All the way home on the flight from London to Chicago, I braced myself for whether I was going to sent to "secondary inspection" on arrival at Immigration as on my last return to the country. On principle, I had decided I was going to challenge it, having read carefully the Customs and Border Protection Inspector's Field Manual, released under FOIA in 2008. I think racial profiling needs to be challenged, quietly, confidently and with knowledge of one's rights. As it happens there was no problem and I was admitted without incident (arbitrariness, inconsistency and capriciousness are part of the system apparently).
But then there was still customs. I joined the queue to exit the baggage claim area, where you hand your customs declaration to an officer and are either waved straight through or sent to customs/agriculture inspection. I was sent to customs/agriculture for further inspection.The officer at customs who then took your declaration shouted ahead to her colleagues further down the line, "PAKISTAN," (as she did for several people in front of me) or wherever it was the passenger had arrived from. When she took my card she shouted "JORDAN" and the following dialogue ensued:
Me: Excuse me, but I have just arrived from the United Kingdom, not from Jordan. Officer: But you did write on your declaration that you were in Jordan.Me: Yes, I did, but I was in Jordan more than a week ago, and my flight came from London, and I also wrote "United Kingdom," where I spent a week.
Officer: Well, it's a random inspection and we are looking for food and everyone eats. Me: That means they also eat in the United Kingdom, but you didn't shout "United Kingdom," you only shouted "Jordan." That doesn't seem random to me, that seems like profiling, especially when everyone else here seems to be from Pakistan. The officer gave me what I can only describe as a dirty look, but I put my bag through the x-ray machine and there was no further search. Between Jordan and the United Kingdom, the UK clearly represents a much greater threat to the agriculture of the United States (Foot and Mouth Disease anyone?). But that didn't interest Customs. I suspect these inspections have little to do with the search for contraband food and everything to do with profiling people from "dangerous" countries. Tell me whatever you want, but please don't tell me its "random."