U.S. Immigration agents gone wild in Minneapolis

Looks like the men’s restroom isn’t the only place where things are a little out of control at the Minneapolis airport. The U.S. Immigration agents at MSP are also taking a walk on the wild side, in a manner of speaking.

That’s the contention of one frequent flier who contacted me yesterday in the hopes of solving a mystery.

Before getting to his story, it should go without saying that Immigration agents don’t have an easy job. They determine if you can enter the United States or not, and if they happen to let another 9/11 terrorist into the country, let’s just say that could be a career-limiting move.

So they ask tough questions. They have to. But when do those questions – and their treatment of the passengers being processed – cross the line and violate your civil liberties and right to privacy?

Stephen Doggette, an IT manager from Dayton, Ohio, raises these issues in his account of dealing with the MSP officers earlier this week:

Yesterday as I returned from an overseas trip to Hong Kong (where I have been many times), I cleared immigration at Minneapolis-St. Paul. I received what I felt to be an aggressive and accusatory questioning that resulted in me being sent to the “red” line for further interrogation. My form had been marked with a red “B” upon my initial screening. When asked, nobody would explain tome what that red “B” meant.

I was told that it meant I had to stand in the red line and, upon further questioning, was told that I did not need to know what a red “B” indicated. I was asked what I believed to be irrelevant and outright intrusive questions, including my current salary.

I would like to understand my current “status” and results after this questioning. Over the last several years I have logged between 75,000 to 100,000 miles per year and am no novice to travel. To whom can I explain my version of the situation and file a complaint? Thank you for any help or direction you can provide.

The short answer is: the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services doesn’t accept e-mails from its site. You have to call (800) 375-5283 with a complaint. But I did a little more digging, and found an e-mail address — USCIS-COMPLAINT@DHS.GOV — that might work.

The more interesting question, to me, is: Why would they send Doggette to the red line? I asked him if he had anything to declare (that’s what the red line is for) and he didn’t.

Also, why would you ask a U.S. citizen for his salary? What does that have to do with anyone’s immigration status?

More importantly, what does a red “B” stand for? Is this the equivalent of the dreaded “SSSSS” that directs the TSA to give someone additional screening – or something else?



  • John

    Many, many moons ago I worked with customs through their explorer program. At that time, the Red B was code for “bad guy.” It normally meant someone whose initial story didn’t add up in the mind of the screener. For example, the guy in your story may have made multiple trips to Hong Kong in the past 6 months and didn’t label any of them as business. Since Hong Kong is an international hub known for smuggling and drugs, it may have further raised his concern (much like Amsterdam in Europe). He may have displayed body language that was inconsistent with his comments etc. In short, the Red B was like the SSSS is supposed to be used. The screening agent thought that the guy needed more attention and his story didn’t add up.

  • Lisa

    The current crop of customs representatives seem to hail from Cranky-R-Us. They are surly, abrupt, rude and certainly do nothing to welcome visitors into this country. Hailing from Orlando,we have quite a few flights arriving from overseas and this has been a large enough concern that the local governments are advocating Disney training for the customs agents here. While it is understood they are not welcome wagoniers, it is possible to be proficient at keeping the borders safe and pleasant at the same time.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=454449&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source

  • http://joshujayg.blogspot.com/ Joshua

    I have travel internationally many times over the past few years. I have never been selected for extra screening, but I have experienced the rude behavior of US Customs Agents. It gets old fast. I am polite to them, and everyone I watch that goes through the checkpoint is kind also, so why do they have to play the bad guy?

    But that is not what this post is about. There is a difficult line to draw between national security and personal privacy. When we focus on security, we forget about privacy, visa versa. The only answer I can see is to carefully decide who gets elected into government office and choose representatives who care about international travel. You also have to decide how much you are willing to put up with by how much you travel. It isn’t an easy fix and someone will always be angry. The “Perfect System” doesn’t exist, so we just have to decide whether we want to keep our privacy or go places, and that is a horrible decision because I like my privacy and I love to travel.

  • Joe

    Well, customs enforcement is one thing – this gentleman had problems with the immigration line? It really is not clear.

    The ‘Red’ line in customs is for people who have something to declare. The green line is for nothing to declare. Then there is the back room for personal and detailed searches. He’d stand in the red line, claim he had nothing to declare and they send him on his way. Or, they’d take him away for supplemental screeening. Those are the choices – what happened?

