US Customs are Getting Bad

[C.J.]

Airport staff that don't fly the plane are worthless thieves. They practice the detailed searches, because they(and their employees, satanists) are scared of spies, assassins and rich people(leaving).

Whenever I fly(VERY rarely), I don't bring anything but my clothes and a couple doodads. However, I don't get any trouble and haven't even been sexually-assaulted by TSA agents. They know what's good for them.

[Winston]

Why do you guys go through Detroit? Everyone seems to get harassed by customs there. Pick another airport. They will never do that to you in Seattle or Texas. Why not transfer in Chicago?

Ladislav, you should have told them that you went there because the women are a million times more friendly than in the US, and that the US is very unfriendly and cliquish.

When I say that, it shocks them because no one would dare say that. It's not a discussion they want to get into, so they try to get rid of me after that and don't want to hear anymore, especially when they can tell that I want to go on a diatribe and present my four point comparison pamphlet with them. You should carry a copy of it and show it to them. lol

http://www.happierabroad.com/Pamphlet.pdf

I've told you that many times. If you get into deep discussions with government employees, they get intimidated because it makes them realize how dumb they are. They never bother me when I do that.

Also, if you have pics on your laptop that you don't want them to see, put them in hidden folders. Right click on Folders and open properties to hide them. To see them, you have to go to View in Windows and select "View hidden folders". They would have to use a scanner to find them.

How would they know if the pics of Filipinas you have are underage or not? Many of them look underage but are not, because they are small and short.

[Repatriate]

When I say that, it shocks them because no one would dare say that. It's not a discussion they want to get into, so they try to get rid of me after that and don't want to hear anymore, especially when they can tell that I want to go on a diatribe and present my four point comparison pamphlet with them. You should carry a copy of it and show it to them. lol

http://www.happierabroad.com/Pamphlet.pdf

Wait.. what?? So you actually get into debates about the merits of American women/culture with U.S. customs officials and try to hand them your website pamphlet? Get someone to film you doing this ASAP. It's a comedy goldmine.

Also, if you have pics on your laptop that you don't want them to see, put them in hidden folders. Right click on Folders and open properties to hide them. To see them, you have to go to View in Windows and select "View hidden folders". They would have to use a scanner to find them.

How would they know if the pics of Filipinas you have are underage or not? Many of them look underage but are not, because they are small and short.

Winston they can just mirror your whole hard drive and have a forensics IT guy pick it apart in about 20 minutes. If they really wanted to f**k with you they could take it to an extreme.

[Teal Lantern]

I've told you that many times. If you get into deep discussions with government employees, they get intimidated because it makes them realize how dumb they are. They never bother me when I do that.

Also, if you have pics on your laptop that you don't want them to see, put them in hidden folders. Right click on Folders and open properties to hide them. To see them, you have to go to View in Windows and select "View hidden folders". They would have to use a scanner to find them.

How would they know if the pics of Filipinas you have are underage or not? Many of them look underage but are not, because they are small and short.

They don't have to "know". They'll just arrest you, put you on blast, and put the burden of proof on you.
Got a couple of months and several grand to spare?

[Ghost]

.

[navigator]

Wow, reading that horror story makes me glad that I connected in Atlanta instead of Detroit on my last international vacation. I suppose this could happen at any airport, but Detroit sounds particularly bad. Not that I have anything to hide from customs, but being subjected to those kinds of extensive searches when you've got a connecting flight to make doesn't sound like a great way to end a trip. Fortunately, I've never had any problems with customs or immigration at airports, U.S. or otherwise. My worst experiences were at land crossings in California (from TJ via foot), New York (from Montreal and Quebec City via train), and Ontario Canada (to Toronto via train). I was singled out for extensive searches each of those times. The experience with Canadian customs was especially bad; I was screamed at in front of an entire train of passengers for not having a declaration form that I never received. I told him that I never received the form and he wouldn't believe a word I said. He kept screaming at me. One of the most humiliating experiences of my life.

When I say that, it shocks them because no one would dare say that. It's not a discussion they want to get into, so they try to get rid of me after that and don't want to hear anymore, especially when they can tell that I want to go on a diatribe and present my four point comparison pamphlet with them. You should carry a copy of it and show it to them. lol

http://www.happierabroad.com/Pamphlet.pdf

Wait.. what?? So you actually get into debates about the merits of American women/culture with U.S. customs officials and try to hand them your website pamphlet? Get someone to film you doing this ASAP. It's a comedy goldmine.

