I arrived early for my interview with Homeland Security at the Global Entry Enrollment Center in Niagara Falls, New York.
I had applied for the interview via the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website because I wanted to get a Global Entry card for the Trusted Traveler Program and an in-person interview with Homeland Security was a required part of the application. My husband had also applied and had an interview a few weeks earlier. His interview had been easy and only took about ten minutes.
But mine was a little different.
A receptionist checked me in and after getting fingerprinted and photographed, a very serious looking young man wearing a crisp khaki uniform and official-looking Homeland Security badges called me from the waiting room and took me into an office where he sat across his desk from me, concentrated intently on his computer and asked me a series of questions. “Have you ever been arrested? Have you ever been deported? Have you ever entered the U.S. illegally? Have you ever been accused of drug smuggling? Have you ever engaged in terrorist activities?” I truthfully answered “No” to all of these questions.
Then he leaned forward, stared straight at me and asked if I had ever had anything confiscated from me at a border crossing. It seemed a little bit of an odd question but I couldn't think of anything so I said "No". I realized it was the wrong answer when he then asked me again, "Are you sure you’ve never had anything confiscated at a border crossing?" But I still couldn't think of anything. So, I said, “Yes, I’m sure.” Then, he asked a third time. “Are you absolutely sure that you’ve never had anything confiscated at a border crossing?” I was wracking my brain, but still couldn’t recall anything ever being confiscated from me at a border crossing so again I replied, “Yes, I’m sure.”
Then he told me, triumphantly, that he happened to know that 16 years earlier in Vancouver as I was crossing the border from Canada to the United States, I had had an orange taken away from me.
At that moment, I made the mistake of bursting out laughing. Because I was thinking guns, knives, drugs, bombs! My laughter set the border agent off on an angry tirade of, "You might laugh, but your failure to disclose the orange incident is very serious. This is a Trusted Traveler Program which means we need to be able to trust you."
He then launched into a speech about how bringing an orange from Canada into the United States could cause damage to our ecology, agriculture, and the VERY CULTURE of the United States. He talked about trustworthiness and failure to disclose important information. He warned me about loss of my passport, fines, arrest, and even imprisonment! I was confused and utterly speechless.
Then he sent me out to the waiting room while he did "further research" on the orange incident. Probably to check if I had also tried to bring in a banana. Or maybe even an apple. Possibly an entire fruit basket!
He left me waiting for about twenty minutes. While I waited, I thought about what the officer had said about possible arrest and imprisonment. I looked over at the receptionist and she seemed busy with something on her computer and wasn’t looking at me. I eyed the exit door and wondered if I should maybe just make a run for it. But the officer still had my passport, and besides, I had already paid the $100 non-refundable fee and I really wanted to get a Global Entry card. So, I got a grip and continued to wait.
Finally, the officer came out of his office, walked up to me in the waiting room and, without any explanation, handed me my passport with an approval letter, and said I was free to go. I wanted more information, so I asked him what his "research" had turned up, but he just mumbled that he didn't find any further information, walked back to his office and shut the door. I walked out a free woman and my Global Entry card arrived in the mail a few weeks later.