documents abuses by the United States Customs and Border Protection Service (CBP) against my wife and family, and to make note of & link to abuses received by others.
My wife speaks limited English. She's pregnant. She's prone to morning AKA all-day sickness related to her pregnancy. We have two young children, aged one and three.
She is the one threatened with expulsion from the Global Entry program, a program we signed up for specifically
we have young children and were hoping to spend less time in line when returning from China.
more interested in the contents of your bags - and any little specks of meat which may be inside.
declare that you do have meat on the paper customs form, that's not enough for the angry, abusive, and anxious to pounce CBP officers. After 15+ hours of travel you
be required to verbally state every small instance of "meat" you may have, within 5 seconds of being asked. Otherwise it's a $500 fine for you, and a probable boot from Global Entry.
And if you're a limited English person who really should have a translator fully explaining what exactly is meant by the term "meat," doesn't matter! Still a $500 fine and a probable boot from Global Entry.
Angry conniving & thuggish officers who are ready to pounce at the slightest misstep.
The face presented by the USA to visitors and returning citizens & residents is actively hostile.
Included below are quotes from letters we've shared with the White House, and with one of our senators. We've asked them for help, but we're not hopeful.
We suspect that the wheels of the CBP grind very finely. The CBP appears to be a de facto raquet and scam. A scam to get money & frankly to terrorize regular citizens & residents & visitors. Treating all people with the same blunt tool:
Thug is a strong word. But when it comes to brutalizing pregnancy tired sick women who speak limited English, and who try and "come home" to America with their two young children in tow - the term is fully accurate.
More details can be found in the quoted letters below sent to our elected representatives. We shall continue to document what happens with us in this blog.
Items 1 & 2: Our letter to President Obama; our letter to one of our senators.
As per your website’s invitation for feedback, and the
general principles of freedom of speech & petitioning our government for a
redress of grievances, I am writing to you today.
My wife is an immigrant from China and she speaks limited
English. Recently she and our family were the recipients of abuse at the hands
of the U.S. Customs & Border Protection Service (CBP) at the San Francisco
Airport.
My wife packed our bags. We did select “yes” in answer to the meat &
vegetables questions at the Global Entry kiosks and on the paper customs form.
My wife is pregnant and is highly prone to morning sickness (AKA all-day
sickness). We have two young children. We had just traveled for 15+ hours and
were very tired. Our children were tired and were complaining. We were first greeted
at the San Francisco Airport by an angry, yelling, and unhinged CBP officer who
was yelling at a Chinese tour group in a large hallway to move on more quickly
– while a tour guide was explaining how to fill out the paper customs form to
this group. All these factors wore us down and resulted in this:
A failure on the part of my wife to verbally state, within 5 seconds or less to
a CBP officer, that there was a very small amount of meat in our luggage. My
wife didn’t fully understand exactly what was meant by “meat.” A large piece of
meat? Meat in a loose bag & not in a sealed package? And she was never
provided a translator. My wife reported that the words of the officer involved
sounded muddled to her and were hard for her to understand. And my wife’s
condition & ability to accurately & quickly respond was degraded due to
tiredness & pregnancy & having to deal with and help our two young
children.
But, she was the one fined $500. And she is now the one being threatened with
expulsion from the Global Entry program. An expulsion of her from Global Entry
would be a de facto expulsion of my whole family. My wife is the mother of our
children, and we shall not travel separately nor stand in separate lines.
Enclosed is a petition I am sending to one of my senators, regarding help with
the CBP. Inside my petition you shall find further reference to exactly what
happened to us. Also included is relevant commentary regarding how others are
generally treated by the CBP – how the initial “face of America” as presented
to all visitors is a hostile one.
I know that Senator Hatch shall be forwarding my concerns
to the agency involved for a response. If in your capacity as President you are
able to provide some positive assistance that would be welcomed also.
Jonathan XXXXX, with Yanning XXXXXand
children XXXXX& XXXXX XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXX ,Utah XXXXX
March
28, 2016
Senator Orrin Hatch
c/o Help with Federal Agencies, with additional relevance
to the Senate Committee on Finance & other committees
104 Hart Office Building
Washington, District of Columbia 20510
Greetings Senator Hatch,
Regarding the First Amendment, Right to Petition.
