway - I didn't believe him but he was right. The other funny thing is that the CBP folks in SFO apparently know him well enough that even they think it is funny and silly but rules is rules and so they go through the process while catching up with him on what's been going on in his life and sports interests! Truly bizarre theater.

Has he applied for redress? Have ICE/CBP given him any guidance about rectifying this situation?

Yes, I was wrong. It was CBP, not TSA. You guys are quick at catching stuff like that.

BTW, the folks were escorted peacefully, not handcuffs or anything.

There, fixed that for you... ;)

Sometimes the manifest(s) and process of elimination -- including that by way of intending to try to use recorded video feeds -- hasn't worked. It's also not always that quick to go thru that even when it does work.

.... and when there are spare CBP bodies, someone has to make work to keep them busy.

Video feeds have absolutely nothing to do with it.

FB

CBP doesn't have to prove who he is. He has to prove who he is to CBP. The document used to get on the aircraft and later destroyed is 98% of the time a false document anyway. If the subject truly is seeking asylum and is a true candidate for asylum by time he gets to the asylum officer he has given his true name and true story because he wants to asylum officer to be able to verify it. The asylum officer doesn't take what is said at face value. That is why the process takes so long because the story has to be able to be corroborated.

The officer's don't like them hiding in the bathroom because there is nothing worst than thinking you are done for the night and then finding three or four Sri Lankans in the bathroom. If CBP officers are at a gate for an arriving flight is generally not an anti asylum measure.

FB

They certainly sometimes do.

Often the individuals truly seeking asylum to be allowed to enter and/or to stay in the US will fabricate and/or exaggerate stories and fudge about their true name(s) because they are that very intent upon being allowed to enter and/or stay in the US.

When free of concern that what is stated will come back to bite them in the backside, plenty of those truly seeking asylum and who have received it do admit to having fudged details about names and/or background in order to get what they wanted.

Trying to verify asylum-seekers' claims about situations deserving of asylum are not necessarily a walk in the park in terms of verification, no less so when dealing with the likes of Somalis or previously Afghans who entered the US from Mexico and claim asylum in the US upon running into DHS employees.

These guys may very well have been from Customs or some other agency. I didn't look closely enough and will freely admit that whenever I encounter any nuisance or inconvenience at US airports, my mind goes to TSA first.

Regardless, thanks for the insights on this thread. This sucks but at least now I know why it's being done for next time.

Seen it happen at LAX several times.

From what I can recall it was the LAPD doing the checking.

What on earth could the TSA do?

Try dark, dark, dark blue. Blogger Bob has pictures: http://www.tsa.gov/blog/labels/Uniforms.html

(A dozen CBP officers greeted the LHR-SFO arrival at the gate on Thursday, didn't see any passport checking though. I also thought they wore black.)

On the Airport program shown in the U.K. between 1996 and 2005 they showed this happening more than once with passengers turning up at passport control with no documents and eventually claiming asylum, the one I remember most clearly was a mother with 3/4 young children.

As the series went on I seem to remember seeing targeted passport checking being carried out on the jetway from as has been said specific points of entry.

DMF