Single Men Targeted Upon Exit from USA

[TotallyOz]

For the first time in 20 years traveling out of the USA, there was a team of Homeland Security agents that were picking people at random. The flight was headed to Asia. The passengers they were picking were single men. They asked questions like:

Why are you going to Bangkok?
What do you do there?
Where do you stay?
How many times have you been?
Why do you go so much?
Have you ever seen any trafficking of any kind?
How many bags do you have?
What are in them?
Do you have camera equipment?

I was more than a little surprised to get these questions upon leaving the USA. They said they were trying to target traffickers before they leave the USA. The questions were odd and I can't imagine a trafficker actually answering them wrong.

When asked if I was going to Bangkok to see the ladies, I laughed and said no. He said, why do you laugh. I said, I'm gay so I have no desire for ladies. He asked if I liked boys. I said I have a Long Term Boyfriend for 10 years and if he calls that liking boys then yes, I guess I do.

The conversation lasted about 10 min before he selected the next single guy. There were 6 agents in total.

While I do realize that there must be a point to this, the rationale behind the expense baffles me. And, I was insulted that I was targeted as a traveling alone single guy.

When I arrived in Thailand, I went to the customs and he guy said, "you have been here many times, you must like Thailand." I said Yes. He said, "good. Welcome to Thailand."

Fuck America! (Yes, I know some of you will be upset over my foul language but I can't wait till I am 50 and never had to return to that cess pool of puritanical beliefs.

[msclelovr]

I'm surprised that you were surprised, TO.

Not only in the US but throughout Europe, the authorities are co-operating to try and identify human traffickers and pedophiles before they commit their crimes. As you must be aware, many such have been found guilty because of the images they hold on their electronic devices.

There is currently outrage in the UK over a US schoolteacher who appears to have drugged male pupils before assaulting them. He committed suicide (in Minnesota, I believe) having evaded detection for many years by working in various countries outside the US. His crimes have come to light because he recorded what he did on a hard drive.

[RA1]

Just another example of our liberties being usurped. However, in one form or another, this has been going on for nearly 40 years of which I am personally aware. I have made hundreds (at least) of trips where I was going "one way" because I was either picking up or delivering an aircraft. Years ago I was constantly singled out as a possible drug smuggler, now I suppose I am merely a terrorist suspect.

I have had my survival gear opened by US customs which meant it had to be re-packed are re-certified. Time consuming and expensive. At one point it got bad enough that I "threatened" them with a FOI inquiry which made them back off for a while.

I fear complaining shall not be enough.

Best regards,

RA1

[paulsf]

I have had most of these questions asked of me when returning from Bangkok, until I got Global Entry. I've never been questioned headed over. I am leaving today for Bangkok, but I am going thru Helsinki. In London you get the third degree from security as an American. In Helsinki, I've barely seen security. The US is working with the Thai government on trafficking, so this may be a new crackdown.

[Guest hitoallusa]

Oh my I will be so excited if a cute guy questions me.. I will be like.. "Yes I am single and looking for a husband, are you interested?"

I might use my shoes to get his attention.. If he asks me where I got my shoes.. He said the magic word. We are getting married. LOL

Anyways, I am not sure how effective this method of questioning.. Would it really help them catch more criminals?

[Guest jimboivyo]

fuck america, a little harsh. they were simply doing their job based on a very ugly problem

be glad you have the right to even say that without your government putting a black bag over your head and carting you away

be happy for the rights you were born with and continue to have. many folks in other parts of the world would kill to have what we have.

[boiworship]

Soft totalitarianism.

[Guest PasadenaCA]

What happens if you decline to answer the questions?

[RA1]

Soft totalitarianism? Like some other things, this can go from soft to hard in a very short time.

We seem to be marching down the wrong road.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest PasadenaCA]

If you're an alien, here's something for your reading pleasure: grounds for exclusion:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1227

[RA1]

I am willing to suppose that any inhabitants of an UFO will be summarily required to depart the country?

