On the flight from Delhi to Washington D.C., I spent a good two hours staring at the customs form that I was required to fill out. I had completed every section of the form, except for one. I just wasn’t quite sure if mentioning Pakistan and Afghanistan in the box that asked me to list the countries I had visited was such a good idea. As I wrote down the other countries I’d been to on this trip – Australia, Singapore, Thailand and India – I seriously wondered if I could get away with not listing the other two. (Of course, I wasn’t about to risk it and so I wrote them all down in the end.)
Several hours later, on the ground in Washington D.C., I approached the Immigration Counter and handed over my form. The Immigration Officer swiped my passport, glanced at his computer screen and almost immediately stamped me back into the country. But just before I started to walk away he asked, “So you went to Afghanistan and Pakistan. How was it?” The only reply that I could muster up was a quiet, “Very interesting.”
He then called the next person in line and I turned away, relieved beyond belief at how well that had gone. Of course, that relief lasted a mere six seconds, right until the moment when a Customs Officer approached and asked me to step over to one of the inspection tables.
The following hour and a half of my life is a period of time that I will never forget and truthfully, never really want to endure ever again.
MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH A ONE-SIDED MIRROR
After another quick swipe of my passport and after reading the words “Pakistan and Afghanistan” on my form, the young Customs Officer immediately ‘invited’ both myself and my trusty backpack into a small interrogation room for a chat.
Once inside the room, the Officer began to inspect the contents of my backpack. First, he opened the front pocket, and immediately became suspicious of a collection of books that I had purchased in a bookstore in Delhi. There were five books packaged together, each containing the sayings and lessons of a different spiritual figure who had influenced India, including Buddha, Vivekananda, Nanak Dev, Gandhi and yes, the Prophet Mohammed.
Of course, the Customs Officer ignored the other four books and while holding up the book of quotes from the Prophet, proceeded to repeatedly scream “Do you believe in the words of the Prophet Mohammed?” over and over again while standing one foot away from my face.
Every time I tried to mention the other books, and the one time I tried to ask why that question was even relevant, I was immediately cut off and told to be quiet. So in the end, the only reply I gave to his question was, “What?”
THE INSPECTION CONTINUES…
The next problem began when the Officer picked up one of my pairs of pants and a shiny, unused bullet fell out of the front pocket. And while I will admit that the appearance of a bullet is always somewhat suspicious, I honestly felt that the additional screaming that was thrown my way as a result of this discovery was more than uncalled for. Without asking any questions at all, the Officer simply acted as if he had found a piece of evidence that undeniably linked me to terrorism.
As a side note, the bullet was given to me as a gift by a child who had taken me on a tour of his neighborhood on the outskirts of Kabul. I had been walking around on my own when he suddenly came out of nowhere, grabbed my arm and stopped me from walking up a hill that turned out to be littered with land mines. This kid had practically no possessions to his name, yet he wanted to give me a gift for spending some time with him. And so he gave me a bullet that he had found and had always kept with him for good luck.
After the bullet, came the burqa. I had purchased a deep blue burqa one day in Kabul in order to show my friends and family the reality of what it’s like to wear one of these things. As the Customs Officer pulled it out of my backpack, he demanded an explanation and even suggested that I had used the burqa in order to move undetected throughout the tribal regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. As his suspicion grew, so did my confusion at the manner in which this interrogation was taking place.
THE BOX OF CANDY
Up until this point, I had really hoped that the Officer would not look in the side pocket of my backpack. But when he began to unzip the zipper, I had no choice but to take a deep breath and prepare for his reaction.
In that pocket was a box of candy, although this was no ordinary box of M&Ms. It was a box of “Osama bin Laden Kulfa Balls” a popular hard candy that can be found throughout the tribal areas of Pakistan. And on the front of the box, one finds an image of Osama himself alongside a tank, missiles and fighter jets. Naturally, the Customs Officer wasn’t too thrilled with me having this item in my possession and he again made the grand assumption that this box of candy linked me to terrorism.