We are writing to request your help with the following federal agency: U.S.
Customs & Border Protection Service (CBP).
Our petition for your office & the CBP begins.
The nature of our complaint has main three elements:
Issue 1: Demeanor of CBP officers at the
San Francisco Airport port of entry.
Issue 2: Appeal
regarding property seizure and of a fine.
Issue 3: Appeal
regarding threats made to our Global Entry membership status, threats made
during our visit to the San Francisco airport (SFO) on March 27, 2016.
My wife and I were legally married in the State of Utah.
My wife currently has a Green Card and hopes to become a U.S. citizen.
We have two young children, age one (a girl) and three (a
boy), and my wife is pregnant with our third child (a girl).
We obtained Global Entry memberships to help us be able
to more easily return from China, and more recently & particularly because
my wife is currently pregnant. We usually visit China once per year so that my
wife can see her family, and so that our children can see their grandparents
and uncles.
Regarding issue 1, the demeanor of officers at the San
Francisco Airport port of entry.
Upon arrival at the San Francisco airport immediately
after exiting the relevant airplane we were on, we noticed a Chinese tour group
leader telling a group of travelers information about how to fill out a customs
form. This was all happening in a secure large international passenger hallway
& plane exit gate area, right next to a large sculpted artwork present in
the large hallway.
An apparent tour leader was instructing his group
regarding how to fill out the form, a CBP officer started yelling loudly from
down the hall and barking orders for the group to move more quickly. The CBP
officer was very angry and upset. The tour guide responded “ok ok,” whereupon
the CBP officer said “NO IT’S NOT OK!!! MOVE IT! COME ON! MOVE IT!”
This was these peoples’ first introduction to America: An
angry and unhinged CBP officer barking orders at them, all while their Chinese tour
guide was trying to explain how to fill out a relevant CBP form in the large
hallway outside of the relevant airline gate we all were at.
Regarding issue 2, an appeal regarding property
seizure and of a fine:
Our family proceeded through the Global Entry kiosks ok.
We believed we had filled out the relevant customs form for our family
sufficiently. At the Global Entry kiosks we did select “yes” to the question
regarding whether we had brought in any food, vegetables, or meat. And on the
paper form a “yes” was selected.
Primarily & probably solely because of our “yes”
selections as noted above, our baggage was then X-rayed and opened up by CBP
officers.
Inside of our bags the officers found items which matched
up with the Global Entry kiosk selections of (meat & veg) “yes,” and with
the front-of-the-form selections of yes for meat & vegetables.
Specifically one piece of bread with very small pieces of cooked pork on the
outside of the bread was found.
Also one small sealed package of sausage purchased as a
gift for us from Walmart in Nanning, China (yes they have a Walmart there) was
found.
Also one package of noodles with “chicken extract” inside
was found.
My wife speaks limited English and she has a more limited understanding
regarding CBP regulations. On the back of the customs form we did indicate the
phrase “packaged bread.” And on the front of the form we did indicate a “yes”
to the question regarding whether we had brought in meat. We also stated the
word “etc” after a phrase similar to or exactly matching “packaged snacks.”
The process of being grilled and interrogated by a CBP officer can be
befuddling. After 15+ hours of travel my wife & I were very tired. Our two
very young children were tired & upset. And after our encounter with the CBP
officer barking & yelling orders, we were further worn down.
We made our “best faith effort” in filling out the relevant customs form. We
also made our best & good faith responses at the Global Entry kiosk when we
said “yes” to the meat & vegetables question.
The small package of sausage purchased from Walmart in Nanning came as a gift
and was mixed in with bag of other non-meat gifts. And again we did answer
“yes” to whether we had meat both at the Global Entry kiosk and on the front of
the paper form – the most relevant part of that form.
The piece of bread found came from a bakery. The word
“bread” was mentioned in our declarations.
We gave the CBP full opportunity to check our bags.