    Immigration has no red or green lines. They can and do simply take you into another back room to verify other documents, verify the authenticity of the passport -I have never seen a ‘red’ line for immigration. At major int’l airports you do immigration first -they approve your entry into the country and THEN you are subjected to the customs inspection.

    I do not understand what happened here. What happened when he got into the red line and then claimed nothing to declare?

  • http://www.azmortgageguru.com Shailesh

    I had somewhat of a similar experience at LAX flying in from Bangkok last February. I was traveling with a I-551 stamp on my passport since my green card was back at Immigration to correct their spelling error. That’s a whole different story for a different forum.

    At the immigration counter, upon “reviewing” my paperwork I was told to go and stand in line at the end of the room. Apparently this was an area where cases of newly arriving immigrats were heard. I explained my status and situation, he didn’t hear it. He told me where to again and called “next”.

    I went to the officer lady in charge. Was she rough. Rough. Rough. And dumb too. She told me the same thing. So, I sat in line for 1.5 hours. Finally got the guy, told him my case and he told me he couldn’t help me. So, now I’m in international limbo. I almost felt like Tom Hanks in the movie “Terminal”.

    So, I go back to the in-charge lady with the loud “don’t give me sh*** voice”. She asks me why I’m still there. I explain. She says go back to the same line! Can you believe it? What do these people get paid? Where do they get tested? Do they read? Can they write? Do they need help to grow a brain?

    So, here I am, literally, stuck! No one can help me. Finally, I see that the wave of people coming in has slowed down. I get back in the regular line. Go to a different immigration officer. She stamps my passport and says “have a nice day, sir”. I walk through.

    Good thing my connecting flight got delayed.

  • Stephen Doggette

    ELLIOTT – thank you for posting my story. And, to the others, thank you for your responses to date.

    JOE – I understand your confusion. I misspoke and it should have been customs/immigration. Let me try and explain in additional detail:

    1. I arrived and was in line at immigration where the initial questioning was held. With my I94 form in hand, I presented it to the officer. The questioning started off innocent enough but soon became aggressive and repetitious … particularly concerned with my occupation and that fact that I was traveling alone.
    2. I was eventually directed to proceed and picked up my checked luggage. Upon attempting to exit the customs/immigration area, my attention was called to the red “B” on my form and I was directed (abruptly and dismissively) to the “red” line. When asking for an explanation of the red “B”, I was told that it meant I should go stand in the “red” line. I thanked (admittedly sarcastically) the lady for her “enlightening” information.
    3. Once clearing the “red” line and in front of the customs officer, the real inquisition began refocusing on the fact that I was traveling alone and that I had only been gone for a week. Then, to my disbelief, the intrusive questioning began including my marital/relationship status and salary. Again, the difficulty I had with the content of the questioning was compounded by the attitude of the questioning … aggressive, confrontational and repetitive. Additionally, information was being entered into their computer system. Answers to my questions (including once again asking about the red “B”) were met with non-responses: “You don’t need to know” and “That’s not important”. My laptop was confiscated and I was asked if there was any content on there that I would not wish them to see if the powered up and examined it. There was not. However, at this point, I was more worried about the officers’ (and there were two of them) competencies in working a laptop. After a considerable amount of time and much whispering, I asked if I could assist in the laptop usage/navigation. They replied no and powered it down. I was then told I could re-pack my luggage and all was good.

    At this point I have a few fundamental questions (which most likely have no answers):

    1. What precipitated the ordeal?
    2. Where is my information going that was entered into their computer system?
    3. Am I on “a list” now and will that hinder future travel?

    Thanks again for the responses to date. I am firmly convinced that, under this administration where privacy lines have been violated as a matter of policy, the Department of Homeland Security has devolved into the DEPARMENT OF HOMELAND OBSCURITY.

  • Joe F.

    Steven – if you are an American citizen why are you filling out an I-94 form? Are you Citizen? I think Chris made a leap of confusion there – you might be from Dayton but are you a citizen? You would NOT complete and I-94 form if you are citizen and the form states right on it that citizens do NOT complete the form. If you do, then you confuse our ICE officers.

    If you ARE a citizen – then complain to your Congressman. And write to ICE @ DHS. of course, this might simply get you put on the no-fly list – along the rest of us who think DHS/TSA and the Patriot Act are anything but Patriotic. And stop filling out an I-94 form. Remember – ICE is a law enforcement job – and if you read the qualifications CAREFULLY to become ICE/DHS/TSA, you must complete the government service exam within a specified range. This means you can be too smart to join these illustrious government operations. That right there should answer most any question you have.

