I received the orange box again during my recent international-domestic connection through Washington Dulles…but at least now I know why.
Another Orange Box Secondary Screening By DHS At Washington Dulles
I travel with two passports. At least before the pandemic (and I literally got my second passport just a month before the pandemic began last year), it sure made sense to have a back-up passport in case one was sitting in an embassy or consulate waiting for a visa.
But one annoyance with the second passport is that it has not synced with Global Entry. Perhaps I have done it wrong, but the information for both passports is on file with my Global Entry account.
However, my second passport seems to have trouble with Global Entry, prompting the orange box my last two international connections through Washington Dulles.
For whoever reason, when I use the Global Entry kiosk to enter the USA, it thinks I am traveling on my other passport. When the two numbers do not match, I get the big X and I’m sent to secondary.
Despite an otherwise quiet Saturday at IAD, I encountered a large line at the secondary screening area.
There was a flight that had arrived from Addis Ababa and many of the passengers had been sent to secondary screening. There was only three agents on duty and two of them were quite mean, barking orders in a demeaning way toward the waiting passengers.
The guy in front of me was not on the Addis flight and had come from El Saldvior on LATAM and was connecting to Toronto. He had a fairly complex tool used to fix cars. It was carefully wrapped and the border patrol agent use boxcutters to rip it open, cutting through not only the wrapping, but the box itself. After examining the parts, she just dumped it on the table and walked away, then slammed down some tape on the table…as if that could magically repair a broke.
He was visibly flustered and really at a loss for how to put his box back together. He asked her for guidance and she just shrugged and walked away.
Meanwhile, an older agent was yelling at the African passengers, as if he thought communication would be easier with a louder voice.
Thankfully, I got the “nice” agent. We made small talk…I guess that was the part of the program. She recorded all sorts of information on the computer about my travel and blogging. She asked if I had ever been robbed and when told her I had…in Bangkok…she blushed. She was from Bangkok, a Thai immigrant to the USA.
She totally dumped out the contents of my bag and searched through everything before letting me go. She also confirmed the issue was the passport discrepancy. That’s what prompted the conversation in the first place about what I do and why.
Oh, and those orange boxes? They alarm if you walk past the secondary screening checkpoint without stopping. I could not believe how many tried to walk by, then acted clueless when asked if their passport was in an orange box. Did they expect to take it home with them?
CONCLUSION
Goodness gracious, unless I can figure out this dual passport issue in Global Entry I’ve got to travel with the other passport…
Who cares??? You should not be traveling anyway. There is a global pandemic going on, maybe you have not heard about that?
I am often appalled at the treatment that many foreigners receive when entering the U.S. Dulles, which given the international gateway status to our Nation’s Capital, you think would be better. But it’s not. As bad as Miami, ORD, etc. I have witnessed complete disrespect and lack of patience time after time at my home airport.
A few years ago I lost it when I witnessed a moment that made me visibly furious. A very elderly man from Romania was entering alone (one would assume to visit family) when the agent starting screaming at him because he didn’t understand his questions. He had letters from family in English etc and was trying desperately to have someone help him as his English was poor. The agent kept yelling at him and finally brushed him away and told him to go back to the end of the line, scolding him for trying to enter the U.S. without speaking English. The poor man was completely confused and broke down in tears. I couldn’t stand by anymore and went to the man, comforted him, and got a supervisor to come over. I explained what I witnessed and made it clear that I would file a formal complaint if this man was not treated with respect and given his due process. With that they did what should have been done right away, they found a translator with the airline and within a few minutes was cleared.
There is no reason for anyone to be welcomed into our country in a rude and unreasonable manner. This is America.
The box looks like anti-theft boxes retail stores use to protect merchandise. I hope the retail magnetic keys do not work on the CBP boxes.
@Stuart
The U.S. government treats western citizens and legitimate tourists like dirt and lets illegal non westerners off with free housing/tuition/medical care/
If you come in over the Southern border, no passport is necessary, no screening at all plus, they give you a free hotel room for a few years and free college too! What a country !!