When people answer “No” to the question regarding meat
& vegetables, they are usually just waived on & not fully checked.
We saw this first hand. Thus the CBP appears to have a gotcha-type
system & scheme where common citizens & lawful U.S. residents are
easily trapped & penalized – directly & severely penalized for
attempting to be honest.
There should & must be a difference between treatment & handling of
people who answer “no” & are found to have prohibited items, and people who
answer “yes” to the related question. YES was our official deceleration, at the
Global Entry kiosk, and on the front of the paper form, regarding whether we
had meat & vegetables present.
According to the USDA website at
meat is allowed:
Products for Personal Consumption
Federal inspection regulations permit the entry of small
amounts of meat, poultry or egg products for personal consumption 9 CFR, Part
327.16, 381.207, and 590.960. The amount of a personal consumption shipment
cannot exceed 50 pounds for meat, poultry, or dried egg products and 30 pounds
for liquid or frozen egg products. The products must be for personal use only
and cannot be sold or distributed in U.S. commerce.
Such products are exempt from FSIS import regulation, but
they are subject to Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) animal
health requirements. These requirements change frequently, and travelers should
contact APHIS for up-to-date information by visiting the website or calling
(301) 851-3300.
All travelers entering the United States are required to
declare any products of animal origin (including soup or soup products) they
may be carrying. The declaration must cover all items carried in checked
baggage, carry-on luggage, or in a vehicle. U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) agriculture specialists at the ports of entry will examine the items and
determine if they meet the entry requirements of the United States. Additional
information on bringing agricultural products into the United States is
available from CBP.
Long traveling families, with children age one and three,
and a wife still prone to morning sickness AKA all-day sickness, and families
where a key family member who packed our bags speaks limited English should be
given some leeway. And even more leeway should be given when in the first
instance we a.) tried to be honest, and b.) we set ourselves up for mandatory
inspection as per our YES answer to the meat & veg question at the Global
Entry kiosk.
From our perspective, our answering of “yes” to the meat & vegetable
questions at the Global Entry kiosks, and “yes” on the front of the paper form,
should have covered what was found.
Long traveling tired families like us are not well
prepared to respond to being verbally grilled, and to verbally remember every
little thing within 5 seconds of being asked. But, we did remember to
select “yes” in answer to the meat & vegetable questions at the Global
Entry kiosks. And we did remember to select “yes” in answer to a similar
question on the front of the customs form.
And again a YES answer at the Global Entry kiosks routes
one, knowingly, to mandatory inspection. Had we answered NO at the kiosk and on
the paper form, we most likely would have been waved on after a quick verbal
question regarding whether we had any fresh fruits or meats.
We COULD have lied & then been waved on. But we did not. We sought to be
truthful, and we set ourselves up for mandatory inspection. Plus we answered
YES during BOTH opportunities to declare meat & vegetables, at the Global
Entry kiosk, and on the front of the relevant paper form.
The CBP officer who dealt with us was not helpful. He
acted rather like an exacting judge in a court room. One wrong word. One wrong
comment. A lack of a proper response within 5 seconds. One temporarily forgotten
piece of bread or packaged sausage (not recollected verbally within 5
seconds) after traveling for 16+ hours including connections & layovers,
and with a wife who is still prone to all-day sickness related to her
pregnancy, and with two very young upset & tired children – one very small
misstep with this abusive CBP officer resulted in the following:
A $500 fine.
A
threat to my wife’s current & future Global Entry membership (issue 3).
We maintain & claim that our
representations at the Global Entry kiosks and on the paper forms were
sufficient declarations to cover the very few things found as noted. Fully
sufficient.
In our tired &
degraded state after our long journey, we provided the best quick answers we
could.
We gave the CBP full opportunity to check our bags, via our “yes” answers as
previously noted. When one answers “yes” to the meat & veg question at the
Global Entry kiosks, that automatically & mandatorily & knowingly
routes such travelers to the more intensive baggage inspection.