    If you are not a citizen, and are our guest here on a work visa or permanent alien status, you STILL should not be filling out the I-94 form. If you are filling out that form then you are not following the rules. This irks the officers who then have to think.
    Are you certain you did not fill out the Customs 6059B? This is the blue customs form.

    Now, immigration can ask you any stupid question they want. Some of them actually have some basis in fact or logic. Most are simple curiosity to see how you respond. A question about income is relevant to an immigrant or tourist visa, not for a citizen returning who has an absolute right to reentry.

    If you mouthed off, you got the 3rd degree to prove a point that they and not you have power.

    To answer your question:

    1) there could be another Steven Doggette [Doge/Dogget, etc etc] who was arrested for smuggling, had property or contraband seized, and they have no idea it was not you. They just know what the computer sez. Remember by point about an intelligence range on the qualification test?

    2) Who knows what they entered – you can’t get it because of ‘national security.’ Now do you see why the Patriot Act and the new ICE/DHS/TSA rules are patently unconstitutional? You did not speak up about it until your ox was gored. Remember the old saw about the nazis coming for the jews and queers and the commmies and no one spoke up – and then when they came for you – there was no one left? Same principle.

    3) Who knows. See what happens. Thats all you can do. The other way around it? Buy a ticket to Toronto or Montreal and fly nonstop from there to Hong Kong or where-ever. Less hassle – since those flights get pre-screened.

  • Stephen Doggette

    JOE F. – It may not have been an I94. That is what I was told today was the standard form to complete when returning from abroad. What is that standard form for an American citizen? I completed the form that I have always completed so nothing had changed there.

    Your point about intelligence is well made. I appreciate your other thoughts and comments as well. THANK YOU
    .

  • Joe F

    Steven – and everyone else = there is no form for American Citizens to complete – the only form you need is the customs form – tucked neatly into your passport. When you refer to specific forms that ads to the fact pattern and people assume things that may not be true. no one at ICE will listen to your complaint if it looks like you have no idea what you are talking about. Remember the bureaucratic mindset – they do not want or need to figure out what you are talking about or what your complaint is.

    If you complain to customs about your treatment and you really need to complain about immigration, and you call it a I-94 instead of a 6059B, they can and will shuffle you around from department to department since if you inaccurately identify what you did and when, they will take advantage of that misidentification to simply refer you to he department with that form. You need to get your facts straight before you start complaining to either your Congressperson or the department. Other, they have 100 complaints a day, mostly from people who have no real idea what their complaint is, and you will then simply get the ‘thank you for writing, we’ll look into it and get back to you if we have any further need” letter which the polite way of saying we have no idea what you are talking about and received 99 other complaint letters today, one of which may actually make sense.

    Unless, like me, you fly your own aircraft to/from Canada and the Bahamas – then you do not need ANY form to complete for the immigration officers – all you need is your passport. I need to bring two forms with me when I land, and I MUST call Customs before I land to let them know when I am coming, plus the customs forms, plus the user fees I need to pay, and soon, I’ll need to fax a declaration to ICE in advance to get a clearance number to give to ATC in order get into the country without fighters being scrambled. Maybe I should land at the mexican border and just taxi across – less hassle.

    Then I’ll tell you about the time it was 90F in Ft. Pierce Fl and the customs agents made us STAY in the our little 4 seat airplane for 20 minutes in the heat cause they were on break. Then, they never even came out – after their 20 min were over – they cleared us to the FBO without a search. That one pissed me off. So I called and complained. The next time through, we were searched as if we had bin Ladin who was carrying a ton of coke in the cargo hold. So, don’t think there is not retaliatory searching done. Good thing I did not buy any Cubans that trip. The agents were kinda surprised they did not find any cause one of them asked – “where are the cigars?”

