On Saturday morning, I entered the U.S. through a minor border crossing in the middle of the desert between Columbus, New Mexico and Palomas, Mexico. Contrary to recently announced procedures, I was not asked for any identification nor was my vehicle searched in any way whatsoever.

This, notwithstanding the fact that I was coming from southern Mexico and was driving an SUV filled with large parcels. Moreover, on the prior day, when I briefly crossed the border near Laredo, Texas, the fact that my passport was the size of a telephone book and contained several stamps entirely in Arabic didn't seem to generate any interest from the inspector.

It seems to me that it would be more productive to focus on tightening up these procedures prior to seizing finger nail clippers, etc. from air passengers.