“I could arrest you right now! Do you want me to arrest you?“, he started to shout repeatedly.
Eventually, I just gave up trying to offer my explanations and stopped answering his questions altogether.
In reality, I have no idea why I bought that box of candy, other than it grabbed my attention, I thought it was interesting and I wanted to take one home. It really was that simple.
A QUICK FLIP THROUGH MY JOURNAL
The next item to be closely inspected turned out to be my travel journal, the 300 pages of which were full of descriptions about the places and people I had met along the way. I wasn’t worried about him reading my journal at all as it certainly didn’t contain anything that this Officer could interpret as suspicious.
So I thought…
Here’s a tip. No matter what the reason, don’t ever write “You can get rid of your US citizenship by going to an Embassy and telling them that you don’t want to be a citizen any more” in your travel journal!
The Officer had opened my journal up to a completely random page and the line above is exactly what he found written. It was perhaps the only line in the entire book that could possibly have made my current situation any worse. Lucky me.
Before I continue, let me be clear. I was in no way at all implying that I was interested in getting rid of my US citizenship. Not even close! I had simply jotted down something I had read in an online article about the rules of citizenship in different countries. Unfortunately, I wrote down that one line and nothing else as I was in a rush that day and had to leave the internet cafe to catch a bus. I meant to go back and write more about the article I had read, but I never did.
And so there it was, alone on a random page of my journal, just begging the Customs Officer to get fired up once again. I certainly wasn’t surprised when he proceeded to read the line out loud a few times, get right in my face and scream, “Tell me now! Tell me you don’t want your US Citizenship and I’ll take it away from you. Right now!”
After trying my hardest to convince him that I did not want to lose my citizenship, the Officer suddenly left the room, returning a few minutes later with his Supervisor. Then, both men spent the following hour asking me a barrage of rapid-fire questions that included, “What do your parents do for a living?”, “Is that your natural hair color?”, “How did you obtain your visas?” and “Were the people of Pakistan friendly?”
“WERE THE PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN FRIENDLY?”
Really?, I thought. You’re really asking me that question?
Well, I could have just said “No, they were all mean and nasty to me” but there was no way I was about to do that to the wonderful people I had met during my travels. The truth is, almost everyone I met showed nothing but remarkable hospitality, kindness and generosity at all times. Almost every day during my visit, dozens of Pakistanis would politely approach me, shake my hand and inform me that they are not terrorists and that they do not support Osama bin Laden. They would then ask me to please return to America and tell everyone I know that Pakistanis just want to live in peace like everyone else. When I tried to explain this to the Officers, they once again ignored me, refusing to believe that there could possibly be even one decent person in that region of the world.
At one point, frustrated by the lack of training/knowledge of the people put in charge of protecting the US borders, I literally pulled out my guidebook and gave them a lesson in geography and in a sense, in reality as well. I showed them excerpts of the guidebook that spoke of friendly locals, must-see highlights and a generally safe environment for travelers. I also attempted to explain that my goal in traveling to this region was to educate myself, not to try and gain admission into a terrorist training camp.
Eventually, in a calm voice, the supervisor asked me one last time whether or not I “believed in the words of the Prophet Mohammed.” (It was as if all Customs Officers had memorized that exact same line.) When I told him that I’m not a very religious person at all, he stood up and much to my surprise, informed me that I was now free to go.
THE AFTERMATH
Through a friend of the family who used to work for the FBI, I later learned that as soon as I had left the Customs interrogation room, the local FBI office in Savannah, Georgia (where I was headed to visit my mom) had been notified of my arrival. As a result, the FBI then tapped the home phone at my mom’s house.
Further, for two years, I was given a private pat down and screening every time I went through security at a US airport. And whenever I returned from overseas, I was forced to go through a 30-minute, overly thorough inspection that involved dozens of questions, a ‘test’ about my previous travels and even a complete inspection of all my computer files.
The good news is that one day, it all stopped. Just like that I had apparently been removed from the list as a potential threat and I’ve never been inspected since.