  • Gail

    Folks! Think a little bit – what would attract a person to a job as an immigration/customs agent? A need to catch “bad guys”? The guarantee of a civil service job, benefits and early retirement? It’s a boring, thankless, repetitive, and tedious job dealing with harried travellers (in the best circumstances) and total nut jobs and/or a**holes in many cases. How much money would the US government have to pay YOU to do these jobs? These folks have to operate under the assumption that a least some of the people they screen each day are involved in very, very illegal, deadly, and criminal acts against other humans (like us). Given that they do this 8 hours a day or more, day after to day, for years, one could reasonably expect that they develop a certain hardness and a cynical view of the pararde of tired, unhappy, hurried people passing through. It doesn’t help that in fact they do actually catch people carrying undeclared and/or banned items, people with fake stories and false IDs, and the occassionally truly bad guy. Yes, it sucks that the world is a paranoid place full of paranoid people doing incredibly stupid things to each other. These government employees have been charged by us (the American public) with curtailling that reality – an endeavor guaranteed to fail fairly often. So if you hate going through customs/immigration, think how much they may not particularly enjoy doing it. It’s like getting a dog for protection and then kicking it because it barks at noises in the night.
    I’m not saying that the US immigratin system isn’t broken (it is), nor do I relish going through customs, but I can effect some degree of control by:
    1) Do your homework ahead of time and do it well. With the internet, travel websites, government security sites, and access to public agencies, there is no reason not to know what forms you need and what to expect.
    2) Don’t try to bend the rules (bringing in undeclared items, etc) and hope you don’t get caught. Most of us telegraph our uneasiness when we’re cheating. We want them to catch the sociopaths that don’t.
    3) Breathe, try to relax, stay calm, and be polite and succinct and mostly honest. Who cares if they ask what your income is or if you are married? You’d tell a new acquantaince in the airport bar the same info in a heartbeat if you thought it would get you a date. It’s just information, it doesn’t mean anything unless you make it mean something.
    4) Be resourceful, if the agent looks frazzled, or sounds hostile with other folks, excuse yourself from the line. Reassess your options, find another agent/line, wait a bit until things seem calmer, get some coffee, make a phone call. If you are stressing, guess what, you instantly have upped the ante and made everyone around you stressed.
    5) Give yourself lots of time to make connections, etc. It’s amazing how much more patience you’ll develop with the whole process when you’ve got 2 hours to make the connection rather than 15 minutes. Yeah, you get to spend quality time in an airport sleeping, checking emails, whatever; but it bets spending even 15 minutes in an unpleasant encounter with any agent of the goverment or airline or airport.

    I don’t recommend complaining unless you had something confiscated improperly or suffered some kind of financial loss. You aren’t going to get anything except more people ticked off at you. Here’s an novel idea – why don’t you write them an apology for being sarcastic and defensive and offer up a reasonable excuse (hadn’t slept in 16 hours, had a sinus infection). Tell them you appreciate the work they do. Who knows, maybe they’ll decide you aren’t another short tempered, arrogant, demanding and disrespectful traveller, but just a guy having a bad day. Tell them you are confused and would appreciate help in figuring out EXACTLY what paperwork, forms and documentation you will need (and how to properly fill it out) in the future to make their jobs easier. Perhaps you’ll get off the “B” list.

  • Joe F

    Gail – you are so reasonable. Obviously you never travel.

    So, it’s ok for the government agents to harass someone, not explain themselves, threaten [implicitly given their uniform - and power to assert you should be arrested just to piss you off] abuse you, not follow their rules, just because they can? And we do nothing out it. You would have obviously been a Tory during the revolution!

    Maybe they had a legitimate basis to suspect our hong kong visitor for some nefarious conduct. As I said, maybe there was someone else meeting his name, boolean name, or description who had tag on their name in the computer. Do they tell him why he is a suspect at that time? No. Should they after they confirm he is not a bad guy, give HIM some explanation of why they checked him for hemmorhoids?

    Yes, they should. Under you OWN idea they need to tell him why they singled him out.

    Even more reason, the ‘government’ has all the power. And they are rarely right. After Waco, the WTC 1 & 2, Gulf War 1 & 2, Iraq, Vietnam, and all the other disasters brought to you by government officials simply not paying attention, giving them ANY slack in treating citizens poorly simply encourages disrespectful actions by these mental midgets.

    Most ANY normal person wants to know why they are being singled out. If they are told, they will shut up and let the system grind along since they know [hope is a better word] that eventually the innocent and the non-suspects are spit out the other end. And, most people are like you, willing to help the government and officials do they job by cooperating because they have nothing to hide. OR so it is thought.

    Stephen probably filled out the wrong form and irked a ice official, who decided to bust his stones because as you say his job is boring and it made for some amusement that day. He probably reacted somewhat like that kid who got tasered at the Univ. Florida function. At that point there was no reason to help him out and it just ground along until they ran out of reasons to check him. But, that being said, tasering that student was wrong, just like what happened here seems to be wrong.

  • Anonymous

    Hello!

