On the borderline of insanity

Luis Torres is a U.S. citizen who was born in Los Angeles.  That did not stop Customs Border Protection police from detaining him for 24 hours when he attempted to re-enter the United States at the border with Mexico.

CBP won't comment on the specifics of the case. But according to NBC 7, a station in the San Diego area, he and his parents (who are permanent residents of the U.S. and have the appropriate documentation of their immigration status) were separated from his daughter.  She was allowed to enter but had to leave her father and grandparents behind.

What galls me about how CBP handled this is in their statement after they finally released Mr. Torres:

"CBP Officers review all available evidence at the time of application for admission to make a determination of admissibility. In all cases, the burden of proof rests with the applicant to demonstrate his or her admissibility.

"It’s important that CBP officers confirm the identity of each and every person who enters the United States. We routinely stop people who not only are not able to enter the U.S. legally, but also might have previous criminal histories or even active warrants for their arrest. Stopping these people who are trying to illegally enter the U.S. keeps our communities safer.

"Inadmissible aliens at U.S. ports of entry, include persons who arrive at the border crossing and weren’t legally admitted to the U.S. When someone arrives at a legal border crossing and is determined to be inadmissible, they may arrive in a number of ways – they may simply present themselves with no documents/legal status; they may try to use a counterfeit or altered document; they may attempt to hide from officers and enter without inspection (or run or drive past officers to enter without inspection); or they may be an imposter, attempting to use a real document that does not belong to them, for example.

"Individuals may be referred for enhanced screening for a variety of reasons, such as: prior convictions, criminal records for crimes of moral turpitude, inclusion on a national registry for sex offenders, prior immigration or customs violations, or may even be randomly selected.

"The Privacy Act prohibits CBP from commenting on individual travelers, however, each visitor to the U.S. is considered for admission on a case-by-case basis and may in some cases, be refused entry if a determination is made that the visitor is attempting to enter the country in violation of terms of their visa or other applicable U.S. laws. Any international traveler who seeks resolutions regarding difficulties they experience can use DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program."

How hard is it for these people to grasp that this man isn't a visitor.  He's a citizen returning home.  Now if the CBP can prove he didn't have the appropriate identification to verify that he is a citizen, they might have an excuse for a short delay.  Not a 24 hour delay.

I can tell you this much.  If I ever leave the U.S. again, even for a few hours, I'm taking a certified copy of my birth certificate with me.  Assuming of course that these CBP "professionals" aren't engaged in profiling based on appearance, of course.  My bad, they are doing just that.

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