The executive order penned by Donald Trump and overlying cynicism directed at immigrants and travelers coming into the country continue to garner amazing anecdotes from this country's borders.
A week removed from a story about a Canadian Muslim denied entry after border patrol launched into a religious line of questioning, we hear about a US-born JPL employee who was detained by officials until he gave up access to his NASA-provided phone.
In this case, Sidd Bikkannavar's ordeal actually took place at the end of last month, according to The Verge.
It reports the US citizen, Global Entry participant had to endure quite the eventful vetting process to get back into the country after leaving Chile and landing at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston (Texas) on January 30.
The scientist who works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory explains what happened next on Facebook, posted to Twitter by Nick Adkins:
[READMORE]READ MORE: Woman Shatters World Traveling Record [/READMORE]
While Bikkannavar explains that the exchange was a friendly one, US Customs and Border Patrol still reportedly detained him after running his passport.
Despite already being vetted through the Global Entry program-the JPL scientist is a prolific traveler-Bikkannavar was ushered into a back room and waited about 40 minutes. After that time, he was questioned, never being offered a reason he was singled out.
He tells The Verge: "He (CBP agent) takes me into an interview room and sort of explains that I'm entering the country and they need to search my possessions to make sure I'm not bringing in anything dangerous."
Next came a demand that made Bikkannavar understandably uneasy.
After showing an "Inspection of Electronic Devices" form, the CBP agent asked to look at the U.S. citizen's phone.
Bikkannavar states: "I was cautiously telling him I wasn't allowed to give it out, because I didn't want to seem like I was not cooperating. I told him I'm not really allowed to give the passcode; I have to protect access. But he insisted they had the authority to search it."
You do run into a rather unsavory dilemma in this circumstance, as the original report said, "More importantly, travelers are not legally required to unlock their devices, although agents can detain them for significant periods of time if they do not."
Bikkannavar, not wanting to be detained any further, handed over the phone and access; the agent left and returned 30 minutes later.
The frequent traveler leaves us with something to consider: "It was not that they were concerned with me bringing something dangerous in, because they didn't even touch the bags. They had no way of knowing I could have had something in there. You can say, 'Okay well maybe it's about making sure I'm not a dangerous person,' but they have all the information to verify that (via Global Entry). Sometimes I get stopped and searched, but never anything like this. Maybe you could say it was one huge coincidence that this thing happens right at the travel ban."
Bikkannavar raises an important question. At best, this is a matter of an agent being overly cautious. At worst, this signals a troubling trend at our nation's borders.
As Adkins perfectly sums up, Bikkannavar's trip really should have concluded with a "Welcome home" from CBP instead of forcing one of its citizens into a compromising situation.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
