Miami is the WORST! I avoid international arrivals there at all costs.

So I can expect a similar type of harassment on my MR next month?

I was flagged once for secondary at SFO a few months ago. CBP does random checks to make sure GE members won't take the privilege for granted (just like PreCheck for TSA).

Has nothing to do with MIA. Happens everywhere.

This one sounds random as it wasn't machine-printed and it was at a location where it doesn't sound as though the officer was working from a database/list.

If it continues, there's a problem. If it doesn't, it was a one-off. As others note, CBP does do random checks of GE people to make sure they know that they aren't immune from inspection.

Thanks for the info. Hope this was a one-off.

Call me paranoid but I was wondering if this had to do with my change in appearance (dark skinned and recently grew a full beard). It used to cause me some grief (although it could be coincidental) few years ago. This was my first international travel since going brown Paul Bunyon.

Well to be fair, no one likes hipster beards ;)

It has to do with MIA, even if -- and especially when -- it's a "one-off". MIA is extra paranoid when it comes to checking passengers for customs compliance/violations.

The chances of a GE member ending up with a "random" customs search at MIA are much higher than at most (if not all) other airports used as a hub by AA/DL/UA.

I agree. I avoid Miami, JFK, ORD, PHL, and LAX, as well. When I go on next international flight. I will fly nonstop from BSL-LHR-PHX on British Airways.

Secondary CBP inspections
 

So my gf and I went to Mexico for a week. We're both US citizens. Everything went fine. We had 3 suitcases and our backpack. When we came back home (direct flight) we were sent to the automated kiosks. We said no to everything trying to quickly get through and it processed our receipts. Didn't notice if either had any x or anything other markings. We then had our passports checked by immigration and he asked if we had any food/alcohol. We hesitated for a few seconds and then I spoke up and said no. Forgot we had a small bottle of tequila as a gift for a friend. He stamped our passports and sent us through.

We then grabbed our bags at baggage claim and went to customs. The first guy looked at our passports and receipt and quickly sent us to another line where they sent our bags through the x-ray machine. They didn't open any of our bags. Then one of the guys took only my passport and went over to a computer and seemed like he was looking something up/typing something in. He then said my name out loud and told another guy to do "the survey". The officer was really nice and said they randomly survey 5 or 6 times a day. Asked like 5 questions. How many times traveled out of the country in the past year, been on a farm, bring anything back, etc. Total of maybe 5 questions or so. He apologized and said I was picked at random but for some reason it didn't seem "random" to me. Told him 4 times out of the country in the past year and no to the others. It took an extra 5-10 minutes or so.

My questions. I know nobody here has the answer...but

1 - Any idea why only I was "randomly surveyed" and had my passport checked again and not my gf? We're both mid 30s, Caucasian. It's weird that they sent us through together but only checked my passport and surveyed me.

2 - Does this seem odd to anyone or indeed "random"? I don't have a common name.

3 - Could the immigration officer have sensed something and maybe wrote something on my receipt that specified a secondary review of our bags and my passport? It was just odd that they sent our bags through but didn't even open them up or say anything and only did the extra screening on me.

4 - Will this continue to happen?

Any other input would be great.

Thanks

Welcome to Flyer Talk flywithme86 :)

From what you have described seems normal and random to me. I wouldn't worry about. Chances are low you'll be picked again.

(If they were truly concerned your bags would have been opened and you would have been asked a lot of questions. The fact only you were surveyed and not your girlfriend reinforces the random element.)

Thank you for the reassurance. I wonder though...is it normal for them to have only taken my passport and not hers? And what could they have possibly been doing at the computer? It couldn't have been more than 5 minutes from putting the bags on the x ray machine to completing the survey and going on. Have you ever heard of such a survey where they actually write down your answers? It just felt weird almost as if it wasn't random...but who knows.

You went to drug country. You're surprised at a random inspection???

Why did that NOT seem random? Mystified by that comment...

Being "mid 30s and Caucasian" may well make you less likely to be targeted for such things on purpose...but doesn't that make it MORE likely to have been random?

Not so concerned about the fact that it may have actually been random. It was just weird how they did it. Was something flagged on my passport and they used random survey as the excuse? Why did they not go through any bags or grab my gf passport? And most of all, why did they take my passport over to a computer and do whatever they did? It was just really odd...I've had my bag checked before upon return home some 3 international trips ago coming back from Europe but they never took my passport and did anything with it. Is that standard?

In the days when we had to fill out forms, immigration sometimes wrote a number which indicated to the person collecting the firm whether the passenger needed to go through secondary. Maybe there was something like that on your receipt or possibly tagged electronically in the system?

Totally speculating here as to the cause, but I had a similar experience many years ago and I'm certain it was triggered because I hesitated in answering a question ("How much money do you have on you?"). I tried to do some mental math on how much I had taken with me and how much I spent during the multi-stop trip etc. I'm guessing the officer read my hesitation as someone trying to hide something and decided a secondary was needed.