January 5, 2010
Welcome to America
Michael Yon posted the following on his Facebook page.
Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eventually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies. . . . When they handcuffed me, I said that no country has ever treated me so badly. Not China. Not Vietnam. Not Afghanistan. Definitely not Singapore or India or Nepal or Germany, not Brunei, not Indonesia, or Malaysia, or Kuwait or Qatar or United Arab Emirates. No county has treated me with the disrespect that can be expected from our border bullies.
If you missed it, take a look at his post last year about how border bullies treated his friend who came to visit from Thailand.
UPDATE: Joan Rivers, the 76-year old celebrity, wasn't allowed to board a flight because her passport looked "fishy."
Posted by Michael J. Totten at January 5, 2010 10:52 AM
Comments
My guess? One of the things they're looking for is cash transfers between countries to evade wire transfer monitoring. Your visa stamps show you travel regularly to every country on their watch list and they want an idea of how much money you should be carrying with you, given your income bracket.
Posted by: Orion at January 5, 2010 1:36 pm
Er...that should be, "Yon's visa stamps", etc.
Posted by: Orion at January 5, 2010 1:37 pm
Our impression of the border security people at airports when we visit the States is that most seemed to come from the bottom rung of society - overweight, not the brightest and rude.
If the US decide to go for profiling, they'll first have to raise the standards of these people.
If you pay peanuts you get a monkey.
Posted by: Darryl Dempsey at January 5, 2010 1:41 pm
If the US decide to go for profiling, they'll first have to raise the standards of these people.
If you pay peanuts you get a monkey.
These people remind me of the "Sons of Iraq" that we used to put at checkpoints in Sunni areas of Iraq. At first they were diligent and happy to be receiving a steady paycheck. Then they were bored. Finally, they used their new found "power" to harass people, enforce Islamic Law on drivers and generally make life miserable for people simply wanting to go to and from work.
I will agree, these are the dregs of society and now its their turn to be 'respected'.
Posted by: A. Wolf at January 5, 2010 3:18 pm
I will agree, these are the dregs of society and now its their turn to be 'respected'.
When I flew into LA in June I was greeted by the warmest and most genuinely friendly of women from the US customs. She was the nicest on my whole 10-country trip.
After my encounter with the US I think it is Greyhound staff that you should be most wary of...
Posted by: Brian at January 5, 2010 4:12 pm
After my encounter with the US I think it is Greyhound staff that you should be most wary of...
The border bully should be fired. I hope we read about it soon, but I don't think we will.
Posted by: James Bilello at January 5, 2010 8:47 pm
[...] had a conversation on the topic of border security with me knows that I love a good TSA bashing. Welcome to America[Michael Totten's [...]
Posted by: TSA Bashing » Skulduggery Blog at January 6, 2010 12:25 am
Judging by my own experience working for the feddle gubmint, there is very little chance of this person being fired. While working at a non-specified agency that fell under Treasury, there was a person there who attacked a civilian guard with a bottle opener. Cut up his face. I have no idea what it was over.
The result was that this person was reassigned to a different unit and had to take anger management courses.
Posted by: jvon at January 6, 2010 12:35 am
The result was that this person was reassigned to a different unit and had to take anger management courses.
Back in 1992, I had occaison to fly to the US from the UK, to attend an IT training course. My boss told me that US border and security checks were farmed out to Mickey Mouse companies. Looks like nothing has changed. :(
Posted by: DWMF at January 6, 2010 4:31 pm
Yon has posted an update clarifying that it was Customs/Border Patrol that he had trouble with, some early reports indicated it was TSA.
Posted by: rosignol at January 9, 2010 2:37 am
It's the time of heightened security. The federal security personnel have been sharply criticized for several lapses lately and are stepping up the processes. It's not Nazism. You're not going to be thrown into a Gulag. You're not going to sent to the guillotine. Just abide by the rules, answer the questions, and be on your way. Don't give them reasons for extraordinary suspicions.
Posted by: SpinBeaumont at January 9, 2010 7:22 am
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