However, I now realize that I should be enjoying these hassle-free Immigration & Customs experiences while I can, because I have a feeling that after this upcoming trip to the Middle East, I’m going to find myself right back in that interrogation room.
Do you have any Customs or Immigration stories to share?
Back in 1999, I left home for a 3 month trip to Asia that has still yet to end.
I dont believe half of this. I have been around the world and have always written where i have been on my paperwork, and never had a problem, really, he got a foot away from your face and screamed “Do you believe in the words of the Prophet Mohammed?” you should be ecstatic, since you could sue for millions. But since its a fake story, probably wont go so well for you…. and they freaked out about the candy? Really? Doubt it. I once accidentally forgot a set of ornamental knives in my carry on. They pulled them out of my bag and then asked me a few questions, i explained and she said she could either throw them away, or I could go back out and mail them to myself, and then re enter security. Point being, please dont make up stories about our airports being this giant horror show. They arent pleasant experiences for the most part, but just stop and think for one second about how privileged you are to be able to just jump on a plane and go wherever you please.
Hey Chris – Doesn’t matter to me if you don’t believe it. It’s what happened.
I’m with Chris. My critical thinking alarms are going off all over the place on this story. I’m calling BS.
Come out of your bubble. Every time I come back from Pakistan, my luggage gets searched in customs multiple times. Maybe, you’re confusing domestic security with international.
Nothing about this story is unbelievable to anyone that flies from the middle east or the indian subcontinent with any regularity.
Going to have to Iain on this one, Chris. Not everyone is as decent as we’d like them to be, and no two people are the same for sure.
Try coming home after a 17 hour series of flights and being held in Customs for 8 hours because you looked “suspicious” or a member of your family seemed “dangerous”.
Some things seriously aren’t fair to all of us, I suppose. And that, I speak from experience. Not only in the U.S., but even in other countries, such as Egypt (which is a whole other story on its own).
Chris, interrogations are constantly going on like this. They take you to a private room. You just apparently got lucky! Besides, why would Earl lie about this? Go find someone else to bother! Thank you Earl for allowing us to ‘travel’ through your experiences. God bless!
I don’t want to take any sides, but Chris, any argument that relies on the TSA being reasonable people is doomed to failure. I once spent 45 minutes at a TSA checkpoint, on a domestic flight, while my eleven year old sister (petit, blond, traveling with her whole family, ELEVEN) had her cast for her broken arm tested for bomb residue. When my mother touched her hair to comfort her, she got pulled aside as well.
The hostility was simply incredible. And nearly everyone who has traveled has these stories. This story, while out of line, doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility.
Wow Chris! Neat that you had a decent experience at airport security! But here’s a shocker: Every single customs agent/ security personnel at every single airport is not going to behave identically. Your assumption that this story is fabricated based upon one trivial experience that you personally had is totally asinine. I am not from the US but I have certainly experienced some customs agents who very intentionally attempted to intimidate, posture, and belittle me – until the point that they were satisfied that there was absolutely no justification in continuing their behavior and begrudgingly allowed me to pass. Frankly, the customs officials in question could have simply seen this as an opportunity to practice in case of the real thing. Who knows? I know a few people who have wound up on lists for little to no reason and it has resulted in significant disruption to their travel schedules.
Just so you know, this kind of thing does happen. For instance, in Vancouver they killed a guy because he was holding a stapler and couldn’t speak English. And we’re talking the US here. (No bias, cough cough).
I am a US greencard holder from the philippines. I get asked almost everytime I come back from my international travels. No idea why but i thought maybe bec customs wonder who is funding me travels? Bec Americans are so narrow minded about travlling the world, they assume u have to have tons of money to do so while in fact you dont. I used to think that bec im a non US citizen that this could be the reason but after reading this, I guess it doesn’t matter. Im in canada now and canadian customs also detained my why im travelling here for 30 days… My work is online so I can do it anywhere in the world and i have airline benefits. I know customs are just doing their job but until now, I have no clue why they keep detaining me everytime. Weird but true… While your story is much colorful, I knw this detaining shit is true. If you have a very strong accent they treat you badly. I have a US accent but I have seen customs treat non english speaking people badly. This is bad! If only I can record it for you all to see but I cant so its my word against theirs.
