Denied entry at border on ESTA

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

1 hour ago, throwaway90 said:

They never told me why. They made me fill out a declaration form while my bag was offloaded,

Then when it arrived i was invited over while it was opened and searched.. i was asked What i do for a living, how long i will be staying, how much cash do i have.

 

They searched through the bag and realised we had only packed toiletries and underwear as we planned to go to Jersey gardens the next day to spend some money on new clothes. It was to be our joint 30th birthday celebration. They asked why no clothes and i told them the above. One of the CBP officers mentioned my shower jel bottle being waay too much to bring with me (i personally dont think so and thought an odd comment)

 

Then they took my phone at that point

I’m not a professional but traveling with only underwear looks suspicious; like you will be there for only a day to pick up or drop off something. I wonder if your bag could have been flagged by a drug sniffing dog before you were there?

[Boiler 43,998]

I have certainly traveled with light luggage, but not that light.

 

We can guess how he was drawn to their attention but does not really matter now, it is what it is.

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

2 hours ago, jaysaldi said:

 

What prompted this? It's very rare for a passenger from the UK to be pulled aside for secondary inspection and have his phone searched.

 

I was wondering too. Were there dogs around? If you were wearing  any clothing that had been exposed to marijuana smoke, they could have picked that up. 
 

Agree the exceptionally light packing looks suspicious, but they already had you in their sights before they checked it. 

Edited February 26, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

Also, if you are traveling with only the clothes you flew in, I think a large bottle of shower gel is an excellent idea. 

[JFH 12,189]

14 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Also, if you are traveling with only the clothes you flew in, I think a large bottle of shower gel is an excellent idea. 

Yes indeed! And I hope deodorant was in the bag too. I can’t imagine anything worse than putting on the same jeans or dress the next day that I wore to fly the day before. Even with fresh underwear. 
 

Something triggered their suspicions. In my 40+ times entering the US as a visitor before emigrating I only once had my bag searched (the very first time I travelled here alone) and never had my phone searched. And my profile (working age wife of a USC) falls into the category that is statistically most likely to work illegally or overstay. 

[The_Empyrean 733]

My pops worked in an Airport, though in Europe.

 

Once, when i was traveling back to EU from US, my dad said that if i'm gonna have this on me (nothing illegal though), i'll be pulled every single time possible for "random" check. Sure enough - i got pulled in departing airport in USA, once clearing security, then i got pulled in Germany, and then in Lithuania once i landed too. Oh, and my check in was opened too. So i have a rough idea of how these things work and what will and will not bring attention. Also, i know some ways to get your chances higher to get bumped to Business or Economy+. Different story though.

 

back to your case, You had red flags written all over your face.

 

Small carry-on with underwear only. If going shopping, why bring underwear then? Why not buy underwear too? (not actual question im interested, but rather how they saw it).

Shower gel. People GENERALLY (not always) don't bring stuff like this with them, as it weighs a ton, and can spill, etc etc. It's one of those items that you pop in to the corner store, buy one for $4 and still leave half of the bottle after your trip. Meaning, it looks like you literally gonna go somewhere, take care of something, go back to the place, take a shower and go back to the airport. 

 

If you had check-in luggage, look at your barcode tag that was attached during check in, if it has any kinds of writings on it - you were flagged.

 

How long were your previous visits? How far apart from each?

You pretty much cornered yourself when you marked that you haven't used drugs, on ESTA. They saw the message, that's all they needed. And then you misunderstanding him was just making it worse. 

 

All in all, you were flagged as Trafficker, because unfortunately, all pieces put together - it does look like you're just dropping off something, or taking care of some business. It just so happened to happen they discovered your cannabis thing, and got hung up on that. If you had marked that you're doing/did drugs, on ESTA, they might've just scrutinized your luggage for it and most likely let you go. But you lied on ESTA, then You misunderstood them (which they took for a lie), and your general circumstances painted the trip as "quickie".

 

Not likely you'll see US soil anytime soon, unfortunately. 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

Some interesting notes there, empyrean.

As an aside, I had a friend who traveled a lot for his sport, mostly around Europe but also us and Australia,  and always got pulled aside for inspection. Always. One day he decided to try cutting his dreads off, and guess what - short back and sides, no more airport hassles. They definitely do profile some people!

[SuznAaron 121]

3 hours ago, The_Empyrean said:

My pops worked in an Airport, though in Europe.

 

Once, when i was traveling back to EU from US, my dad said that if i'm gonna have this on me (nothing illegal though), i'll be pulled every single time possible for "random" check. Sure enough - i got pulled in departing airport in USA, once clearing security, then i got pulled in Germany, and then in Lithuania once i landed too. Oh, and my check in was opened too. So i have a rough idea of how these things work and what will and will not bring attention. Also, i know some ways to get your chances higher to get bumped to Business or Economy+. Different story though.

 

back to your case, You had red flags written all over your face.

 

Small carry-on with underwear only. If going shopping, why bring underwear then? Why not buy underwear too? (not actual question im interested, but rather how they saw it).

Shower gel. People GENERALLY (not always) don't bring stuff like this with them, as it weighs a ton, and can spill, etc etc. It's one of those items that you pop in to the corner store, buy one for $4 and still leave half of the bottle after your trip. Meaning, it looks like you literally gonna go somewhere, take care of something, go back to the place, take a shower and go back to the airport. 

 

If you had check-in luggage, look at your barcode tag that was attached during check in, if it has any kinds of writings on it - you were flagged.

