what happened to me at customs?! HORRIBLE situation

[fozzie 41]

Yes, I should say so. You are entering the US multiple times on VAWA, and you are openly declaring that you are using these trips as preparation for longer and more permanent stays in the US. That's not illegal in and of itself, but it certainly raises the possibility of immigrant intent in my mind. And if it's in my mind, certainly its' in the agent's mind. That's their job, to weed out people entering with intent other than the purpose of their visa. I would say they're doing their job diligently, nothing more.

Harsh interrogation techniques work.

[sara..... 371]

we are usa citizens and when returning from bangkok lay over we decided to visit and tour it instead of taken our normal transfer plane out to the usa, we have now been checked two times coming back to the states because they dont believe we had nothing to declare we finally figured out if we declare moms cigarettes or something they dont bother us, we no longer purchase dvds over seas cuz one time we saw a guy get his luggage gone thru when we did and he got arrested because of the dvds he had, copy right or something i dont know but they look for contraband or if ur not declaring something that should be declared or drugs thats why there are dogs in there too walking around..........so u see it is not just visitors to the usa that get their luggage gone thru on occasion, usa citizens have to go thru it too. dont worry about them going thru ur luggage.......its when they say mmm what is this and why didnt u declare it that there is a problem.

sara

[TayRivers 4]

The CBP Officers you encountered at your POE were not just looking for terrorists but they are looking for people who are trying to enter the USA with the intent to remain. It is there job to question anyone who they think might be entering this country as a tourist so that they dont have to go through the process of applying for the correct visa.

You should be very thankful that you were not just put on the first flight back to France at your own expence. You have openly stated that you have intent to live and study in the USA and that you have a BF in the US. Who are you leaving all your extra things with while you go back to France? Your BF.

Everything you have said about what you told the CBP officer raises red flags to me as well. The fact that you have used the VWP to enter the US so often in the last 12 months is enough for red flags to be raised.

Here in Boston we have more illegal immigrants here from europe than from any other part of the world, like you they came on the VWP for 90 days and just forgot to go home.

My Friend who lives next door to me works for CBP and so of the things he has told me about they way people treat them I would not want their job. They are trained to be cold and unfriendly and accusing. That is how they get people flustered and then they say things they might not have when they were feeling calm and confident.

As others have said if you feel that you were treated unfairly then you have the option to complain. But I do have to say that it sounds like you think you were not in the group of people who are normally stopped by CBP and should have just been allowed to enter with just a pleasent smile and "have a nice trip" People from most europeen country have the attatude that they are allowed to go anywhere they want without question.

Maybe you have had a good wake-up call. The CBP are there for a reason and if they have to be hard to get their job done then so be it.

[CBR 0]

..she takes me to the office where you have all the "so called suspicious" people waiting there forever (i think it is the detention office or sthg )......more like all the people looking suspicous coz of their skin colors or countries etc.......UNFAIR id say!.....still, among all of them I look kinda akward, i donot look like the typical terrorist or illegal person....im 22 , young woman i dont knwo what the hell im doing there at all..........

Yeah, it's really terrible that you were put in a room with all these people who don't look like you. How humiliating. So since you are female and 22 we should have a special provision in the regulations to let you enter the country and not need to pass inspection, I suppose. It would be the "I'm 22 and a really nice girl, so how dare you inspect me at Customs" inspection-bypass. Great idea.

my plan was to bring as much as possible over there, and leave it all there , so next time Id come back to go to college, knowing that I could only bring 2 luggages, I would already have a lot of my things waiting for me in the US.......obv that was A VERY BAD thing to do...

Yes, I should say so. You are entering the US multiple times on VAWA, and you are openly declaring that you are using these trips as preparation for longer and more permanent stays in the US. That's not illegal in and of itself, but it certainly raises the possibility of immigrant intent in my mind. And if it's in my mind, certainly its' in the agent's mind. That's their job, to weed out people entering with intent other than the purpose of their visa. I would say they're doing their job diligently, nothing more.

Yes, they're doing their job, but I agree they take it too far at times. There's no common sense applied to their tactics. It would have been just as easy to tell her, no, explain why and treat her with human dignity. We experienced the same treatment at the Canada border a couple times when we were noobs at border crossings, so I totally understand where you're coming from. The info DID go into their computer system...we saw it at the interview in Montreal (he was denied at the border).

