DuncanB

Hi Everybody,

Apologies in advance if I haven't posted this in the correct area, this seemed to be the best place but I wasn't 100% certain. I had an odd experience passing through US Customs recently whereby I appear to have been red-flagged and wanted to see if anybody else has had had a similar experience and if it turned into an ongoing issue when traveling. I should start off by saying that I am a Canadian citizen and have a NEXUS pass. My wife and I had planned a trip to Hawaii, and she logged in to check in with the airline within the 24 hour window prior to the flight. When doing this, the airline allowed her to check in but she got an error message back for me saying that they needed more information (despite the fact that she had entered my passport number). At the airport (Vancouver, BC), we were able to check in without a problem, but then I was selected for a secondary search consisting of a body scan. Following that minor inconvenience, we continued on to US Customs (at YVR, you clear US Customs in the airport prior to actually leaving Canada). As I have NEXUS, I was able to use the retina scan booth for identification purposes rather than waiting in the usual line. When we reached the US customs officer, he immediately referred both of us to secondary inspection. We waited for awhile at secondary inspection before I was eventually called. The officer asked me a few basic questions (ie my job, where I worked, the location of the company, why I was going to the US, etc.). He then said that they just needed to wait for my checked baggage to come back (apparently it had accidentally been sent on) before I could go. This took awhile, and eventually my wife went up and asked him if he needed anything from her as well or if she was just being brought in because of me. He said that she was just there because of me, and that the reason that I was there was because I had a common name (which is not the case at all, I actually have a very uncommon name and would be shocked if there were 20 people in all of North America with the same first and last names as me). Anyways, eventually our checked bags arrived and we were both called up again. Oddly enough, he put our carry-on bags through the scanner but did not even look at our checked bags. He then gave us our passports back and told us to have a good trip.

Has anybody else experienced something similar? If so, did you continue to get stopped and sent to secondary inspection in future trips across the border? 99% of the time that I enter the US I drive across the border to Washington state, and I'm hoping that this isn't going to happen indefinitely going forward, as it would kind of defeat the purpose of having a NEXUS card in the first place. Otherwise, does anybody know why I potentially could have been stopped in the first place since it didn't appear to be random? Given that I have NEXUS, the US government already has all of my information and I'm surprised that they would need to stop me if they already knew exactly who I was. The whole thing was very odd, especially considering the fact that they didn't even check my bags in the end.

Thanks in advance!

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Welcome to FT. Never had something like that but it could have been some odd fluke in the system as your usual entry was via land but now air. The real question is whether it now happens again.

Often1

Wouldn't bother speculating. Could be anything from a random selection to a common name (not meaning that your name is common but that someone with a name which even sounds similar to yours is flagged for one reason or another.

If it repeats the next time you enter the USA, you will know that you have an ongoing problem.

GUWonder

If the CBP employee's words can be taken for face value -- and the results from the secondary selection and search as shared by the OP would tend to indicate that they can be taken at face value -- then it is likely that someone with a similar name (or Soundex-variant) has been blacklisted at least for some time. This may or may not result in repeated hassles for the OP, but if the OP's future trips are within a relatively short period of time in the near future then the chances for repeated hassles are somewhat higher but far from certain. Even if the flag hits twice in a row or more, it usually will come to an end eventually for most people in the kind of situation covered by the OP.

Missy's Mom

I was stopped back in 2007 crossing at the Ambassor Bridge from Windsor Ontario to Detroit Michigan. It was a horrible experience and one that has stayed with me every time I now venture to the US. At that time I was dating someone from Illinois. We decided to meet up in Detroit. When it was finally my turn to meet with the customs officer I was asked to hand over my passport, leave my vehicle and stand about 50 feet behind it. I was also told to leave absolutely every item I had with me in my vehicle. The US customs agents then grilled me for 45 minutes while they tore through my luggage and stripped the inside of my car. I was asked why I was visiting the US and I told them it was for some R&R. They asked me about my bf, if I was aware that he had a criminal record and that he was in the FBI database all of which I knew nothing about. I told them I was visiting a friend and nothing more. We werent even really dating, we were friends at that point. Needless to say the next thing they did was bring in drug sniffing dogs and looked under my car with mirrors (it reminded me of my visit to East Germany back in 1985 passing through Checkpoint Charlie). They kept asking me if I had any drugs on me, I kept insisting I didnt. They found nothing but my car was a mess (and it wasnt even mine considering it was a lease). I asked them if they would clean up the mess they made, they laughed at me and told me I had to clean up before I left. Belongings were even on the ground outside the vehicle. I was humiliated and in tears. At this point I wasnt even aware that I had yet been red flagged until four days later when I returned to Canada. Our customs got a good laugh on my account and asked me how my vacation with my bf was....I have never done anything to be treated as horribly as this. I have since returned to the US but I still get looks and questions even though I havent been in contact with this individual in over five years. I have since only gone over with friends/family and am deathly afraid to drive over with my own vehicle even though I have since acquired a new one. I was told the red flag would only last seven years, however, I have a friend who has also been red flagged and she advised me its a lifetime thing

MavSeven

So was he, or wasn't he, your boyfriend? (Red flag #1, especially if you changed the nature of your relationship during questioning)

You admitted to having some sort of relationship with a known convict. (Red flag #2).

Loren Pechtel

Second this. I rather suspect the crime involved drugs.

msn bubba

apologies if this has been covered in another post.

I have been stopped at customs 4 out of the last 5 times returning to US by air (Europe and Mexico)

Yes I have a common name, and yes it is cleared up in 10 to 30 minutes, but is there a way to have my record cleared so that I am not the person or persons they are looking for?
It appears the people are guilty for things such as drugs, parental support, etc.

SeriouslyLost

Ah, guilt by association? Welcome to the United States of Paranoid.

zipo

Wierd. Hopefully u'll never have this again. I u do, u know they got something on u

Kiwi Flyer

Have you tried including your middle name on the ticket, or any suffix/prefix/unusual title that might apply?

GUWonder

A passport name change may help. Even adding a middle name/initial has some chance of helping if it wasn't your SSN or other details too used by a crook with a substantially similar name to yours.

Firebug4

There is a process the Customs officer may be able to do. It depends upon the particular circumstances, and documents that are resulting in the secondary inspection.

FB

msn bubba

Yes, I include my middle name. During my last visit to the customs, I was checked by a supervisor, and he was able to pass me through after about 10 minutes of questions of my aliases (none), Tattoos (none) scars (none).

He said that next check may be shorter, but there was no guarantee.

carsnoceans

I have entered the border via GE few times but never been flagged for secondary.

There was no X on the receipt and I was on merry way until customs officer near exit stopped me and continued to ask few questions such as length/ purpose of my trip, my profession etc.

Then he wrote S on the receipt and sent me for CBP baggage check. Where the officer asked same questions, opened and inspected my bag and then we were done.

Just wondering, if this is random at MIA or happens frequently when coming from Brazil (or S America)?