The lesson here is that both the penalties for and the long-term consequences of making false statements are usually greater than the underlying penalty itself.

What's worse is that the duty if often not that much. People who could have declared an item and possibly paid a few bucks in duty, wind up with hundreds/thousands of dollars in penalties and wind up flagged in the system. On the other hand, declare something and many Officers will simply wave you through.

exactly. Holy hell would I like an explanation of the post above and the anger behind it. I just don't understand people.

Duty free means there was no tax on them in the country you bought them. That doesn't mean there won't be tax when you bring them into another country.

what are they looking up and writing about me when I get sent to secondary?
 

(This doesn't pertain to GE per se I don't think, but I couldn't find a better thread.)

I was re-entering US, went through passport control with no particular incident, and I had nothing to declare. Then when about to exit customs hall, agent with nothing else to do apparently called me over to get searched. In the screening area there were two agents, with the one who pulled me doing the driving. They of course went through all my effects, checked for secret pockets, etc. They also were asking questions throughout, which started with the expected (relating to trip, how long was I gone, where did I go), but became more wide-ranging (what previous trips had I taken, what is my employment), and eventually became quite nosy and personal (marital status, what I studied at uni). Seemed they thought I was lying about something, although I wasn't — answered openly and honestly, although I wasn't volunteering anything they hadn't asked.

I wasn't carrying contraband, and eventually they satisfied themselves with the search and let me pack up again. Before I could go though, the driver / 'lead' agent, was doing something with a computer and my passport. He remarked to the other that the 'super query' wasn't working and he had to go to a different one. I guess it worked there, and he also appeared to write in some kind of short report. Then I was allowed to go.

Does anyone know what they were doing with the computer? I believe this was a random stop, but given that the degree of scrutiny felt very intense, does it have any implication for my future re-entries? Is it normal they get so nosy? I don't see reports of that here.

Sometimes the CBP employees may refer to this kind of questioning and search as a survey and then use it with the super query. Not voluntary when subjected to this, but being GE is no exemption from this. I have been subject to this once, coincidentally as a GE member, and it has not had any impact on my entries or exits since. Mine was also said to be a random stop, a stop after baggage claim but before exiting the customs area. I don’t know how “random” my being selected was, but it wasn’t a referral that landed me with this. When they do this, sometimes they won’t care to search the belongings; other times, they do the search and continue with questions around the search time.

The reference to the super query being down can mean that they had to run separate electronic searches across the various databases and push information out to other agencies via more manual entries into the system. The super query is meant to speed up things with a unified secondary search/investigation/data collection/feed, and when that goes down, it can be back to individuals database by database search if they care to continue the process for Treasury, State, or other departments/agencies.

Thanks for the context. :tu: So this is apparently a thing. Yes, I was not actually referred as far as I'm aware, just picked out of the crowd somehow.

Well at least now I know what this is. I don't want to have it again!

Just a guess, but it sounds like a random agriculture inspection. I think sometimes they have to inspect/search a certain number of pax from a particular flight, and you just got selected.

“Random” agriculture inspections I’ve had plenty of times over the years. This stuff noted by fumje isn’t an ordinary “random” ag inspection at the ports of entry. Disposition entry indication and super query mention mean this wasn’t a typical ag inspection referral on a random/quota basis.

I suspect OP was profiled resulting in the encounter.

This has happened to me before. Been sent to secondary a few times in my traveling life, even though most of my travel is through the land borders with Canada and Mexico.
I think most of the times I was sent to secondary was because I would cross through a different land POE than what I normally would go through and they were curious why I "deviated" from that pattern.
At least for me, they don't seem to like it if I deviated from where I enter.

Your case was either random or profiling.

As you guessed, writing a short report of the encounter and the results of said encounter.
And doing a through look up on you through the various databases they have access to, through this probably done at primary when they run your passport information.

While future CBP officers you meet can see your travel history, and likely any notes made on the encounter, it has no effect your ability to re-enter the US.
Nothing was found during the encounter and the officer had no further reason to escalate the situation so there isn't really anything to worry about.

In secondary, yes they tend to be nosy.

It's not an random agriculture inspection.
They would direct you to toss your bags on the x-ray machines and not ask questions about your personal life. They start asking questions if they find something worth looking at, otherwise you get to leave, no questions asked. This normally isn't intrusive since they are pre-screening your bags and trying to eliminate you for further screening.

Because the secondary for the OP was a through search of the bag and questions at the same time, they were looking for agriculture items plus potential contraband...
This is intrusive, they are going through your stuff, emptying your bag on a table for everybody to see, searching your car or other property you have on you and then asking questions about your life..questions you can normally ignore if asked by anybody else.

Yeah it definitely wasn't random ag. I have had that before, and this was different.


I imagine it was some kind of profiling, although wasn't too sure what 'profile'.

I'm more curious than concerned about the little report. Can I submit a FOIA to get a copy of whatever it is? I have no experience with that, but the foia.gov website looks relatively easy to use. Is there a name for the report? Perhaps if I request any records created as a result of my "search and survey" inspection by US CBP on date X, that would be specific enough.

CBP has roving officers hanging out in baggage claim who pull people aside, question them, and then can direct them to secondary inspection. there might have been something about your demeanor/appearance/acts in the exit hall that attracted the officer's attention. Like making eye contact, not making eye contact, looking around too much, wearing bulky shoes, looking nervous, carrying a type of suitcase favored by drug smugglers, being a young person returning alone from a drug source country, etc. It's hardly ever "random." They pull aside travelers when, based on their experience and skill, they have a suspicion or hunch that the traveler might be involved in illegal activity.

>They also were asking questions throughout, which started with the expected (relating to trip, how long was I gone, where did I go), but became more wide-ranging (what previous trips had I taken, what is my employment), and eventually became quite nosy and personal (marital status, what I studied at uni).

If you're an American citizen you don't have to answer questions like that.

Not only a certain number--I've overheard a couple of officials discussing whether our flight was 100% inspect. (Arriving from China, that means a lot of people from a society used to skirting apparently meaningless rules and who want to bring delicacies that the US will not permit. I don't blame them for being suspicious of flights from China.)

This. It's not like TSA that doesn't have enough targets. Add to your list being a lone male from a sex tourism country.

Indeed. Perhaps just being "out of the ordinary" compared to other passengers does the trick. I've been pulled into secondary inspection for apparently no other "risk" factor than that I made the mistake of stopping and waiting near the exit from the customs area to text my colleague to see if they had deplaned and collected their bags yet. I was the only one picked out of many dozens of other passengers walking out. The whole secondary inspection area (at BOS) looked deserted at the time and the couple of officers hanging out there seemed truly bored out of their minds. After a minute or two of looking in my bag they told me to carry on. It was a very lackadaisical inspection, not sure they would have found anything even if I had some contraband as they didn't even really poke into my suitcase much or ask many questions.

Anyway, lesson learned, I don't stop or slow down in any of these intermediate areas of secure spaces in airports any more, just go with the flow of other passengers and try not stick out.