I hope you don't have to experience this in the future. Pack light! Learn what they are looking for and what they think is suspicious and don't bring it. Never push your luck.

[golybki T_V 0]

wow Audrey so sorry to hear what happened to you and that you had to go thru all that

I just want to tell you that you shouldn't worry about being banned because they would've given you something to sign otherwise he doesn't have any proof that he told you you were banned .

You were checked that way (detailed) randomly, I'm sure you didn't look suspicious, it was a bad day for them and they picked you to get out everything on you and practice their power. They had no right to treat you that way unless you had something suspicious.

[Cindy & Greg 0]

That's a horrible story, but I have my doubts that it actually happened to you. I worked for a major airline for 10 years and am very familiar with immigration/customs procedures. I can confirm that Custom officers have ZERO decision about your validity for entry into a country, unless of course, they find something in your bags. Immigration inspection occurs before Customs inspection and it is Immigration officers who ask you the questions about visit, length, passport validity etc. At the point you clear immigration, and enter customs, you are being checked for an entirely different thing. Immgiration checks YOUR PERSONAL validity to enter the country while Customs checked the ITEMS you are bringing into the country - not you yourself.

I agree with the first poster....troll much?

[Shad and Dani 3]

I'm sorry you had to go through that traumatic experience. You shouldn't have been treated that way. However, I take offense to the generalizations you made about Americans, but I know you are very angry. You should file a complaint against these officers. It might save some other poor girl from having the same experience. You made one HUGE mistake that landed you in that situation. You brought too much in your luggage. The personal items were a huge red flag for them. It tells them you plan to immigrate to the US.

I don't believe all this ####### about a ban. I hope you can enjoy your time in the USA.

[cEzYcHiC 0]

HI everyone!

THis is my very post in here, I was hoping I could get some kind of help with what happened to me a few months ago

on my way to the US, when going thru customs.....

Im warning you first, it is going to be a VERY long post, coz i do need to describe what happened to me

completely......also IM REALLY hoping to get answers, because it is really bothering me and pretty much ruining my

life right nw!......

Let me explain my situation first, Ive been dating my bf for more than a year and a half now, he is american and Im

french living in France......

Ive been visiting him for the past year 3 times already......one week in feb 2008, 3 months from mid-june to mid-

sept 2008 and one month in feb 2009.....

On my way to the US, last febuary, everything seem to be going fine ( Ive been travellin to the US since 2004 now

to visit friends etc etc, so Ive always been very good at following the rules, answering questions, having

everything ready, documents, adress in the states during my stay etc etc,...)

Ok so here I am at the airport, waiting in line at customs, waiting to get thru customs, get my luggages and get

into my connecting flight.....

After about 45 mins waiting, its finally my turn to be asked all the usual questions...where im going, what is the

home adress there, for hw long im gonna be staying, etc, give the I-94 form, passeport, go thru fingerprints, etc

etc...

So far, everything is fine, the custom agent is checking everything, it seems like its a matter of mintues for me

until i can make it to my next plane...( i was running late after waitin for so long at customs....)...The lady

gives me my passeport and form back, I have the stamp on passeport n form, Im good to go....!

Next step for me, go get my lugagges asap and hurry for my next flight......ok so I got my luggages and Im RIGHT

before passing the check point where one agent is sitting there, just checking passeports and forms one last time

before letting people go out of customs, and go thru the halls etc etc......

STILL today, I dont know why he told me to go w my luggages on the right.....(which is for what i see where custom

agents check luggages and belongings COMPLETELY.....the agents wearing blue gloves

Wow! That's indeed horrible! I don't even know how would I react if I'd experienced that. Did this happened at LAX?

[golybki T_V 0]

oh one more thing I forgot to add Audrey, is that since 9/11 there are MORE security check than EVER before. They are checking everyone these very hard because ALOT of people are using fraud reasons for visa to enter the US at least ONCE and then they stay here. And of course immigration officers are NOT checking every single house to see if they are legal here in US or not, so the illegals live here like everyone else and its NOT fair to the legal immigrants that had to go thru all the paperwork and expense to enter the US legally.

so try to understand their point of view also, put yourself in their shoes and if you would see illegals come to the US every day then you would be HARSH like those officers too

[lovestevie 0]

The CBP Officers you encountered at your POE were not just looking for terrorists but they are looking for people who are trying to enter the USA with the intent to remain. It is there job to question anyone who they think might be entering this country as a tourist so that they dont have to go through the process of applying for the correct visa.

