"Random" profiling at O'hare airport?

TriumphantAngel

"Random'' profiling my ass.

Ali Abunimahs experience after his flight from London to Chicago. Ali is the co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of One Country, A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.

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."

Commy

Authority represents a fundamental flaw in society...and people have been blinded...what we can do for ourselves has been outsourced to a minority, the elite, and people think that is the way it should be. Authority given to the elite.



The egocentric, racist, conceited, bigoted elite.


We have the ability to take that power back, and i believe it is a matter of when. Revolution is part of human history.

Godfather.

:shock: their trying to protect our country from more terrorisim and all people can do is complain.

Godfather.

blackredyellow

ok, I don't get what this guy wants...

He says there were no issues (not sure what step this was at), and basically complained that "arbitrariness, inconsistency and capriciousness are part of the system apparently".

But then he complains that customs wasn't random and he was profiled...

If he wants it to be random, but doesn't like arbitrariness and inconsistency, then what exactly is he looking for?

haffajappa

Godfather. wrote:

:shock: their trying to protect our country from more terrorisim and all people can do is complain.

Godfather.

:roll:
you could just as easily be a "terrorist"
as could anyone else.

unsung

I was once going through O'Hare and they yelled out Latvia/Russia when I was coming through. I was also searched, not so sure I was profiled.

OnTheEdge

This is laughable. You think if white americans were trying to get into another country to blow shit up and kill people that we might be profiled at an airport going to their country. Fucking Duh!

fuck

OnTheEdge wrote:

This is laughable. You think if white americans were trying to get into another country to blow shit up and kill people that we might be profiled at an airport going to their country. Fucking Duh!

actually, white americans have the luxury of not having to go through airports to blow shit up in other countries.

OnTheEdge

_outlaw wrote:

OnTheEdge wrote:

This is laughable. You think if white americans were trying to get into another country to blow shit up and kill people that we might be profiled at an airport going to their country. Fucking Duh!

actually, white americans have the luxury of not having to go through airports to blow shit up in other countries.

True. But I guess I should have put "if" in capital letters.

unsung

How is being white given the ability to bomb countries?

fuck

unsung wrote:

How is being white given the ability to bomb countries?

uhh...who taught you how to read?

TriumphantAngel

OnTheEdge wrote:

This is laughable. You think if white americans were trying to get into another country to blow shit up and kill people that we might be profiled at an airport going to their country. Fucking Duh!

their country? he was returning to HIS country. he was born in Washington D.C

Duh,

TriumphantAngel

unsung wrote:

I was once going through O'Hare and they yelled out Latvia/Russia when I was coming through. I was also searched, not so sure I was profiled.

i have exited and entered the US numerous times and funnily enough never once been checked.

and how fucking rude. yelling out at the top of their voices where you have travelled from. is that necessary? yelling out? herding people along like cattle and then yelling out at the top of your voices?

classy.

Jason P

Hard to tell if it was random or if he was profiled.

Here are my thoughts on profiling at airports:

I hope the FAA has compiled a huge database that takes into account patterns that captured terrorists have followed. It should take into account age, race, gender, criminal history, flight history and length of stay, country of origin, favorite color, pet's names, etc. If you happen to have a profile that closely resembles what is in this database (not just race, I'm talking 50% or more matching attributes), then be prepared for a secondary inspection. I don't think a plan like this is unreasonable. I'd even be willing to take race out of the database as a concession.

Combine this with the random searches and it will only be beneficial to making air travel more safe.

Godfather.

haffajappa wrote:

Godfather. wrote:

:shock: their trying to protect our country from more terrorisim and all people can do is complain.

Godfather.

:roll:
you could just as easily be a "terrorist"
as could anyone else.

and I have been searched and baggage searched on more than one ocassion and yes I am white.

Godfather.

cincybearcat

_outlaw wrote:

OnTheEdge wrote:

This is laughable. You think if white americans were trying to get into another country to blow shit up and kill people that we might be profiled at an airport going to their country. Fucking Duh!

actually, white americans have the luxury of not having to go through airports to blow shit up in other countries.

Stop profiling.

unsung

_outlaw wrote:

unsung wrote:

How is being white given the ability to bomb countries?

uhh...who taught you how to read?

If I have misunderstood what you are trying to say then please explain.

Cosmo

My take... yeah... we can start by eliminating the ones from the suspect list... you know, the 70+ year old hunched over grandma with the two little grand kids... give them a free pass. Same thing with the old guy that takes 15 tiny steps to walk 3 feet... and the big fat guy that takes two steps, then, has to rest to catch his breath... I don't care of those types are any race... Hell, his name can be Al Kayda... give them a pass.
As for the rest of us... we should all be fair game.
But, really... The Arab guys really need to be pissed at the other Arab guys for making their lives shit... especailly the 19-39 Arab guys that just want to catch a flight home to Minneapolis from that horrid business trip in God-awful, Georgia. Those fucking guy on the Internet websites calling for a goddamn Fatwa on America and the West are making their lives shit when it comes to airport travel.
...
Now, when little old hunched over ladies start trying to light their shoes or... ugh... their underwear on fire... then, yeah... put them on the list.

fuck

unsung wrote:

_outlaw wrote:

unsung wrote:

How is being white given the ability to bomb countries?

uhh...who taught you how to read?

If I have misunderstood what you are trying to say then please explain.

I assume you tried again and failed?

"actually, white americans have the luxury of not having to go through airports to blow shit up in other countries."

the point of this sentence is, in simpler terms, americans blow shit up in other countries. the person I was responding to seemed to infer as if there is a distinction between the people blowing shit up in America and the US soldiers doing so in other countries. the emphasis was NOT on the race, ie. white. the reason i wrote "white americans" rather than just "americans" was because it was a direct response to what he wrote.

really, what are you doing on an internet forum where reading (and writing) is the only method of communication if your reading comprehension is so terrible.

fuck

Cosmo wrote:

But, really... The Arab guys really need to be pissed at the other Arab guys for making their lives shit... especailly the 19-39 Arab guys that just want to catch a flight home to Minneapolis from that horrid business trip in God-awful, Georgia. Those fucking guy on the Internet websites calling for a goddamn Fatwa on America and the West are making their lives shit when it comes to airport travel.

this is such a one dimensional view, you have no sense of looking at the other point of view.

anyway, leaving aside the argument that profiling is unethical, the point is it just doesn't work and it only serves a purpose to bother people who just happened to be born a certain race, most of the time that falls under the category of "not white"

TriumphantAngel

you know the biggest problem? all it's doing is sending a message to the general public that all terrorists come from a particular race or ethnic background.

don't even come back to me with the argument that the terrorists tied up with the September 11 attacks were of Arab ancestry. think about Al-Qaeda. aren't they considered a threat by the US? they operate in around 45 different countries don't they, so how does targeting only people of Arab ethnecticity assure that other future attacks against the US will not occur? it doesn't.

what about tim mcveigh? why don't you profile all white 20-30 year old males?

and like i've already mentioned, i've entered and exited the US plenty of times and never once been targeted. i am very outspoken about US foreign policy and loudly condemn the US and show my disgust often at their funding of two wars and supporting the illegal occupation of another. who's to say i'm not a threat? clearly i'm not, but i think i've made my point.