YOU’VE got your US visa, excited to visit and tour around the United States, only to be subjected to harassing interrogation and threat of airport-to-airport deportation at the US immigration port of the entry. What can you do?
What should have been a happy and memorable visit to attend her daughter’s wedding turned out to be a traumatic experience for 63-year-old Carina Yonzon Grande at the hands of US immigration Officers at the Seattle International Airport last October 1.
As ABS-CBN news reported, Grande was traveling with complete valid documents – a passport with a 10-year US visa valid until 2017, round trip plane tickets, and even shuttle vouchers.
Grande used to work for the Asian Development Bank, and has had the pleasure of traveling to many other exciting parts of the world. She had been to Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Vanuatu, Fiji, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Her initial encounter with the immigration officer of what should have been her 13th visit to the US started with the usual line of questioning.
“The immigration officer asked me the usual questions, i.e. purpose of travel and length of stay. I gave him an honest answer: that the purpose of my travel to the US was to visit my grandson Joshua at Everett and also to attend my daughter’s wedding on October 26 in LA, and that I was staying for two months,” Grande told ABS-CBN News.
She said the immigration officer looked at her passport and saw Grande had visited the US many times in the past. “I confirmed by saying yes, since the family could afford it,” she added.
Secondary investigation/screening
Grande told ABS-CBN News that her nightmare began when the immigration officer told her to go to a room where people were being held for more questioning.
Here, she was confined in the small room for 6 hours without food nor water.
“Questions about the purpose of my visit to the US were asked repeatedly by Officer Keavid Mam in a very arrogant manner. He then asked if I have relatives in the US, which I answered in the affirmative. I was asked to give names and corresponding contact numbers. I gave the details of my daughter Steph and my grandson Josh, 21 years old,” Grande said.
“I was asked for more names, so I gave the name and number of my Aunt Nerissa, who is nearly 90 years old and the sister of my late mother. More names and numbers could have been provided to them had they allowed me to call my daughter Steph but I was not allowed to make phone calls. They took my cellphone. Every time they placed a call to my aunt, my grandson Joshua and daughter Steph, they shut the door so I would not hear their conversations with my relatives,” she added.
When the immigration officer then returned to the room, Grande said he accused her of being a liar. He claimed that he talked to her aunt, who allegedly told him that Grande will take care of her as a caregiver.
Grande contended that the immigration officer’s allegations are not true because her aunt didn’t even know she was arriving in the US.
Grande further told ABS-CBN News: “While Officer Mam kept on repeating his questions about why I was in the US, a fellow officer by the name of Chang, joined and shouted, calling me a liar. He even searched my purse where I had wedding cards (with money) for my daughter and future son-in-law, and a birthday card for Joshua (also with money) and other stuff. He scattered all the items in my purse on the table, asking why they should believe me, when my aunt, according to him, seems to be the honest one,” Grande said.
Their supervisor, a certain Mr. Caldwell, later joined the immigration officers and warned Grande that she will suffer the consequences if she didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear.
“If I lie, they would have to arrest me and put me in jail. He even showed me the jail cell. I said, ‘I am telling the truth, and that they can put me in jail because I will never ever admit doing the things I am wrongly being accused of.’”
Caldwell gave Grande two options: be deported to the Philippines on the next flight of the same day or be put in jail and barred from entering the US for 5 years.
“Exhausted, hungry, and sleep-deprived, I chose option one,” Grande said.
“It pains me so much that I was mistreated like this. I have never been so humiliated and demeaned in my life! I am still hurting and hope other people will not suffer the extreme humiliation I recently experienced,” she said.
Legal opinion: What Grande should have done
According to Balitang America’s Pinoy Panawagan Legal Counsel Atty. Lou Tancinco, the Custom and Border patrol officer could have already noticed a red flag during Grande’s initial inspection. Her frequent travels to the US or anything in the record of her entry could have raised suspicion.
While this is not frequent, Atty. Tancinco said random screening also sometimes happen.
Atty Lou Tancinco said an individual like Grande who was put on secondary proceedings will be given the option to withdraw the application for admission or accept an order of removal. It was stated in the report that she accepted an order of removal which is often referred to as the “airport-to-airport.”
“The expedited removal will bar her from entering the US for five years. The withdrawal of admission will have no bar, but she will still need to depart,” Atty. Lou explained. “She should just have chosen an application for withdrawal of admission.”
Atty. Tancinco said as a visitor’s visa holder seeking admission, Grande does not have a right of legal representation. “Technically, one who is in the process of being interrogated at the port of entry means that the person is still outside the United States. So even if she is detained, she will still not be given a lawyer. This is different from a green card holder who may request for a hearing and be represented by an immigration lawyer.”
What advice does Atty. Lou Tancinco give to kababayans Pinoys harassed this way?
“All those entering the US whether those with visitor’s visas or green cards may be selected for enhanced screening based on different reasons or they may be selected at random. I suggest that those entering the US as visitors should be clear with their responses especially as to their intentions for visiting. Understand also that the Department of Homeland Security in the process of screening travelers will result in temporary inconvenience and must remain patient and respectful.”
While affirming that visiting the United States is a privilege, not a right, of non-US citizens, Atty. Lou pointed out: “To be harassed as described is unacceptable. She can always file a complaint or seek redress with the Department of Homeland Security because it is expected that Homeland Security officer conduct their interviews and examinations with utmost professionalism and courtesy.”
* * *
Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