    I ran into a very similar situation as Steve this noon. I am not a US citizen but work in Minneapolis on a temporary work visa. I did my MS from the US and have been living here for over 4 years, and have traveled internationally several times during this time.
    Today, I made a completely innocent mistake of calling up my girlfriend to pick me up while I was waiting in the immigration line at the Minneapolis airport. I think I knew in the back of my mind that it was not allowed, but I looked around to see any sign saying that and found none. So, while I was on the call, an immigration officer comes over, pulls me out of the line and asks me to shut down my phone. I am then told the exact law I had violated to which I pleaded guilty of not being aware of the law. He, then, starts interrogating me in the rudest of tones and questions me about my visa status, marital status, my girlfriend and then about the details of my laptop. Soon enough, he asks me how much child pornography I was carrying. I keep telling him that I had nothing, but he keeps trying to scare me and repeatedly asks me to reveal what I had. Finally, as abruptly as this started, he takes my I-94 form and tears the top part of it and keeps it, writes the number 1 on my customs form and returns my documents. Even before I could ask him what he was doing, he sternly mentions “No questions”, and sends me back to the line. Upon my turn, I explain what had happened to the immigration officer stamping the passport, and he tells me it’s nothing and the rest of it goes smoothly.

    Not only is this method of screening people completely ridiculous, it is also useless. I can’t think how this kind of screening will help the agencies to stop any crime. It looks like, at least in this forum, that there are several hundred innocent people that get harassed every day without any end result.

    Even though I believe that taking up this matter with any authorities is going to be fruitless, I completely resent the fact these immigration officers can simply say and do things to you without any questions, in the name of National Security. I work in a hi-tech company and believe that US is what it is because it has been a country that has accepted people of all nationalities and ethnicities with open arms. If the situation stays like what it is today, I doubt talent will continue to flow in the way it has over the last several decades.

  • MSP

    The immigration and customs officials at this airport are the Wildest of all.

    They are rude and target certain people based on their national origin. I can understand if it’s all for the security for this country and for the safety of all of us. But that’s not their motive. I travel a lot internationally on business, and I am a Minneapolis permanent Resident for the last 10 yrs. For the last one year I have been targeted by customs officials just because of national origin. I never carry ANY food items with me and will declare that I have no food with me, even than they ask me to go over to the machine to screen my baggage 9 out of 10 times even after questioning me for 2 or 3 minutes. My all fellow colleagues who travel along with me knew that I am targeted just because of my origin. They feel sorry for me and new that I am being targeted just because I was born in a different country. I have several times thought about complaining, but never did.

    But today I was coming from my Europe business trip and the officers (2 of them) were really rude and took my passport resident card directly at the immigration desk, and asked me to come to the machine after collecting the baggage. When I asked him to give my passport back and will be at the screening machine he was rude again and told me we will give at the green baggage screening level. It almost took 30 to 40 minutes for our baggage to arrive. I have no clue which officer took my passport, and was worried. At the screening question another officer started to ask the same irritating questions time and again. This is a regular routine/parse for me at this airport with these wildest.

    After all this was over i have asked one lady officer why do they do this to me all the time, she frankly said smiling, that because i am from’that’ country.

    Hope they would change their attitude as the time passes…

    Thanks to Stephen Doggette for the email address for the compliants.

  • Britton

    On July 5th 06 my girlfriend my Hong Kong came to visit me and was stopped at msp immigration for questioning for whatever reason, one question led to another and she ended up getting sent back to Hong Kong, this was after a sixteen hour flight and eight hours sitting in an interrogation room and the final result was her signing a false confession to working in the country illegally and being black listed from the united states for ten years. When I spoke to the immigration officer instead of calling my girlfriend by her name he called her “china” and laughed at himself. After that I called up to the immigration office and spoke to my girlfriend, she was crying and hysterical and said that this immigration officer had been punching the table screaming at her, demanding that she sign the confession or she would be put in prison for 10 years, demanded that she hand over her email account and password and skimmed three years of our love letters. She had a job back in Hong Kong and more then enough money for 3 of her stays and the last thing she wanted to do was to work here for illegal table scraps. I had a mountain of proof that was hadn’t worked her illegal including the signatures of 27 U.S citizens that would testify to her never lifting a finger.