We should remind the xenophobes here that those folks pay taxes and do jobs you guys won’t do and then get labeled as drug dealers and rapists by you and your Dear Leader.
Great comment. And, further, those people are human beings, some children, escaping drug lords wielding American guns, who would assign them slave-like work at best: You or I could have been born there too.
I got the orange box coming in from Brazil at DFW, The first officer I talked to after the Global Entry kiosk was extremely rude and asking me personal questions that I would have told him it was none of his business, if I didn’t have global entry at risk. The secondary officer was the exact opposite, extremely nice and told me they were looking for large amounts of cash.
@rjb #FakeNews
The orange box had nothing to do with your second passport. They’re orange boxing anyone who actually likes Hyatt Carmel Highlands. Questionable judgement is an understatement.
Hey Matt, what’s with all the misspellings and wrong verb tenses??? Scruffy writing maybe lol
@Cumstein. You may be on to something!
@Jackson Refrain from trying to attach my comments to your Incessant racist vitriol. You are on your own.
I would like to get a secondary passport as well. Unfortunately, the wait to get one right now is way too long. Hopefully that will go down as you have made me aware of how helpful that it can be.
@Jackson Waterson
You really are a disgusting racist.
Matthew, off-topic here, but one thing on the news now is that Prince Harry could have to quarantine upon arrival in the UK if he goes for his grandfather’s funeral.
Based on your experience, how were you able to obtain a “carve out” or whatever it is called?
He always has an excuse for himself.
Those border agents are human trash…but it’s the case in every country. One wonders if they don’t ‘moonlight’ as prison guards. Thoroughly unpleasant and the pleasant ones are as rare as hens teeth. The Australian ones are so poorly trained or dumb ( probably both) they are completely clueless when it comes to dealing with speakers of languages other than English ( and rude to boot).
Lately I always get sent to secondary in MIA for no discernable reason. It’s astounding how rude the agents are to all people, at all points during the journey. I recently had the “audacity” to question why I was being searched, and the agent who was of course wearing his mask inappropriately raised his voice even louder and told me to file a complaint if I had a problem.
There’s no accountability and they know it. I can only imagine how non citizens must feel arriving at our airports. I truly don’t understand why we treat people with such disrespect.
@Paolo I disagree with you somewhat. I find border agents in Mexico and Brazil to be friendly, or at a minimum professional. Entering the EU is generally straight forward. I’ve never experienced too much aggression at most Asian borders.
USA, Canada, Australia… You’re right. Unnecessarily disrespectful.
@Jackson – you and your fellow white supremacists get a wholllllllllle lot of protection from the government, given that right wing domestic terrorists are the single biggest threat to our country (as identified by the FBI) and all
I am embarrassed by what I see sometimes at US entry ports and how people are treated by our government employees. There are no repercussions for the lack of basic human dignity, let alone ‘customer service’. I understand that the job can be tiring and the conditions are probably not the most luxurious for a full time job, but that is not my fault, so don’t take it out on me or anyone choosing to visit.
I agree with Jerry. Most places are actually pretty good, even the likes of Russia and China seem to process people professionally and without fuss. I did have to contend with a rather invasive customs inspection in Venezuela a few years ago, but they were pretty respectful about it.
My impression is that it’s predominantly places in the English-speaking world that have poorly-trained people with zero language skills carrying out that sort of work. I think it’s mostly an organisational culture thing- instead of a stepping stone to more senior posts within the public sector, they frame those jobs as a dead-end for the hard of thinking whose only aspiration is to earn a bit more money by working unsocial hours.
@Matthew
I was a the GE DFW office with my wife. Over half a dozen were there with passport number problems: internet form not working for various reasons. In a lull I asked the agent if I could attach my second 4 year passport to my GE or if I would have to change it each time I need to use it. I talked to two agents and they didn’t know about the 4year second passport and told me to bring it by next time and they would see what they could do.