Customs at DFW - is this normal?
 

After clearing passport control and going through baggage reclaim, everyone then had to queue to surrender their customs form. Nothing new there.

What I found different was that instead of just simply surrendering it, you actually had to offer the form and passport to the customs officer, who then did a mini-interview.

Is this normal? At LAX you simply hand over the form and that's it - no mini-interview.

I've had the mini-interview at LAX before, so YMMV.

It's within the range of normal for CBP. It happens from time to time at many US airports of entry but most passengers don't notice it or get subjected to it. Less frequent than what you noted: being pulled to the side after handing in the customs form and then being subjected to a CBP interview where some of the details provided are recorded by hand.

Completely normal. That mini-interview can determine whether your bags get searched. The customs official there is interested in what you may be bringing into the country. The passport control immigration official is concerned about your ability to enter the country, not what you are bringing in.

It's all about inserting uncertainty into the process. Knowing that your bags might be tossed -- however unlikely -- you are more likely to honestly declare what's in them.

One by one, US ports of entry are introducing "automated passport control" for holders of US and Canadian passports. More details and lots of opinions in this FT thread.

In a nutshell, more and more people (US and Canadian citizens plus people who've paid for Global Entry and related programmes) are getting to go through the first stages of entering the country without being questioned by a human. They scan their passports, answer questions via a screen and get 'receipts' from the machines. They then need to hand over the receipts and show their passports when exiting the customs area -- at which point they may be asked one or more questions.

A side effect is that permanent residents now have to queue with visitors.

US LPRs had to line up with visitors at some US ports of entry even before APC kiosks were acquired for use by any US airport/airline; and in some places the US LPRs being relegated to the visitor lines took place even before there were GE kiosks. Just want to make sure that APC kiosks aren't seen as the driver of all of the shifting of US LPRs into the visitors' lines; that is not to say it may not have been a contributing factor at some airports and won't become more of one unless and until (or even after) APC kiosks are enabled for LPR use and perhaps even ESTA/VWP visitors.

Fair point, although (at least in Texas) the introduction of APC is a rather major factor.

It's allegedly coming for both groups, but I won't be holding my breath.

The mini-interviews can happen anywhere but seem to happen more regularly at DFW in my experience. Returning from Colombia to ATL or MIA raises nary an eyebrow (and not a single question) but DFW Customs loves extensive mini-interviews when traveling from much less "exotic" origins.