    This degenerate (CBP officer Craig Kachinsky) wanted nothing more then to send her backfor a statistic and make it appear if he was actually doing something. This immigration officer knew what he was doing was wrong, he appeared to be having a good time actually, just fucking up someones day like his whole life was fucked, I think More then anything, this pathetic sack actually got off and scaring my 105 pound girlfriend. I wrote letters to about ten different agencies and got only one reply which in summary said “can’t help ya, send your complaints here” and here being a place I already wrote to. We did suffer damages that being a $2,000 worth not including time. These officers are complete disgraces to our country, fucking jokes actually. They have forgotten who they work for.

  • Britton

    and for some of you other folks. I have to smile at my job even though I don’t like it.

    Think about it :)

  • Clark

    Last Oct 2006 I was flying in my girlfriend from Romania thru MSP airport. This was a BIG mistake. I had been working in Romania for 3 years, and had known her 1.5 years. This was to be her 1st visit to the US, and she had just been awarded a 10 year tourist Visa. I was very excited to show off America to her.

    I picked up my cell that day to the voice of US Customs Agent Arlyn Johnson asking me if I was expecting a visitor. He asked me a gambit of questions about her – how I knew her, if I was married, if she owned a house in Romania, then finally he asked me when we had planned to get married. He became angry when I told him I had no plans to marry her at this time. He told me she was telling him she was in the US to marry me. I found out later that he was telling her that I was saying to him she was coming to marry me. 1-1/2 hours later I received another call from a supervising agent who gave me the same rundown of questions and finally was adamant about when we intended to marry. I again explained that we never discussed marriage. Next he explained that not only was she saying she was getting married, but I had a job lined up for her. I explained that I had no job lined up, and that the only work she would be doing in the US was cleaning and cooking at my house. This was my trying to understand what she could possibly be saying that they were misinterpreting. BIG mistake again because the Agent quickly said – OK then I’ll call you right back. He never called.

    He went directly into the interrogation room to this frightened girl and said they would let her go if she would sign a statement saying she was coming to the US to clean houses. She grew up under a communist government who did things like this routinely so she knew this was the only way out – and signed it thinking it was much better to sign a lie like this than a more serious lie about getting married.
    They canceled her visa, and she has no chance to get another for at least 5 years. Her dreams of seeing America are gone, and only the shame is left after being kicked out of a country she once worshiped.

    Two months later I was boarding the same KLM flight she was sent back on. I walked past a Customs Agent walking onto the same flight with the name tag Johnson. I asked “is your name Arlyn?” He said yes – who are you. I told him briefly the tragedy he had caused. He asked me to keep my comments to myself, and I responded that I thought I still had the right to freedom of speech. There he was with his shaved head, foot long tattoo reading “God Bless America” across his forearm. He was escorting his latest victim – another thin pretty foreigner – about 105 pounds – just like my girlfriend. This time she was heading back to Singapore. That is 4 days on a plane for her.

    I fought this all the way to Washington DC, and apparently the Agent did nothing wrong that could be proven, and he had that confession.

  • mike

    Every time lately for about the last 2 months when i am entering the country i get harrased. It’s not so bad at the General Aviation (ie where the corporate jets park) because they know me, but when i come through the main terminal at MIA i get pulled asside, put into an interrigation room, delaying me for a while. Im a US citizens and have never been in any trouble. I travel for work a few time a week internationally throughout the carribean, cuba, jamaica ect. I recently went to Medelliin Columbia for a week. They act like i’m a smuggler or something and won’t tell me anything. Is there any way to find out what i’m being harrased for and get pulled off this list or whatever it is that they are flagging me for. Any info would be great. Thanks.

  • Britton

    Clark, it appears your in the exact same situation as me. Hurts doesn’t it? Your baby that can hardly walk by herself is locked up in an interrogation room with a mad man scaring the shit out of her. Your the only thing she’s got here, she’s depending on you, you have to do something, but you can’t, all you can do is beg for them to show you some mercy, but they don’t and your left with writing a bunch of letters to bogus addresses never to be read. They have the confession and that’s all the counts. I know what your feeling, that same feeling almost made me go postal. I did nothing about it (wrote letters) so it appears Kachinsky was the victor that day.

  • tomas

    Enjoyed reading this thread on the real face of American democracy:))) This is what you’re exporting? Thanks but we can do without, I believe).
    But after all you deserve it, since this is your country and your government democratically doesn’t give a shit about you. Good luck with them screwballs:)

  • hassan ali

    iwant be come homland securty officer

  • Joe Farrell

    Something tells me with a name like Hassan Ali the chances of becoming a TSA or DHS officer might be pretty low – which is too bad – since they NEED Arabic speakers desparately!