 

How long were your previous visits? How far apart from each?

You pretty much cornered yourself when you marked that you haven't used drugs, on ESTA. They saw the message, that's all they needed. And then you misunderstanding him was just making it worse. 

 

All in all, you were flagged as Trafficker, because unfortunately, all pieces put together - it does look like you're just dropping off something, or taking care of some business. It just so happened to happen they discovered your cannabis thing, and got hung up on that. If you had marked that you're doing/did drugs, on ESTA, they might've just scrutinized your luggage for it and most likely let you go. But you lied on ESTA, then You misunderstood them (which they took for a lie), and your general circumstances painted the trip as "quickie".

 

Not likely you'll see US soil anytime soon, unfortunately. 

 

Great information thank you. I have also heard that shower gel thing is a popular way to hide something you dont want discovered. My Dad when he traveled was often pulled for extra scrutiny based on the locations he traveled for work. Travel is often something we take for granted. 

[The_Empyrean 733]

1 hour ago, SusieQQQ said:

Some interesting notes there, empyrean.

As an aside, I had a friend who traveled a lot for his sport, mostly around Europe but also us and Australia,  and always got pulled aside for inspection. Always. One day he decided to try cutting his dreads off, and guess what - short back and sides, no more airport hassles. They definitely do profile some people!

It's not profiling per se. There are signs that show higher probability of some violations, either by travel pattern, looks, jobs, family status and such. Can't go much into detail as it's gonna get scrutinized here heavily. It does look like profiling though, but in reality- it isn't. 

 

Yeah, powders in carry on is a 100% pull. Liquids too. Gels, larger tooth paste tubes etc.

 

Every time i travel back to Europe and pack stuff into baggage, i know what to take to carry-on and what goes to checked. If you don't want them to open your luggage, don't have powders (spices i.e.), larger quantities of perfume/alcohol. I always take spices and stuff like this into carry-on. Looks retarded, but atleast i get pulled and they swab test it and let me go, versus having your stuff arriving on carousel scattered all over. They open zippers breaking locks etc, and then close it like nothing happened, and you won't tell they opened it, until you arrive and find "we looked through your stuff" slip there. 

[xyz12345 260]

6 hours ago, The_Empyrean said:

It's not profiling per se. There are signs that show higher probability of some violations, either by travel pattern, looks, jobs, family status and such. Can't go much into detail as it's gonna get scrutinized here heavily. It does look like profiling though, but in reality- it isn't. 

 

Yeah, powders in carry on is a 100% pull. Liquids too. Gels, larger tooth paste tubes etc.

 

Every time i travel back to Europe and pack stuff into baggage, i know what to take to carry-on and what goes to checked. If you don't want them to open your luggage, don't have powders (spices i.e.), larger quantities of perfume/alcohol. I always take spices and stuff like this into carry-on. Looks retarded, but atleast i get pulled and they swab test it and let me go, versus having your stuff arriving on carousel scattered all over. They open zippers breaking locks etc, and then close it like nothing happened, and you won't tell they opened it, until you arrive and find "we looked through your stuff" slip there. 

Got flagged twice for a pack of wipes.

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

The only time my bags were ever opened by TSA was when I was traveling with lead weights, and I knew it would happen because they show blank on the xrays. They used the TSA lock, and left a courtesy note, no harm done. By the way... I have packed various food items a number of times, as do many immigrants I’m sure when traveling back, never been an issue.

 

Which is tangential again to why OP got stopped. Been thinking about whether it’s worth fighting the tracfficker vs possession thing, but we don’t know exactly what the text about buying it said. Thing is the problem could be bigger for the OP than just the US, Canada eTA asks if ever denied entry anywhere, and I suspect Australia does too (but I’ve never applied there so can’t say for sure). Lucky he doesn’t need authorization for UK or Europe. 

[Ryan H 3,798]

***Post violating the below quoting provision of the TOS removed.***

 

By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree that when using the Service, you will not:

• Condone or instruct, either directly or indirectly, others on how to commit fraudulent or illegal immigration activities in any way, shape, manner or method.

[jan22 2,945]

On 2/25/2020 at 2:04 PM, NigeriaorBust said:

  With the drug trafficking tag you will never get any visa to the US.   If you were only tagged as a user you might in the future come after you could show rehabilitation but the trafficker tag is a lifetime ban with no waiver under current immigration laws.

Not quite right.  There is no waiver available for an immigrant visa applicant.  There is the possibility of a 212(d)(3)(A) waiver for a non-immigrant visa applicant -- but is rarely approved, especially for such a recent finding of ineligibility.

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

On 2/25/2020 at 10:58 AM, throwaway90 said:

between my brother and I discussing cannabis use and ordering such online.

Not sure if OP is still around but re-reading the first post this now stuck out for me - living in California I’m used to seeing ads everywhere for cannabis, but as it’s still illegal in the UK I’m wondering how it gets ordered online there. Is this dark web stuff? (if so is that may be why they were so interested in the bitcoin angle too). 

[SalishSea 17,047]

1 hour ago, SusieQQQ said:

Not sure if OP is still around but re-reading the first post this now stuck out for me - living in California I’m used to seeing ads everywhere for cannabis, but as it’s still illegal in the UK I’m wondering how it gets ordered online there. Is this dark web stuff? (if so is that may be why they were so interested in the bitcoin angle too). 

I was wondering the same thing.  Rec cannabis is legal here in Washington too, but not online.  In the shops, it is a cash-only business.