borders
Filing a complaint against USBP officials
<p>This is a bit of a long story, and may make more sense over on the legal stackexchange, so I will keep it brief:</p>
<ul>
<li>I (a US citizen) attempted to enter the USA with third party goods (my father's things), and was denied entry</li>
<li>I (on the same day), re-attempted entry with my father (Canadian citizen) present (from the US side, he had flown and taken a taxi to the border to meet me). The intent was for him to claim his goods.</li>
</ul>
<p>I was once again forcibly denied entry. The USBP official was belligerent and aggressive, and, despite me fully complying, the situation resulted in five USBP agents escorting me to my vehicle with hands on holsters. This created a very messy situation as Canada nearly denied my father entry (he visited the USA and returned without the necessary COVID testing)</p>
<p>I am very frustrated that the agents escalated a very simple situation to such an extreme. While I'm aware of the political situation in the USA, and the resulting aggression from the border agents would fully be ignored, I'd like to know if I have legal grounds to at least initiate some sort of investigation.</p>
<p>On the first entry (a different agent), it was made clear that I could cross, being an american citizen, however the goods themselves were denied. On the second crossing, that option was never presented, and I was given zero opportunity to even speak, being instead threatened with weapons. I'm not sure if this falls into &quot;denying a US citizen entry into their home country&quot;</p>
<p>What legal precedent can I use (if any) to start a complaint such that these inappropriate and dangerous actions can be brought to light?</p>
<h1>Edits to address the comments</h1>
<ul>
<li>No particular goods were cited by the border agents at either attempted crossing, &quot;Third party goods&quot; was the extent of the explanation both times.</li>
<li>No force or aggression was supplied on my side. The only question I could fully ask without being interrupted was &quot;Can you please explain why I am being denied entry, these goods are no longer third party&quot;. That alone immediately prompted the multi-officer march towards me. I should add that the particular officer I was dealing with was immediately, quite literally red in the face from anger within seconds of beginning our conversation. He was clearly unhappy before I walked in, slamming doors and knocking things over from inside the office before coming out to &quot;escort&quot; me to my vehicle. <em>However</em>, regardless of this, there is <em>no reason</em> why even the idea of firearms should be involved in a nonviolent situation.</li>
<li>(Not that it is relevant, because nobody actually ever looked inside the vehicle or inspected the goods). There was no contraband or any goods that otherwise would have been denied entry. There was clothing, a set of golf clubs, and a bicycle.</li>
<li>My father could not cross the land border into the USA due to current COVID restrictions. He is permitted to fly, but not drive across the border. I, an american (dual) citizen, can drive across the border. That was the original intent of the trip and my father was in the air while I attempted the first entry.</li>
</ul>

<p>You don't need any legal precedent to start a complaint process. You can just file a complaint through the <a href="https://help.cbp.gov/s/complaints?language=en_US" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CBP's system</a>.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do.</p>
<p>CBP has wide leeway and almost no oversight or accountability.</p>
<p>You can try to file a complaint, but their complaint system appears to be purely window dressing. 97% of all complaints result in &quot;no action taken&quot; and the only way to get this data was to file a &quot;Freedom of Information Act&quot; request.</p>
<p>They cannot legally deny you entry in the US but they sure can illegally deny you entry and there is very little recourse (other than trying somewhere else).</p>
<p>I have personally witnessed CBP officer doing blatantly illegal things, but in almost all cases there is no viable recourse of any kind and they know it.</p>
<p>Caveat: I'm not lawyer: for specific legal advise talk to a lawyer.</p>
<p>Source:
<a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/no-action-taken-lack-cbp-accountability-responding-complaints-abuse" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/no-action-taken-lack-cbp-accountability-responding-complaints-abuse</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/05/07/310387579/report-details-hundreds-of-complaints-against-u-s-border-agents" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/05/07/310387579/report-details-hundreds-of-complaints-against-u-s-border-agents</a></p>