Hahaha, I would love to see that! That would have the potential to go viral and bring a lot of traffic to this website via YouTube.

[momopi]

At LAX, if you're flying in from Taiwan with "normal" luggage, TSA will just wave you through. But if you're coming in from Vietnam with taped up "brown boxes", there's a good chance that TSA will pull you to the inspection tables and open your cardboard boxes.

I flew to Singapore many times and was never inspected, but the one time that I was hauling a taped up cardboard box full of stuff for my coworker, I was pulled by the inspector who went through the box's contents.

[Wolfeye]

Ghost- That was all dead-on, man. They don't think compositionally (or they act like they don't). Something does NOT consist of whatever they're charging someone with, but they charge them for it anyway. I guess maybe that's just the act, though. Someone has to know what's there in order for them to edit the story in whatever way so it comes out as whatever story they make up. Of course, making that story up on it's own is something they know about in the first place, I was just making a point that sometimes it's a very deliberate discord with reality- a specific "this" substituted with "that."

[Hero]

I got the secondary inspection in Miami when I was coming back from the Dominican Republic. It wasn't very thorough; they didn't look at my digital camera or SmartPhone, but it was still damned annoying. I got asked the same questions by 3 separate guards (what do you do for a living, where did you go, how long were you there, what did you purchase over there, who did you visit, are you married...) If I go back to the Philippines, no way I'm bringing back any kind of electronic devices like a phone, laptop, etc. I won't even bring back a single thing that I purchased abroad.

[MattHanson1990]

The only port of entry I have used for re-entering the U.S. from abroad is a land crossing in El Paso, Texas (from Ciudad Juarez on foot). Twice I got secondary inspection, but that was back in 2015. I haven't gotten secondary inspection since; customs agents ask me a few questions and then let me go. But I agree that things appear to be getting gradually worse with each year or so. I have yet to deal with customs at airports; but I've heard mixed things about them, depending on where one enters the country (e.g. California, New York, Detroit, Texas, Atlanta, and so forth). Ghost mentioned to me on WeChat that he got secondary inspection when he flew into LAX, but customs officers were much more relaxed at airports in the South such as Dallas/Ft. Worth and Atlanta. If I do decide to visit my family in the U.S. this year, I would fly into Albuquerque (ABQ) now that Volaris has direct flights from Guadalajara. I'm hoping customs at ABQ won't be like LAX since New Mexico is more sparsely populated compared to California.

[CannedHam]

I have had Global Entry, so I can't remember the last time I was questioned about my trip. The only questions I've gotten were agriculture/food-related.

It's always pissed me off that the US goes through such lengths to hassle people legally entering the country via an airport, but leaves the southern border wide open so that middle eastern terrorists, cartel members, violent criminals etc can pour into the country.

[MattHanson1990]

My main gripe I have with U.S. customs is that they ask questions when you're re-entering the country from abroad. "What were you doing in (insert name of country)?" "What do you do for a living?" "Why were you outside of the U.S. for so long?" This is why I'm looking to get at least permanent residency in Mexico ASAP, and is also why I'm not wanting to set foot in the U.S. anymore (unless I can get global entry and TSA pre-check, which in this case I can only enter the U.S. at an airport, not a land crossing).

[E Irizarry R&B Singer]

My main gripe I have with U.S. customs is that they ask questions when you're re-entering the country from abroad. "What were you doing in (insert name of country)?" "What do you do for a living?" "Why were you outside of the U.S. for so long?" This is why I'm looking to get at least permanent residency in Mexico ASAP, and is also why I'm not wanting to set foot in the U.S. anymore (unless I can get global entry and TSA pre-check, which in this case I can only enter the U.S. at an airport, not a land crossing).

Definitely look into that. Good luck, bud.

[rabbithabit]

a good lesson in why some people like me will never visit the USA. why do they care about people leaving more than the ones coming to that scary place.?

[NMBob]

What you do when you have been targeted for millenniums.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-w ... 78149.html

I don't mind the basic questioning and checks at an international border. This inspection of electronic equipment seems to violate the constitution big time at face value but is allowed to do by customs (customs not tsa). Wonder if they are trying to stop human trafficking.

These border patrol checkpoints on us soil inside the border but within the mileage range the courts should never have approved without declared war....they need to go.