I was going through UK customs when the officer asked me how I finance my travels. I said from my IRA. This, understandably raised his eyebrows. I hadn’t been aware until then that the acronyms for individual retirement account and Irish Republic Army were the same. A quick clarification and I was on my way.
I am sorry but tha is so funny. We were going to Ireland last year and most people we talked to we’re concerned for our safety because of the IRA
Ha! True or not, makes for a great story and fun read
Thanks for sharing!!
I believe such experience is possible , have read some other similar stories also…
Liked what I read …U had an awesome
That’s a crazy story Earl and I don’t doubt a word you said. Years ago a bunch of friends and I decided to cross into the States for a getaway weekend. We were all 18 however drinking in the US was 21 so we weren’t expecting to be able to hit the bars or anything. As we drove across the border I guess our ages were suspicious so they pulled us over. They went through our car with a fine tooth comb including using mirrors to check underneath and dogs to sniff around.
They then proceeded to look through every article of clothing and all our bags. One of the “nice” men found an expired copy of my older brothers drivers license in my wallet. How it got there, “cough cough”, I don’t know but the border guard wasn’t very happy with me. After 15 minutes of yelling and lecturing I was let go to join the rest of our group and kept going. We were an inch away from being refused entry into the States and the only thing they found on any of us was that piece of ID that was not only expired and had no picture on it, but my brother wasn’t even 21 yet so it was pretty much useless regardless.
This was a decade before 9/11 and I’m a guy who lived 45 minutes from the US border his whole life. Glad you made it through safely and I don’t wish what you went through on anyone that doesn’t deserve it. To this day I still get nervous whenever I fly into the US or have to go through American customs. I can cross over into a country where every one and their dog are holding Uzi’s and sawed off shotguns and I won’t even break a sweat. Maybe that was their whole point. Good post.
Hey Charles – I tend to agree with that last line you wrote and sadly, I hear such stories as yours all the time. Many of my Canadian friends are always nervous about crossing into the US (even though they have nothing to hide) and many will pay more for airfare just to avoid having to change planes in the US.
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I certainly haven’t had any experiences as shocking as this one (good read, by the way), although I have heard countless tales of passing through American Immigration being a nightmare. Even when I was in transit in Houston airport on my Mexico City-London flight, the guy at the desk hounded me for filling in the wrong form as a British citizen, and how I could be committing a felony etc., and I wasn’t even trying to get into the damn country! It smacked of unnecessary abuse of power. I dread to think how your experience would have been, Earl, had you been travelling on a non-American passport!! By the way, I just discovered your website last night and am already hooked on your stories. Nice work, buddy.
Thanks for the comment Jonny and welcome to the site!
You probably know this by now, but only a federal judge can revoke you citizenship. Further it is illegal to be stateless. From talking with my lawyer friends who have knowledge of immigration cases I’m not surprised by the story. But if they are suspicious they will keep you while they run your name against a bunch of databases. If you are an american citizen, probably would the best thing would be to ask questions, and then ask if you are free to go or if you are being detained. If they are not detaining you, then they have to let you go. And, obviously in the future it would be a better idea to not carry bullets in airports.
oh, I know exactly how you feel. I spent some time in Middle East for a business trip a few years ago. I have very very dark brown hair, and had a pretty dark tan when I got done with my trip, seeing as I had spent about 2 months there. I was in a damn interrogation office for 3 hours. It was the first time I had ever been out of the country in my life, and I was obviously on a business trip *sigh*. Very VERY frustrating.
That really riled Chris up ey? I got my bags turned upside down and emptied in LA because I had a layover before Canada. I’d come from Fiji… Questioned for about 30 mins and then allowed to pick up all my stuff and repack it all… while they said hurry up. They couldn’t understand why I had come via L.A. I told them I couldn’t explain why British Airways fly like this either.
