On Saturday I came through San Francisco International Airport on the way back from Thailand and Cambodia. I had a good trip but I was excited to be back in my home country.
That excitement quickly dissipated when faced with the inquisition going through passport control and customs. It wasn't the first time I'd had my bags searched by customs - in fact the last time I came though it happened as well, but then I was in such a good enough mood that I just shrugged it off - but this was now the second time in as many consecutive trips and it was much more invasive. The customs agent wanted to know all sorts of details that were none of his business, especially since he already got to open the suitcase.
"What do you do?"
Should I answer this? Do I have to? The Constitutional inquiry in my head deferred to expediency. I chose the path of least resistance (presumably) and answered the question.
"I'm a law student."
"What kind of law will you go into?"
"Civil liberties."
He paused a moment, but continued the scrutiny, typing various bits of information about my life into who knows what database. And I took it because I didn't see what choice I had. Perhaps had I raised some sort of search and seizure complaint he would have stopped. Of course, I might have had to spend all day in some room while it all got sorted out.
The irony was that on the way into passport control I saw a Department of Justice poster in English and Arabic saying that it wanted to know if there were any civil liberties violations. Yeah, right. If this is the inquisition that an American traveller gets, I can't imagine the indignities they put foreign travellers through.
I think what set them off was that I had been to Thailand, and on an admittedly short visit (though they didn't seem perturbed about the visit to Cambodia). It seemed like it didn't compute to them that someone might travel to a far off place like that for any purpose non-nefarious. I think in general they can't imagine any non-nefarious reason to travel. What kind of patriotic American would ever even want to leave this great country of ours? I think as a policy this government regards travelers, people who want to see the world to understand it better, with the scrutiny it regards a traitor. Why would you leave if you really loved America?
Of course it's because I love America that I leave it sometimes. America's interests are never promoted by isolating ourselves from the rest of the planet. Only by meeting other people, learning about them and having them learn about us, can we achieve the type of understanding that will allow for peace and security for all on this planet.