Something’s troubled me over the past year.
It’s become a more serious problem than many might realize. Certainly, if you’re a poker player and/or you frequently travel to and from the United States, you’ve probably experienced a dramatic uptick in these kinds of annoyances.
I’m talking about the unnecessary harassment of law-abiding citizens from customs officials and border patrol agents.
The preponderance of incidents I’ve heard about and have come to my attention recently goes beyond troubling. I’ve run into poker players at airport baggage carousels who told me horror stories of being questioned at long length when they arrived in the U.S. I’ve read and heard about players, often carrying large sums of cash, getting interrogated way beyond any reasonable period of time. Just yesterday, someone stopped me in the hallway here at the World Series of Poker and told me about being detained for three hours at a U.S. entry point for “failure to cooperate.”
The agents are often rude. The questions they ask are accusatory. The information they demand makes you feel like a criminal. And frankly, it’s really none of anyone’s business where I’m going, or what you’re doing, or who’s visiting who, or how much money you are hauling around. Worse, there’s absolutely nothing you nor I can do about it but stand there and take it because if we show the least bit of irritation, the screening process will deteriorate into a scene from “Midnight Express.”
Instead, we’re expected to submit to this abuse, and then answer “Yes Sir” or “No Ma’am” to questions that have nothing to do with “national security.” It often seems to border on voyeurism. For non-Americans and visitors, the level of harassment is even worse.
What’s really troubling is, these people who pass through the lines in our airports and drive through our border crossings have committed no crime. They’ve done nothing wrong. And yet, they’re often grilled for no reason at all.
I realize that we now live in a world where border security is a serious issue. It’s not easy deciphering friend from foe. The first line of defense in keeping out the bad guys must be legitimate questions asked to those who arrive in the U.S. from a foreign country. No one denies that Homeland Security has a job to do, even though there’s some question about what they do exactly that justifies such enormous costs and the sacrifice of personal liberties. That aside, they must be given the necessary tools to keep up safe. This includes the process of questioning people who travel to and from the U.S.
However, incidents of harassment have become increasingly common. And when they do happen, exceeding the bounds of reason creates increasingly more anguish and conflict. I suspect that most readers can relate to an incident or two where they, or someone they knew, was harassed at customs, without cause.
For instance, I’ve come across multiple instances of Canadians who wanted to come and play in the WSOP but can’t because of visa issues. They’re not from some hostile nation no one’s ever heard of. They’re from Canada. You know, that nation to the north that harbors all the terrorists. Most often, these players travel around the American poker circuit, spending many days here each year, which means they also spend lots of money here in this country. Unfortunately, that time is limited each calendar year and when a Canadian overstays the visa just a few days, they have a nearly impossible task crossing the border again. Meanwhile, we have 15 million undocumented workers in this country and our government is giving Food Stamps to illegal aliens. Go figure.
I’ve also heard about Canadian poker pros getting stopped and then detained because they were carrying large sums of cash. Forget the more practical option which is to transfer money via a bank wire. Aren’t we forgetting that this is a fundamental human right, which should allow anyone to carry whatever they want on their person, so long as what’s in their possession isn’t illegal? Last I heard, carrying $11,000 around in cash wasn’t illegal.
Even if a traveler voluntarily files the required currency transaction report, he’s subject to questioning, and potentially even abuse. I’ve come across numerous stories of customs officials who simply don’t believe 25-year-old kids carrying $60,000 in cash inside a knapsack, and then get detained. Even when they reveal they’re professional poker players, this only seems to make the situation worse. One player I know was held for hours because he was carrying a lot of money, and the customs officials didn’t believe his story. I wonder — isn’t there a computer somewhere which would allow a customs agent to click on a poker news website, see the latest tournament results along with photos, and verify that the detainee is telling the truth?
Having traveled to and from Europe and South America many times, I can say with some certainty that U.S. Customs agents are by far the worst I’ve encountered. And that’s really saying something coming from a white, middle-aged, American-born male. I can only imagine what others of a different racial/national creed have to go through.
The bottom line is, the currency transaction law is a farce and should be repealed. Forcing law-abiding citizens to fill out government forms that disclose personal financial details serves little purpose, other than further empowering the Internal Revenue Service and increasing our reliance on banks.
At this moment, no one currently standing in line at a customs entry point can speak out. No one that’s been detained can protest. No one who faces the prospect of having their time wasted and money confiscated can object.
So here and now, I shall. Federal laws not only harass many law-abiding people, but the process of enforcement has also deteriorated into what can only be described as an abuse of power and a misuse of authority.