just got here from the airport about an hr ago.........................heres part of the lowdown on my day....

entering canada know problem, headed back to usa, go to the port in niagra gave them my passport and my family's documents......officer asks me my purpose for visit to Lebanon, i told him my husband is lebanese and ive been back and forth........they search one of my suitcases.......then take our id's back and tell us to pull over into the lot....................we have to go into immigration..............they ask me about my situation, ask about George's situation and then start asking me all sorts of questions pressuring me to tell them that our marriage was a fraud and that he never told me about his prior case blah blah blah..........he asked me the same questions over and over...........omg George isnt even in the flippin country, he is in Lebanon where he has been since Jan!!! lmao what did i do put him in my fricken pocket................so the border patrol says 'you know ur husband will never be allowed back in the usa right, will u move to lebanon permantley' i told him i will travel back and forth because i have a child here.........and he said so u will enter and exit often? and i said ill enter as long as i dont have to go thru this every time he said to me 'well u can expect it since u are traveling from that part of the world with a situation like you are in and WE WILL GET THE TRUTH OUT SOMETIME' ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm hello dikwad! im tellin you my marriage is real and you are tryin to scare me into telling u otherwise. azzholes! so finallllllllllllllly after they held me they couldnt detire me and i was solid and held my own with them thru all the questions they gave us our stuff and told us to go. im telling u its fricken bullcrap, i am an american, why would i want to come back into my country of birth to be interrogated like that??????? i get better treatment when i enter and exit Lebanon for God's sake! alright enuf ranting, i am tired and need sleep.

Welcome back Jess! Sorry you had to go thru that.

Jackie

i'm sorry to hear you were treated that way, jess. i do hope you report them for their nazi strongarm tactics.

I'm sorry that they didn't put out the red carpet for you.

I hope you know that they were just looking out for you.

Welcome home!

Welcome home Jess!

Welcome back, Jess. I hope you and your family have a lovely holiday season and you can put that behind you. I think that what you encountered was inexcusable behavior and I hope you report it. That type of thing will toss this country back into the dark ages. Hugs.

welcome home Jess... I hate it that they interrogated you like that. They did the same thing to me when I came back from Jordan. I hope you have a happy holiday season with your family!

Welcome home Jess! Sorry to hear you were put through all that.

It seems once you marry a foreigner you lose your status as a US citizen, doesn't it. Sorry you had such a bad experience, and welcome home.

Interesting...

I haven't been in CBP since a lot of security stuff in regards to the ME/NA, but from my conversations with old colleagues that are still there, it appears that due to your frequent visits to Lebanon, you have become a person of interest. Their questioning was used to determine the nature of your visits... the reason that it was unpleasant was to determine if you were telling the truth about the nature of your visits. They were seeing how your reacted to the accusations and questions... this is a common interrogation tactic.

Sorry it was unpleasant, but on the flip side, you may not have to go through this again if the CBP was satisifed and they made a note of this on their records...

You should know that as a USC, you have the unequivocal right to be admitted to the US at any time. The only time that CBP can hold you for any length of time is if you are committing an immigration, customs, or other related violation...

Welcome back. Glad to hear you're back safe, even if the airport was a pain. Insha'Allah you won't have so much trouble next time.
I bet you're so excited about spending some time with your son. Will you get to see him soon?

Welcome back! I'm sorry that you had such a hard time going through customs. Hopefully, it won't happen again. Enjoy your time with your family!

Very useful information. Thank you so much for sharing this.

Hey Jess- looks like you are a person of interest! Welcome to the club!

welcome home jess - sorry for all the trouble w/ you getting in. hope your holiday is a little nicer.

Sorry you had to go thru that, Jess!!

I had that happen to me when I came back from Egypt the 2nd time . . . and I wasn't even married then. The guy searched my luggage and kept asking me over and over "who are you travelling with??", "why were you in Egypt?", "what did you do while you were there?" . . It did go on for awhile. Just so happens about the time that he was asking me again "who are you travelling with??", the relatives of some of my friends that I was with in Egypt walked past me on the way out (yes, they were stopped and searched too) and said "bye, catherine, see you later" . . . the immigrations/customs guy just about flipped . . . I told him I wasn't travelling with them, they just happened to be on the same flight back (saw them at the airport in Cairo and Frankfurt, lol). I haven't been bothered . . . searched or otherwise on my last 2 trips . . . so go figure!! And they can see all the egyptian visas in my passport.

I particularly liked the return flight on my first trip when I was travelling with my Egyptian friend . . . she sailed through and I got slowed down a bit while the customs guy went over my list of items that I brought back . . . more gold/jewelry than I normally carry back, hehe! But the guy didn't hassle me, he was quite friendly and cheerful as he went to look up something about the gold and then told me I didn't have to pay duty on it because I had it made in Cairo, Egypt has a favored status, blah, blah!