  • Mike

    After reading these blogs I thought I was the only one who had problems with our customs in Msp. 5 years ago I met my now wife. We started out as friends and fell in love. We just got married in Hong Kong Oct 5th this year. On June 1st she came to Msp with her son. She wanted him to see some schools here for his future. She is very big on education. She had a 30 day Visa for both of them. She has been here 3 times before and always has returned to Hong Kong. She has a very good buisness in Hong Kong. I have been there many times and she has helped me in many ways for my buisness here. When she got here the customs agent asked her what is your reason for your visit here she told him that she came here to see me and help with a problem I had with 1 of my products I sell in the US. If it wasn’t her I would have never got this product made in China. The agent thought that she was trying to sneek her son into the country She called me on the cell phone and told me she was being detained. The agent talked to me and I told him that they will be going back at the end of the month. He did not believe me or her. I told him that I would sign anything he needed to keep her here and that I would bring them back to him when it was time for them to go. He told me he would not do that. Then he canceled her visa for 5 years. This agent will now cost my wife and myself $15,000. to bring her here to the US. I am born in Minnesota and lived here all my life. I can not believe who these guys think they are. I called this lawyer and he told me that Msp is one of the worsed airports for people to immigrate to. I have paid many taxes over the years and because of this man now I have to pay more money to our beloved immigration.

  • Britton

    All these years later and I still haven’t forgot what CBP Kachinsky did.

    I give you bad Karma everyday I wake up you F**K. I wish the absolute worse things on you and everything you love. It will catch up to you and you will have to pay it back.

  • Dave in England

    A little about MSP airport immigration.

    Over the last 23 years I have travelled to the US over 100 occasions. 2 of those were with Northwest through their ‘hub’, and on BOTH occasions I was pullled to one side and interegated about my respective trip. For those reasons alone I would rather pay more and avoid that damn airport.

  • another US citizen

    I understand that immigration officers have a heavy duty–a responsibility to ensure that people are who they say they are, that people aren’t breaking the laws, etc. And I appreciate that it must be a hard job, often thankless job.

    But, when they are working at the US citizens/ legal residents line, and when they are dealing with US citizens, they should show a bit of respect. I, nor any other US citizen, should ever be made to feel unwelcomed on their return home from abroad no matter how long they have been gone. It appers to me that the belief that is basic to the American justice system, “innocent until proven guilty” does not apply when one goes through passport control. I, too, fly through MSP, and I always feel upon my return from Europe that the agents assume I have done something wrong; that traveling abroad is in fact a crime. Not only do I find the questions insulting, but also hurtful. It feels as if I have been labled un-American because I travel outside of the US.

    “But you could be a terrorist!” Or, “you could be smuggling in illegal substances!” To such statements I say, “then the US should deny citizens from traveling abroad if they do not believe that foreign airports are providing enough security.” I, and any other American citizen traveling through Europe, place out lives in the hands of European immigration officers and European security agents at the airports. We have to wait in line to go through security, sometimes with the high-tech full body scanners. Since 25 December 2009 we have our passports checked not once but twice before even arriving to the US: once when entering the foreign departures terminal, and once when boarding the plan. Occasionally, we have to have our carry-ons scanned again and/or randomly hand searched at the gate. At Amsterdam, I have seen everyone on the flight patted-down at the gate immediately before boarding.

    I should say, that I have recieved similar–though far less rude–questions from immigration agents in Britain. But, because I am not a citizen I understand the need for more stringent questioning. At the end of the day, all I can say is that if this is the treatment citizens recieve upon re-entering the US, then I deeply apologise to my friends from abroad for the treatment they recieve when coming into the US. I understand why many Europeans I have met have told me they will never again travel to the US. And, I understand how the treatment of non-citizens at US borders could influence the IOC decision to not give Chicago that change to host the Olympics.

    The treatment of US citizens is appauling and seems counter to the basic principles of law. The treatment of foreign visitors is unfortunate, for it just continues to harm the image of the US around the world. Its a shame we have let the “war on terror” take so much basic respect for humans away–the majority of whom are kind, decent people (this coming from a self-proclaimed misanthrope). Perhaps we all should write our congress people, or as alot of the posts here deal with MSP, the representatives of Minneapolis, St Paul, and Minnesota.

  • sam

    i also han an encounter with kachinsky at the minnesota airport. had no intentions of living or working in the staes. i really just wanted to visit my mom who lives there. but after interrogation and harassment, i was sent back to my country. banned for 5 years. threatened me that even my husband cant enter the u.s. i hope he gets karma. i just find it unfair when someone i know gets through these officers and later i find out that they are already working under the table. while me, who just really wanted to visit, was not able to enter the country. so the hell with them!