We basically allowed the CBP officer involved to abusively pounce while he searched
for the smallest tiny mistake with our verbal responses. But we, my wife
& I, set the wheels in motion for this trap via answering “yes” at the
Global Entry kiosks to the meat & veg question. But, we answered “yes”
in good faith. We were trying to be honest & to do the best we could
under the circumstances.
A pregnant woman
with two very young children who speaks limited English, was the one fined.
As the inspecting & fining CBP officer involved was asking us initial
very quick spoken & cutting verbal questions, my wife would not have had
time to process his questions & answer them appropriately.
We were never offered an interpreter.
My wife never was asked one question, directly, and with an interpreter asking
the questions – particularly during the whether-to-fine-or-not-fine
decision-making part of the conversation with the relevant fining CBP officer.
And overall we received zero consideration for the fact that we were a family
traveling with two very young & upset & tired children. No leeway.
Nothing other than a very quick verbal game which one can either pass or very
easily fail. My wife should not have been expected to pass such a game in her
state & after such long travel & after being very tired & sick as a
result. Yet, she was the one fined.
A lack of equal treatment under the law:
The CBP officer we dealt with regarding the inspection
& fine stated that Global Entry members are investigated more closely.
However a general principle of the rule of law is that people be treated equally
before the law. Thus the more intense fruit & veg scrutiny to Global
Entry members given by CBP officers violates a principles of equal treatment.
People who answer “no” to the meat & veg question are checked much
less often than people who say “yes.”
People who aren’t Global Entry members are checked less than people who are.
This is all unequal treatment.
The CBP penalizes people who try to be
honest.
We did not set out to “sneak” anything in.
We gave our good faith best-effort answers at the Global Entry kiosks, and on
the relevant paper form – regarding having meat & vegetables inside our
bags. We answered and declared YES.
Traveling with two young children, and having a wife
who’s highly prone to all-day pregnancy related sickness, and 15+ hours of
continuous travel, resulted in our being able to be easily befuddled and
tripped up by a ready-to-pounce CBP officer. But as noted we opened the
door to their being able to find the items they were then concerned about. And
we did say “yes” to whether we had meat & vegetables – because we
were trying to be honest in the first instance. This was our declaration first & foremost: an answer of Yes
at the Global Entry kiosks and on the relevant paper form, to the meat &
vegetables question.
Why did we choose to pay the spot fine instead of going
to court? Because we live in Utah. We cannot reasonably be expected to travel
from Utah to a court in San Francisco to fight this matter. And so we paid the
$500 fine quickly so that we could be on our way with our two young kids, and
so that we could get a bit of rest in San Francisco before continuing on to
Utah.
However the CBP officer involved never mentioned, during
the whether-to-pay-quickly-or-not-or-go-to-court part of the conversation, how
my wife’s Global Entry membership would be threatened via our decision not to
fight in court. He only mentioned this way after the fact – and after we paid
the $500 spot fine. Thus the officer did not provide full information during
our decision making process regarding which route to proceed with initially.
Plus again, the CBP provided no Chinese-speaking
translator during the entire verbal interaction process with the CBP. Thus the
CBP officer’s questions verbally expressed to us would not have been fully
understood by my wife. This is a very important point.
During the fine issuing process, my wife was never
consulted, directly, regarding whether she would have preferred to pay the fine
up front, or via check, or whether to go to court – and certainly never with an
interpreter speaking with her directly.
Regarding
issue 3: Appeal regarding threats made to our Global Entry membership status,
threats made during our visit to the San Francisco airport on March 27.
My wife’s Global Entry membership could now be revoked,
and her future Global Entry application attempts rejected.
The CBP officer who verbally dealt with us stated that my
wife’s Global Entry membership would most likely be revoked, and that our
future attempts to have her be a Global Entry member would most likely be
denied.
A termination of my wife’s Global Entry membership would mean a termination of
all of our memberships. We do not travel separately to China nor to
other international destinations. If she cannot use the program then none of us
can.
Tired families with small children, who exit their
airplane and first encounter a yelling order-barking CBP officer (issue 1) can
then be easily befuddled by an exacting and similarly angry CBP officer when it
comes time for the meat & veg inspection & for the related exacting
interrogation.