So I guess it can be a crap shoot, huh??

But I truly hope you don't have to go thru this again . . .

Interesting. Although they sent our case back because they suspected a fraud marriage I have never once been pulled off to the side or my luggage inspected by the US. I wonder why they would some but not others? I was issued the 221g not the 212, maybe that is why.

The only problem I have ever had in my returns from Algeria was coming through Chicago. Lots of extra questions and a thorough bag searching. Otherwise, usually through Seattle, no problems. I did once, when I had listed France, Algeria and Morocco as the countries I had visited, have the guy ask me if the French gave me any trouble. Gotta giggle at that one.

Jess, I would report it. No US Citizen should be harrassed trying to enter their own country.

While I understand the motivations behind it, I still think you have the right to be pissed off. I know I would be!

HelloJess... WELCOME BACK...I am sure your son has missed you! Least you 2 can have a happy Christmas together!
Sorry to hear about your interogation on your way back, but you have to understand it was for your and others safety. It has been a while since airline related attacks have happened( thank the God) but still those security are still up...and I believe rightfully. When I went and came back from Algerie I experienced the same thing. It annoyed me when it happened, but after I realised they are doing their jobs... I hope you and your husband can be reuinted soon! Happy Day and Happy Holidays!

I don't think it's for anyone's safety to act like a fuc!o. She did not have to be interrogated that way at all. If they had questions, they could ask them like human beings. She is a USC after all, she has a right to enter the country even if she'd been in **gasp** Cuba!

Umm no.. people do not tell the truth when they are being questioned nicely... People let the truth slip out or give indications that are not telling the truth when they are under pressure or are angry... Sorry, but that's human nature and while unpleasant, CBP needs to what they have to do to determine the truth...

It is not common these days for a USC to take frequent trips to the ME... especially Lebanon at this point in time. While the OP had a legitimate reason to travel and that fact did come out, the truth is that there are countless others whose reasons for travel to Lebanon are likely a bit more sinister. That's who the CBP is looking out for...

I think that is hard for some ppl to see . . . and no one likes to be on the end of an "interrogation" like questioning even if you do understand that there are others out there with more nefarious intent in their travel. I can understand someone having to do their job, but I wonder what the tip-off is to them that indicates they need to lean on one person and not another?? Out right badgering is difficult to take when all you did was take a little trip to visit a relative. Most of the normal everyday citizen would have a harder time coping with this than say, ummmm, the person with nefarious intent. Because that person understands the game that is being played . . . most of us don't have a clue.

Unfortunately, it seems that we do live in a time where our "rights" are getting a bit trampled for the sake of security.

Weird. I've been running back and forth to the ME and NA for decades, but I've never been interrogated. Maybe they don't bother Arab women that much?

Me, too, and I'm not arab, but married to a Moroccan, and still I've never had this happen to me. My husband is treated with respect in San Francisco as well, even when he has poufs and rugs in his bags!

Agreed.... it is not nice or easy to be on the receiving end of this.... There can be many tip-offs... frequency of travel, places of travel, their facial expressions and body language when being questioned in primary, the answers to questions, etc. Each factor is a piece of the puzzle...

I agree that most people do not have a clue... that's why I'm resonding.. so that you do have a clue of what is going on and why it is being done and to not take it personally...

I don't think Morocco is high on the problem list.... Right now, travel to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, i.e the problem spots at the moment, are being more scrutinized than travel to other parts of the ME/NA

And I for one would love to be on the receiving end of one of those rugs... and I'm sure the CBP guy would too

I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic schools . . . I think I have a permanent guilty look on my face when i get questioned for anything!!! That "born guilty" syndrome??? I have learned a lot though working in the corporate world . . . . Well, I am still a fairly honest person . . . what I have learned is to choose my words more carefully. Sometimes you must learn the diplomatic way to say "drop dead"!!

A high school friend of mine works for Homeland Security, and as part of the background check, they interviewed me as a character witness. They weren't rude or mean, but they definitely would try to throw me off-balance (by insinuating that my friend's mother, for example, was a whore with a crack problem, just by slipping it in). They gauge whether you're a threat or being honest not so much by what you say, but by how you react to outrageous treatment.

I'm really sorry that happened. Just keep in mind that they can't do much... what are they gonna do, deport you back to the U.S.?

Yep.... by stating to the OP that her marriage was a sham and her husband wasn't getting into the US, they wanted to see how she reacted to that... If she fought like hell or cried or some other natural and expected emotional response to such a statement, that is an indication that you're telling the truth... a much better indication than anything else... a mere response can be crafted and molded... an true emotional response in response to something less so...

