CBP officers are border agents, whose
statutory authority is generally limited to
international arrivals.
CBP agents inspected passenger
identifications on the jetbridge by the door of
the aircraft. A CBP spokesman insisted to
Rolling Stone that this action is "nothing
new" and that there is "no new policy." But the
unusual – and legally questionable – search of
domestic travelers comes days after the
Department of Homeland Security
outlined its plans
to implement President Trump's sweeping
executive order targeting millions of
"removable aliens" for deportation.
Upon deplaning from
Delta Flight 1583 in New York, passenger
Anne Garrett
tweeted, "We were told we couldn't disembark
without showing our 'documents.'"
Another passenger,
Matt O'Rourke, snapped a
similar picture.
O'Rourke tells Rolling Stone that the
Delta flight attendant alerted passengers,
"You'll need to show your papers to agents
waiting outside the door."
"She was weirded out by it," he says. The
agents, O'Rourke says, said nothing to him, but
took his ID and scrutinized it for nearly 30
seconds before letting him pass. He describes
the experience as "a little bit alarming." Only
later did O'Rourke find himself asking, "Why is
a customs agent doing this search? The flight
didn't enter from another country."
In a statement to Rolling Stone, a
spokesperson for CBP said the agency had been
asked "to assist in locating an individual
possibly aboard Delta flight 1583" who had been
"ordered removed by an immigration judge." The
spokesman added that CBP agents "requested
identification from those on the flight" but
that ultimately "[t]he individual was determined
not to be on the flight."
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Rolling Stone
asked CBP to point to its statutory authority to
stop and examine the identity documents of
deplaning domestic passengers. The spokesman
sent a link to a document titled
CBP Search Authority.
The document refers to CBP's authority to
inspect international arrivals.
Specifically, it cites 19 C.F.R. 162.6, which
states, "All persons, baggage and merchandise
arriving in the Customs territory of the United
States from places outside thereof are
liable to inspection by a CBP officer." The CBP
document adds: "CBP has the authority to collect
passenger name record information on all
travelers entering or leaving the United
States." (Emphasis added.)
Asked to clarify CBP's authority over domestic
passengers, the spokesman replied that "at this
time this is all I have."
Rolling Stone
asked CBP to clarify whether the
CBP document search was truly a "request" – or
instead a legally binding demand by the agents.
The spokesman again could not clarify CBP's
legal authority, warning only, "It is always
best to cooperate with law enforcement, so as to
expedite your exiting the airport in a timely
manner."
Rolling Stone
asked the New York Civil Liberties Union for its
understanding of the law in this incident. NYCLU
Staff Attorney Jordan Wells writes that "CBP
does not have carte blanche to refuse to let
people off a domestic flight until they show
ID." His advice: "While one may choose to
produce identity documents to avoid further
hassle, it is important to remember that in the
United States people have a constitutionally
protected right to remain silent."