You should be very thankful that you were not just put on the first flight back to France at your own expence. You have openly stated that you have intent to live and study in the USA and that you have a BF in the US. Who are you leaving all your extra things with while you go back to France? Your BF.

Everything you have said about what you told the CBP officer raises red flags to me as well. The fact that you have used the VWP to enter the US so often in the last 12 months is enough for red flags to be raised.

Here in Boston we have more illegal immigrants here from europe than from any other part of the world, like you they came on the VWP for 90 days and just forgot to go home.

My Friend who lives next door to me works for CBP and so of the things he has told me about they way people treat them I would not want their job. They are trained to be cold and unfriendly and accusing. That is how they get people flustered and then they say things they might not have when they were feeling calm and confident.

As others have said if you feel that you were treated unfairly then you have the option to complain. But I do have to say that it sounds like you think you were not in the group of people who are normally stopped by CBP and should have just been allowed to enter with just a pleasent smile and "have a nice trip" People from most europeen country have the attatude that they are allowed to go anywhere they want without question.

Maybe you have had a good wake-up call. The CBP are there for a reason and if they have to be hard to get their job done then so be it.

You are prob right with what you just said...but one thing tho........to make things clear... i never told her i was going to the US in order to live there and go to college i told her clearly, im just coming to check colleges THEN after my one month stay i would go back to France work some more until I can start applying to college, get accepted, get everything done the RIGHT & LEGAL way, in NO way did i say i was planning on going to the US and then attend college while in the US!.....

Also I find it REALLY stupid than everytime people want to travel in the US more than once a year, it becomes suspicious!!!

What the hell??!!!.....Ive never hea

[lovestevie 0]

Ive never heard it was forbidden to travel out there to visit friends or visit the country?!!...All i know is that you're allowed to go there on a tourist visa as long as you dont go more than 90 days!!!

Ive only been there 3 Freaking times over the past YEAR!???...I wont even mention the one week in febuary 2008...coz it was actually 4 days....my initial trip was from Paris to Montreal where i visited friends for a week and half, then decided to stop by in the US for 4 days, coz price was really cheap to go there!

Next trip was 3 months during the summer ....SO WHAT?!...now it is obv forbidden to like the country and enjoy some good time out there during summer!

Last trip was in febuary 09 after more than 6 MONTHS back to France..........If I would have travelled back n forth from France to the US like every other month, I would have really understood but really it wasnt THAT suspicious after all........I believe she was just a DUMB American, who wanted to go after me......and because I was so honnest, saying I was trying to go to college and check places out I got screwed over and suspected!

Im just so upset when it comes to some of the security mesures, control thru custom you have to go thru in the US, because I say it AGAIN, sometimes it is BARELY LEGAL, but they make it legal by hidding behind the security excuse BS, since 9/11, what they are doing is wrong and way too extreme, prob going against personal rights, and it has been said many times they ABUSE their rights, they pretend they can ask or TAKE ANYTHING personal they want and even keep things, pretending its a security matter when IT IS NOT...a lot of agents are abusing their position that way and dont tell me im wrong im sure im not!!...... but everybody shuts up and pretends its ok to do so!......So please give me a break when you say they are only doing their job, like CBR said, they are really taking their job WAY too far.....and that wouldnt hurt to be nice with people, treat them more humainly.....ok they have to be cold & dt let people get away easily but being treated that way is just disrespecful and unfair!....When you give good reasons and try to explain yourself w proof and you're not taken seriously, they dont wanna check what you're saying it is just BS to me!

Sometimes Its not just stereotypes ....just go to any airport out there, when you see these big/ dumb american cops, big cliche... chewing on their gum and walking, holding their gun walking around like they know it all they are the best guys ever and talking to you like you are nothing BUT ######!...it makes me sick the way they act!.............This is def one thing abt America that I CANT stand... that is the only thing ive always had a hard time with, they need to chill!