We made our best faith efforts to comply with the
regulations. But we don’t believe the CBP makes good faith efforts to
accommodate families with young upset small & tired children, and a
pregnant wife with pregnancy nausea & sickness, with their exacting demanding
questions & grilling, and with wives who’re threatened with fines &
expulsion from Global Entry who speak limited English - families where one key
member doesn’t understand their questions as they are being asked.
The CBP apparently takes every opportunity to trip people
up, and to then ruthlessly penalize people.
Regular people. Regular citizens who’re just trying to come home after a long
journey.
Further notes regarding issues 1 and 2:
Even taking
into account the strict letter of the law, the USDA states that small amounts
of meat are allowed to be brought in. And we tried to be honest via our
responses of YES to the meat & veg questions at the Global Entry kiosk and
on the paper form, which we KNEW would route us to mandatory inspection.
1. One piece of bread with little flakes of cooked pork on the outside.
2. One vacuum sealed package of sausage purchased from a Walmart in Nanning
& received as a gift.
3. A package of noodles with no meat except for “chicken extract.”
4. Answers of “yes” at the Global Entry kiosks regarding whether our family had
meat & vegetables.
5. An answer of “yes” on the front of the paper customs
form regarding meat & veg.
6. A mention of the words “etc” after “commercially
packaged snacks,” and also “bread” on the back of the form.
7. Tired families with two young children.
8. A wife with pregnancy related sickness.
9. A wife who speaks limited English and who cannot
understand quickly-spoken questions from angry exacting CBP officers.
All of these factors combine and result in the following
requests:
Request 1: That the $500 fine imposed on my wife be dropped. If it cannot be
fully dropped then at least reduced to the lowest amount possible (eg: $1 or
$0).
Request 2: That the US CBP confirm that my wife’s Global
Entry membership is not threatened by the harassment & abuse &
fine we received at SFO on March 27, 2016.
We are not terrorists. We are not criminals. And frankly
we don’t deserve to be treated the way we have been so far.
We request to be able to appeal the fine imposed, and
appeal in such a way which doesn’t require that we travel to San Francisco nor
to a physical courtroom.
We request to be able to appeal the threats made to my wife’s Global Entry
membership. A termination or blocking of her membership will be a de facto
termination of all our our memberships.
Does the CBP ever forget & ever forgive? Or are
citizens & permanent residents given permanent “black marks” if we do not
respond with full & very quick courtroom-style accuracy to their grilling interrogative
questions? Quick probing interrogative questions given to a woman who doesn’t
fully understand what exactly is being asked of her?
My wife hopes to become a U.S. citizen within the next
year or two, primarily because we have two U.S. born children and third on the
way. Will my wife’s ability to become a citizen be threatened by what’s
happened to us so far?
We request that all the factors mentioned in this
letter be read & fully considered, and that our appeal requests as stated
and noted be granted & honored as requested.
---
The way the United States treats visitors &
returning citizens & residents is hostile.
Yes of course terrorists should & must be blocked & stopped. But most
people are just regular travelers. The CBP should be more accommodating &
kind (yes kind). By comparison when people visit China, very little if any
“customs” checking is done. Essentially zero for regular visitors. Same goes
for many other countries. Such countries are very welcoming to visitors.
The US regulations regarding meat & vegetables are
overly punitive, and are enforced in a highly hostile & apparently unfair
manner. The face presented by the US to visitors is not welcoming. It’s
iron-fisted & just plain mean. Even citizens & returning residents are
treated badly & harassed & abused.
Sincerely,
Jonathan XXXXX
with
Yanning XXXXX
and
children
XXXXX &
XXXXX
Enclosures: Photos showing our family during our March
2016 visit to China, and additional reference photos.
Cc: Senate Committee on Finance; Senate Homeland Security
& Governmental Affairs Committee; House Homeland Security Committee; House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; House Judiciary Committee.
Previous photos show our March 2016 trip in China, our
family, and evidence of my wife’s current pregnant status.
Additional reference photos of our children:
-----end of quote of letters to our elected representatives.
