This week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published an article titled "Frequently Detained for Questioning and Inspections When Passing Customs and Border Protection". This excerpt is intended to provide insight into how the following problems can be addressed:

• Denial or delay of boarding an aircraft
• Denial or delay of entry into or exit from the U.S. at any border or customs crossing
• Continually being sent to secondary inspection
• Situations where travelers believe they have encountered problems with screening at any border crossing
• Situations where travelers believe they have been unfairly or improperly delayed, denied access or have been identified for additional screening at the nation's transportation hubs

Most of these problems are due to the information held on the person in question. If you would like to have any of these situations resolved you need to fill out an inquiry on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) website and apply through the Department of Homeland Security's Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP).

To make the application process faster, be sure to provide as much information as possible regarding your experiences with CBP inspections. If you suspect that the experiences you have are due to incidents in which you were involved, and for which there are mitigating circumstances, please include as much information about the incident and an explanation with your request for relief from inspections.

If you have been given notice that your problem is that you overstayed your visa, you will need to provide evidence of the contrary. You will need to provide your full name, address, date of birth and a clear copy of your passport photo page. Remember that there are times when additional secondary inspections are part of the law or put in place by random selection.

On the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) site you can request a record of the information CBP has about you or your entry and exit history as well as your citizenship status. Any FOIA request should be sent to the following address:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection
FOIA Division
90 K Street, NE MS 1181
Washington, DC 20229-1181

You may also contact the CBP FOIA office at (202) 325-0150 and/or FOIA Online to find out the status of your request.

When the reason for your constant reviews and delays is identified, you will be able to provide the necessary information for the resolution of this inconvenience and you will be back to crossing quickly as you did before.

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