What gobbledygook this text is.

Best regards,

RA1

[TotallyOz]

fuck america, a little harsh. they were simply doing their job based on a very ugly problem

be glad you have the right to even say that without your government putting a black bag over your head and carting you away

be happy for the rights you were born with and continue to have. many folks in other parts of the world would kill to have what we have.

I really am happy to be an American. I am very unhappy that being an American does not stand for what it once did. We are not a democracy that is to be admired and looked up to by the rest of the world. We are not a shining example of anything any longer. We do have more freedom of speech but not as much as some other countries. Our liberties are being stripped away and our freedoms are being fucked with. Just look at the US House of Representative. Is it really representative of the people? With the new money from the billionaires, will my vote be as important as it once was? I don't think so.

So, you are right jim, I should be happy to have been born on US soil. But, I am not happy that this country has gradually changed from the powerhouse it once was to being less relevant each year.

What happens if you decline to answer the questions?

I don't know. I answer in Yes or No for most questions. They want you to talk. But, that is stupid with these guys. I am not worried they will ever find anything illegal in my possession. I don't have it, never have and never will. But, I do hate that I was targeted as an older white guy traveling to Asia.

Soft totalitarianism? Like some other things, this can go from soft to hard in a very short time.

We seem to be marching down the wrong road.

Best regards,

RA1

That is my whole point. I have not liked the road we started down with the 2nd Bush and I think it gets no better each year.

[axiom2001]

Oz, I liked the way in which you responded; you kept your cool. I would have blown it! I get pissed when I'm having to be patted down after going through the new X-Ray machines here in the US and have NOT handled this very well! While I read the queries which you were asked, I answered quietly to myself; my responses were NOT what I think one of those agents would have wanted to hear.

I concur with all of your comments here! Albeit I am a US citizen, I abhor some of the shit we have had to undergo in many areas under the guise of democracy. But in spite of this, I'd rather be here than in some other countries where the freedoms are more limited.

We have a vast degree of freedoms, but they're monitored in one way or another!

[Guest CharliePS]

TO, I think you see past American practice through rose-colored glasses. Throughout our history, the kind of freedom from harassment that we citizens theoretically have always had, has frequently been denied in practice. Those suspected of anarchist beliefs in the 1920s or Communist sympathies in the 1950s were regularly questioned by authorities, and often denied employment or arrested and even imprisoned. The same thing happened to single men who were suspected of being gay in the 1950s and 60s. During WWII, American citizens of Japanese descent weren't even asked how they felt about Japan, before being shipped off to containment camps. And single men of color are still routinely stopped and questioned about their intentions, solely because they are single men of color in a place where a crime might potentially be committed. Straight-appearing middle class Anglo-American men tend to ignore this history of violation of civil liberties that are supposedly protected by the Constitution, until it affects them, too. The deterioration of freedom that much of America has experienced since 9/11 is part of an historical cycle; our rights have always been under threat, and we have always had to fight to protect them.

[AdamSmith]

be happy for the rights you were born with and continue to have.

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me."

Martin Niemöller

The deterioration of freedom that much of America has experienced since 9/11 is part of an historical cycle; our rights have always been under threat, and we have always had to fight to protect them.

Just so. As MsGuy reminded the other day, this gladsome tradition goes all the way back to the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798.

[Suckrates]

The solution is simple Guys - STAY HOME !

[Guest EXPAT]

I traveled so much for business that the questions I was asked are a blur now. But I abhor traveling and will rarely travel from now on unless absolutely necessary. It's just not fun anymore at all for me for a lot of reasons.

[Guest PasadenaCA]

I noted recently that they've stopped asking questions about electronic equipment, etc. The only thing that irritated me about those questions is if they missed one, or asked them out of order.

[boiworship]

Soft totalitarianism? Like some other things, this can go from soft to hard in a very short time.

We seem to be marching down the wrong road.

Best regards,

RA1

As Stalin said, more rigorous methods.