Ah, so now we are dealing with highly trained individuals who understand all the psychological tip offs . . . like all the ones about how to tell someone is lying??? Granted I think some of them might be that good . . . but not sure about all of them . . . because it is a government agency and they can't pay enough to always have the best trained stuck in the airport customs/immigrations jobs!!

Of course, I might not be keeping up with all the goings on of Homeland Security . . . so what do I know??

CBP Officers Actually get paid pretty well... people who leave CBP don't leave because of the pay and benefits... they usually leave because of the punishing schedule...

CBP Officers go to 8 months of full time training before they even go to a port.. and then they do an additional 1 year of training on the job before they are a full officer. The psychological training and interrogation techniques are part of the training.... There are other officers who do additional training in psychology and interrogation and have advanced degrees in it...

The majority of CBP officers are highly trained and college educated... The supervisors more so...

My supervisor had a law degree and our Port Director had a PhD in Criminal Psychology... it was really interesting when you had the PD give an interrogation...

And CBP pays very, very well for their supervisors and specialists... PD's make 6 figures... Supervisors make about $60 to $80k per year depending on their level... A Line Officer with more than 4 years of experience makes about $45k without overtime... Overtime pay pushes some very experienced line officers into the high 5 figures...

Of course, I was at the 2nd biggest POE in the US.. so we might have been tilted a bit..

Interesting info . . . That's good to know zyggy! Thanks for posting that.

I have also "heard" that the same tactics are used by the consular officers when they interview. They did with Moh by repeating the same question about 7 times until he got frustrated and responded emotionally.

Those don't sound like "good money" salaries to me for someone highly trained and with a college degree AND experience.

Chuckle... you don't get around much do you... Those are pretty decent salaries for this part of the country (Detroit)... you must live in California or something with those inflated salary scales due to the dot.com industry... There is a COLA multiplier for which part of the US you live in, so those numbers would be higher in CA or NY...

Somewhat, but if it works like my friend's job, 'overtime' is very easy to accrue. His base in DC was $50K, but with the overtime, he pulled in half again as much.

Oh, and my interview was done by an ex-Secret Service agent. Very nice guy, and it was generally just a lot of fun, but it did feel like a mindgame. He was supposed to interview me at 4pm, after I got home from work. He showed up at my house at 3pm ('I'm just a little early') and when I arrived, not only had been having lemonade and cookies with my parents, but knew pretty much every last detail about me, before I even had a chance to say hello.

I'm pretty sure I just said I travel quite a bit, but I guess if my opinion about what a decent salary is for a phD working tons of overtime and with extensive specialized training means that I don't get around much, then OK.

$80K a year plus overtime where I grew up would put you in the upper-middle middle class. Ph.D.'s don't generally make you rich.

If I got paid overtime for the hours that I worked, I'd be making double what I make . . . but I am on salary, so that means "you do what it takes to get the job done" . . . i.e. corporate slave . . . used and abused and they still want to off-shore your job because someone can do it cheaper!!

Certainly not if you are teaching, but this is the US Government, presumably at least a G-12, but probably higher.

My opinion is also based on what I think things are worth. If you are working a difficult job, several days in a row, long days, that require mental acuity and calling on extensive training no matter how many long days you've worked in a row, I'd hope you'd be paid very well, no matter where you live.

p.s. I think all teachers should be paid more, too, but that's another thread.

I've been on salary for every job I've had for the last 15 years, and sometimes it can really make you wonder why you keep doing it. Consulting is the way to go if you have the stomach for potential off-time.

Oh, I agree they should be paid well. But I think that those kind of numbers, especially in Detroit, *do* constitute being well-paid (unlike teacher's salaries.)

Having a Ph.D didn't make me rich; it's what you do with it that does. Want real money for nothing? Get an MD or JD+. One of my brothers is a GS15 scientist with a nice six figure salary. Government work can pay and pay well!

Consulting is the way to go if you have the stomach for potential off-time.

You're so right! That's what I do.

A Field Director (head guy in a district) is a GS-16 I believe (not sure on that but a CBP district generally follows the USCIS Districts, but not always)

A Port Director is a GS-14 or GS-15, depending on the size of the port

A Chief is a GS-13 or 14, depending on the size of the port

A Supervisor is a GS-11 or GS-12

A CBP Officer with more than 5 years of experience is a GS-10 or GS-11

A CBP Officer is a GS-9

A Probationary Officer is a GS-7

An Entry Officer during training at FLETC is a GS-5

Glad to hear your back in the states and safe, Jess. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your little guy