Sorry, I'm very late to this thread. In short, no they can't legally hold you and no, they can't legally arrest you, absent cause to believe that you have committed a crime. I am not aware of any law that makes it a crime to refuse an unwarranted search, though if anyone knows of one, please post the citation.

If one were arrested pursuant to failure to waive his 4th amendment rights and consent to a search, what would be the charge? True, officers don't like it when people fail to waive their rights, they'd rather everyone consent to searches, everyone not call their lawyers, everyone voluntarily confess to crimes, et cetera. Asserting your rights might be "suspicious", but is it "reasonable suspicion"? How exactly can that legally be used against you?

I have, twice, but only on international arrivals. One thing I must note is that I was not in a sterile area when I refused. I was, due to the unfortunate positioning of the checkpoint, stuck in an area where the only exit was through the checkpoint, which I declined to go through and requested to leave to the street. I'm not sure how different this would have been had I already been inside a sterile area.

In addition to Seattle previously noted, I believe this has been fixed in Atlanta with the opening of the new international wing of the terminal. For the list of airports where it is still an issue we should also include Charlotte, Memphis, and Pittsburgh, as far as I know. Please correct this list if you know of any additions/subtractions, as my information is somewhat dated.

No, it's absolutely NOT reasonable suspicion. If it was, the fourth amendment would be pointless.

In 9th Circuit land, US v. Fuentes. "Mere refusal to consent to a stop or search does not give rise to reasonable suspicion or probable cause."

If you had already been inside a sterile area, why would you have to be screened?

I'm not sure I understand what this thread is about. Can anyone explain this "reverse screening" concept? At first I thought it referred to certain international terminals where you have to go through security in order to exit the airport after arrival, but I'm not sure.

Charlotte has resolved this issue now as well, the drill is pretty much the same as any other airport now (land, immigrations/customs, re-check luggage/re-clear security or depart airport, depending on final destination)

So with the layout at Charlotte apparently having been fixed, it joins Atlanta and Seattle on the list of airports which formerly re-screened non-connecting international arrivals, but now allow them to depart unhindered.

This leaves the list of "problem layouts" at: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Memphis and Pittsburgh. Please correct me if I am wrong, this may be out of date.

The reason that I'm posting again is I've noticed the recent renovations at Pittsburgh and the "Central Core" of the airside part of the terminal is currently gutted down to the concrete. Does anyone have any information about whether the security checkpoint would be moved there? This seems like the perfect time to do it, and doing so would solve the "re-screening departing international travelers" problem, since this would then allow the customs area to exit into a non-sterile area, as is the case in most airports.

Does anybody have any info if this is in the works at PIT?