Under what conditions can US detain you?

When can the US detain a passenger at the port of entry?

August 12, 2016

[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]J[/dropcap]ust a few hours ago, Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan (SRK) was detained allegedly for over 4 hours at the LAX International airport. SRK, whose twitter handle is @iamsrk expressed his frustration at getting held up for hours every time he enters the United States:

This got us thinking. Under what conditions can US detain you at the entry point, even if you have a valid Visa? We know of one individual whose last name was Shah (first name withheld for obvious reasons) who was detained at the JFK airport in New York. The immigration officer told him that your name is the same as a known offender in the US and we are running further checks to eliminate the possibility that you are that individual. Mr. Shah was allowed entry after 4 hours. He was on a visitor’s visa and was traveling from Dubai. This happened in 2014.

We dived into the US Immigration and Customs Website to see under what conditions can a person be detained at the port of entry. Section 4 in this link lists several categories under which you could be detained/ deported (see picture below).

It is possible that SRK was told the reason he was being detained. One tweet suggested that SRK’s boarding pass had SSSS. The S’s refer to America’s Secondary Security Screening Selection and designate the holder for a special screening that can vary in severity (yes, even those transiting through America, or connecting on flights in America, can get the dreaded SSSS).

SRK is not alone. A travel writer Brian Kelly and his friends received the same letters on their boarding passes after a visit to Turkey. Brian resorted to going on Fox News to state his case after receiving SSSS on his boarding pass.

The smart thing to do is to get off of whatever list that has SRK’s name on it.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.

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