Still there are some masssssive tools that work in airports all over the world
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Earl-
I’ve lived in the middle east my whole life but my whole family is American including myself. Even though I travel twice a year from where I live now in Louisiana to the UAE to visit my parents, I got stopped coming back to New Orleans this Jan at JFK and was interrogated for half an hour. I am a 21 year old college student so I was pretty shocked. I have an American passport. One TSA agent actually asked me ‘where I got it’. After we all figured out that I had no evil plans the same man told me it was dangerous for me to travel to the middle east by myself ‘where the arab men could take advantage of me’. Nothing like a little misogyny mixed in with your daily dose of blatant racism. At the risk of being ‘invited’ back to the little room I told him that I have experienced more unwanted advances in the US than ever have in the UAE. He replied with ‘watch it, nobody likes a girl with a smart mouth’…seriously!?!? The thing is I have had some perfectly wonderful experiences with TSA agents who helped me retrieve a stolen camera (yes, someone stole my camera FROM SECURITY) so just like in every other job of power there is going to be some sad sack who talks before thinking.
Anyway, Great post!
So is this a USA thing? And is it searching with attitude or just the attitude that is so awful? I’ve had some training in dealing with angry people and I would think the TSA would too. And one thing you wouldn’t want to do to an unstable person like a terrorist is escalate the situation. Intimidation and fear are bully techniques, a sure sign of insecurity, no pun intended.
Hey Leslie – I had no problem with them searching my stuff and asking questions. I would do the same if I was in their shoes and I came across myself. But that attitude and clear lack of cultural awareness is the part that was so unfortunate and it made me think that there is very little training taking place for these customs agents. Surely their techniques are not the best way to deal with potential threats.
Hello,
I’m actually not surprised AT ALL by this.
First I’d like to mention that I’m a Canadian citizen that’s traveled to the US on my own more than a few times either by myself, with friends, or with school. I was 21 at the time this happened.
As a student, I decided in 2012 that a cheaper way to travel might do my wallet some good considering I was attending a private college. As such, I decided to to the US by bus and than return by plane. I bought my plane ticket with air miles points so it was even cheaper.
I get to the boarder in the bus,get in line whatever and then get to the counter. The guy hassled me for about 10 mins at the counter as to why I was going by bus and then return via plane… he didn’t understand the concept of CHEAPER TRAVELING. And this is after the fact I told him I worked as a public security officer for two cities back home.
Anyways, 15 mins later Im back on the bus. I don’t know what he put in my file, because next thing you know when I’m returning back to Canada they searched my backpack after it had just gone through the xray scanner. There was only my laptop and a book inside but still. This wasn’t the first time I was bringing my laptop along, but it was the first time they searched me =/
This is such a great story. Funny, but sad at the same time. I personally think you are crazy for travelling through an international airport with a bullet in your pocket haha. Those customs officers get up on their high horse over the tiniest little things sometimes. It doesn’t even need to be a bullet, or Osama candy.
You’re story is a bit scary, luckily haven’t experienced that and I never want to experience that! I am glad that everything stopped and all went back to normal.
Hey did you get your bullet back? After reading the entire thing which I found to be hilarious and just incredible that you were put through that, the bullet was still in the back of my mind. It would’ve meant a lot to me thats why I ask!
Hey Kat – Yes, I did get the bullet back
A really big star from India was subjected to such torture because his name had a ‘Khan’ in it. And believe me this guy is bigger than Tom Cruise! I’m trying to understand what you must have gone through it. Cheers that’s in the past now!
I loved reading this story! But I am sorry you have such a horrible experience. The worst time I’ve had when coming back into the US, is fighting with custom agents about the amount of money I own. I lived in Japan for 9 years and therefor they said I was considered a non-resident and they wanted to tax everything I was bringing into the US. I asked for supervisor and politely pointed out that citizenship trumps residence. He agreed and sent me on my way