:D ROTFLOL :D

From time to time, I get in a mood where I try to see the good in others, but then I continually get disappointed. You're right - it was probably closer to your situation than what I suggested.

Lousy advice. That kind of attitude only excites them (the butt heads) more, resulting in more delays for you! The OP probably has the same name as someone they are tracking, or some stupid computer program classified her travel patterns as suspicious.

By asking "why?" or by having your DH answer for you, you only excite the butt head even more.

This is best: Always stay calm, and answer their questions honestly and fully, but without any filler or unnecessary information. If a 'yes' or 'no' suffice, then say so, no need to either (a) give long answers, or (b) act offended. After all, the govt officer is only doing his/her job to the best of their abilities. (Whether such abilities don't amount to much, is something else...)

Very good advice!

My worst experiences in the western world have been not at US customs but upon entry into Canada on various occasions over the years. They often find something about me that's not to their liking resulting in delays and secondary searches (e.g., arriving at the Quebec border for a meeting,in a car rented in Connecticut at another meeting, when I have a California drivers license and live in California, after also having spent two days in Maine -- they spent two hours taking apart my stuff and car!; or stating I was heading off to a particular destination that is usually a vacation destination but I was traveling alone and they asked where my spouse was and were suspicious; or having a birth certificate on me as ID with a slight misspelling of my first name compared with what was on my boarding pass; or having a five-segment flight to get from Los Angeles to Toronto because that's the only last-minute set of flights I could find to get there).

And you don't want to hear about eastern Europe travel questions under the old Soviet regime :rolleyes:

.....

Never been hassled returning to the U.S. Always cooperative in my responses. Only times I've been given a hard time was once at YVR by Canadian immigration (on the return, I complained to a U.S. immigration agent who said she had heard a lot of complaints from returning U.S. citizens) and several times at LGW/LHR always by H.M. customs agents with Indian/Pakistani accents.

What kind of "hard time" did you have at LGW/LHR?

As best as I can recall, walking through the Green Channel, the only times I have been stopped - they asked the purpose of my visit to London (asked and answered at immigration), what I intended to do there, where I was staying, asked to see my hotel res, if I was meeting anyone, why I had two toothbrushes in my carry-on (one was in the amenity kit), if my purpose was tourism why I didn't bring any tourist books or maps, what my medication (lipitor) was for, why I brought my own shampoo, asked to see the currency I was bring into the U.K. and explain how I had acquired British pounds before entering the country, asked me to identify the individuals pictured in wallet size photos.

I had a great time in DTW the other day returning from AMS. I was gone 4 nights w/ no checked luggage. Each agent asked me repeatedly if I had any other baggage. Apparantly being efficient enough to pack several days worth of necessities into one medium sized backpack is suspicious. Anyway, after answering a string of questions ranging from how much money am I carrying to did i meet any hot german girls, the agent dumped my carefully packed belongings all over the table. He seemed satisfied with my story when he saw 4 pair of boxer shorts. I nearly asked him if he would like to smell them.

So you're one of those unfortunates on the side?!? :D

On a serious note, hopefully this is not routine for you any longer there and the cholesterol is under check. I've seen similar things happen to others and yet I have never seen anyone arrested.

The "false positive" must be sky high.

I agree with the above poster who has had a bad time with Canadian immigration/customs. Whenever I drive alone from SEA to YVR for a quick weekend trip for fun they treat me with deep suspicion and usually search my car. One time they even took it apart and detained me for 2.5 hours!! Afterwards they put my car back together good as new and gave me a genuine apology for taking up so much of my time, which I appreciated. ^ I guess it's just a red flag to them that I tell them I live in Seattle but have California plates on my car and a California license.

This is really reprehensible and I hope you took his name and filed a complaint. I am always amazed at the apologists who somehow justify this kind of behavior in the name of security etc. I am brown skinned but am a physician, with no accent as I have lived forty plus years here and still get hassled on return to US. Well trained......ha . I have had customs agents look through my passport and thought Swaziland was Switzerland... that's how good some of their knowledge of world geography is. Sorry for ranting but this is one subject that seems to get my goat.

As a US citizen you HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT. "Officer, with all due respect, I'd prefer not to make any statement."

Since lying to a customs or INS agent is a felony, I would follow your advice with one more: NEVER GUESS. If you don't know an exact date, or aren't sure of that, tell the agent, give a general response (Fall '04) or refuse to answer.

Don't start committing felonies -- intentional or unintentional, by lying to federal agents. Bill Clinton and Martha Stewart can both tell you that this is a bad idea.

I've returned to the US 31 times, and 13 since 9/11, and am on my second set of passport extra pages with over 150 visa stamps, so that's probably "enough". Thankfully, I've yet to be hassled as OP described. Recently I was asked secondary questions because I was in 8 countries including Afghanistan and Russia, but the agent was friendly and was looking for the explanation.

What was interesting was how much the agents knew about the OP's travel. My brother-in-law, was once asked by government security why I traveled to Russia so much.