From now on I will be way much mor

Edited May 20, 2009 by lovestevie

[lovestevie 0]

From now on I will be way much more careful next time ill go out there, I also wont be as honnest as I was on my previous trip!....It is obviously not in your best interest at times!

That was really a wake up call, but not in the way you mentioned......all I learnt from that experience is that I felt really hurt and disrespected as a person and ive been called a liar MORE than once during these 2 hours without ANY good reasons or proof, ive been laughed at, more than one agent went and got into the baggage check i had w that woman JUST TO talk bad to me and make me cry even more, then they all laughed together....DO YOU CALL that right and normal?!!......... they tried to make me talk and say sthg i never been planning on doing.......the way they try tomake people break dwn and admit things is WRONG!

At some point, I was so tired & so fed up w their bs, i almost told myself ...just agree w what they say, give up and make them hear what they want so you can go !....Now I can def understand how some people end up saying sthg they NEVER DID ....they put SO MUCH pressure on you its hard to not break down, if you are sensitive or not ready for that.....its REALLY HARD.....i wish you would know what it's like.....you prob never went thru it so i think you shouldnt say anything against the way I reacted and if i was right or not! .....IT IS NOT RIGHT....to me it is call abuse......i dont care how cold they have to be, people deserve to be treated humainly!!! and they did abuse their position, and for all these reasons I will file a complaint!....

And just to mention, if I could see that woman again I would punch her in the face so hard for being so mean to me! ( well I guess i wouldnt coz im not a violent person lol....but i mean it took me days to get over what happened that day and still to that day, i think abt what she did & what happened )

[Ed+Cindy 1]

If you want, you should file a complaint. You can get info on where to send a letter here:

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/editorial_0373.shtm

I complained about CBP's treatment to my fiance and I last fall. I didn't think anything would come of the complaint, but I was recently contacted by CBP's office of internal affairs asking to interview me. They are doing an internal investigation and I hope some heads roll.

[lovestevie 0]

That's a horrible story, but I have my doubts that it actually happened to you. I worked for a major airline for 10 years and am very familiar with immigration/customs procedures. I can confirm that Custom officers have ZERO decision about your validity for entry into a country, unless of course, they find something in your bags. Immigration inspection occurs before Customs inspection and it is Immigration officers who ask you the questions about visit, length, passport validity etc. At the point you clear immigration, and enter customs, you are being checked for an entirely different thing. Immgiration checks YOUR PERSONAL validity to enter the country while Customs checked the ITEMS you are bringing into the country - not you yourself.

I agree with the first poster....troll much?

Are you saying i made up all that story for NOTHING?!... Im sorry but do YOU REALLY think i dont have anythin else better to do than posts in here for hours?!!! Why would i spend an hour typing my initial post then get asnwers and asnwer back all day for no reason?

IT HAPPENED TO me alright! maybe you dont believe me coz what happened to me what so ridiculously stupid and unreal!

If you are the kind of person thinking I could post long stories in here , if you think I making this up and it is nothing but lies sorry but then you dont have to post and make comments abt what happened that day and imply in front of everybody in here that im a liar!!!.....its not because you ve been working w airlines for years that you know IT ALL ,....im sorry but you obv DONT!!!

I dont need that kind of asnwers from people!....

IM saying what happened to me, its not lies sorry.....now dt bother answering if you think im tellin lies dont you have better things to do then?!

[lovestevie 0]

I'm sorry you had to go through that traumatic experience. You shouldn't have been treated that way. However, I take offense to the generalizations you made about Americans, but I know you are very angry. You should file a complaint against these officers. It might save some other poor girl from having the same experience. You made one HUGE mistake that landed you in that situation. You brought too much in your luggage. The personal items were a huge red flag for them. It tells them you plan to immigrate to the US.

I don't believe all this ####### about a ban. I hope you can enjoy your time in the USA.

THANK YOU for your kind words.....and yes im very sorry abt what i said abt americans.... im just really upset w what happened you are right.....i truly appreciate n like anericans, these people at customs were just not one of them!

I also agree w you i did bring way too many things in my luggage...i wont happen again......ive learned my lesson!

Thanks

Wow! That's indeed horrible! I don't even know how would I react if I'd experienced that. Did this happened at LAX?

No it happened at the philadelphia airport, but i guess it could have happened anywhere ......