  • England DDave

    I have been through Minneapolis St Paul twice over the last 25 years and on both occasions I was subjected to extremely rude US immigration officials.

    Like US Police, they are badly trained, paranoid and ego driven.

  • weescotslass

    In a weird sort of way I’m glad there are others out there who feel they have been unfairly treated by the immigration officials at MSP.

    I’m a UK citizen that met someone from MN on a dating site. After months of webchat, I took the plunge and went over for a week, all was well. Second visit 90 days later was for 6 weeks and this time I took my youngest child who is only 5. After 17+ hours of travel, they detained us for 2 hours, rifled through all my luggage (without me being present) and questioned me. Fair enough, I get that they have to be vigilant, even if they lack common sense.

    What I don’t get however, is the fact they flagged me and I’m now banned from the States until the K1 (fiancee visa) is granted. It seems ridiculous that I’ve been black marked this way, since Britain is no more politically/economically troubled than America and I’m not trying to pull a fast one to have a better life. Isn’t it crazy that I now have to make the decision whether to move there or not after only being allowed to spend a total of 7 weeks with the man I fell in love with?

    The US embassy have been less than helpful, I’ve been told that really it’s just up to the immigration officials but there’s not a particular department which deals with individual cases. Official advice from the embassy: you’ll have to apply for a visa or use the VWP (already did, daftie!!) but they can still refuse entry, it’s really up to the officer. Well, that’s consistent! I’ll just spend £1000 and chance getting through for another visit then. Pfft.

    For the ‘greatest nation in the world’, they’re really not leading the way on human rights or anti discriminatory pratcise (or even efficiency. 2 non english speaking travellers came and went before they decided to deal with me and my child). They do, however, take the medal for sheer arrogance. Why are these immigration officials not policed?

    I’d love to know who it was who dealt with me, maybe Kachinsky on a good day? lol. A couple of the officers were actually reasonable though. Credit where credit’s due. But power hungry bullies should not be given positions of authority like this.

  • Britton

    Sorry to hear about that Sam. The ban is 5 years, but honestly I think the ban lasts for life since they have a great reason to continue to reject you even after the 5 year period. So, don’t try to reapply for the visa you will just be wasting money. After my brother died in March 2007 my girlfriend reapplied for the tourist visa to try to come to the states to see me, but she was rejected. We never bothered with the marriage visa since we already read that wouldn’t work either. We were left without options. We met again in Hong Kong and another time in Canada after that, but with the distance and her not being able to come here we broke up. I’m really surprised 5 years later since my incident and Kachinsky is still there ruining lives.

  • Britton

    Weescotslass. I don’t want to sound negative, but from your story I seriously doubt you’ll be issued a K1 Visa at this point in time.

  • Chip Council

    What I have read on this site is a disgrace to the United States and to the hard working people of Homeland Security.  Anyone who goes through any port of entry, especially if they are a foreign national visiting a loved one, should read this before coming.  
    http://www.aclu.org/files/kyr/kyr_english.pdf

  • http://www.facebook.com/andre.green.18062 Andre Green

    I had a similar expeience with customs years ago when coming back form my sisters wedding in Jamaca. Telling the agent i went to jamaca was never enough! I could not remember the exact number of my flight without looking at the ticket, and that was a BIG PROBLEM! I told them many times where i had been but i was stiill questioned again and again. There was one other black man on there too and NO whites at all. Long story short I lost my lunch i planed to eat on the Plane.

  • Nitin

    Has anyone experienced rude behavior of the custom officer at MSP airport especially to Indians? What I have heard is that since there are very few Indians traveling to MSP the officers are misbehaving with the Indian family’s and the stuff which is allowed in Newark and Chicago airports are been rejected and thrown away at MSP airport and moreover to that they do fine of about 300 USD, never understood the difference of behaviors in US itself at different airports, does any one have such experience?

  • Nitin

    Has anyone experienced rude behavior of the custom officer at MSP airport especially to Indians? What I have heard is that since there are very few Indians traveling to MSP the officers are misbehaving with the Indian family’s and the stuff which is allowed in Newark and Chicago airports are been rejected and thrown away at MSP airport and moreover to that they do fine of about 300 USD, never understood the difference of behaviors in US itself at different airports, does any one have such experience?