On both flights, we were coming in from Paris, and flying on to Charleston, SC. I was with her both times, and
The first time, she was detained because the CBP guy said she was intending to stay longer than the allowed 90 days within 180. She had visited our US-based daughter earlier that year, as she was having a thyroid operation, and my wife was there to help her out. However, I had calculated our December-January trip so that she would leave on the 89th day out of 90 that she was allowed to stay in the USA. We were taken to a holding area for "problematic" entry applicants. The other people there were non-Europeans, and she stood out as a tall blonde, but in the eyes of CBP. they were all "problems." equal opportunity target of harassment. After an hour, we were taken before a panel of three higher-ups and asked to explain ourselves (herself, as I was not an issue). I told them what the problem was. They took about 30 seconds to count up the stamps in her passport, plus the date of her return flight, saw that I was spot on with the 89 days, apologized for their over-eager colleague and sent us on our way.
The second time was one for a short story. We got to the usual first "line of defense," and the CBP guy, himself an immigrant (I suspected Netherlands Antilles from his accent and name tag) told her that her fingerprints didn't match what they had on file. Since the fingerprints they had on file were taken from the same fingers she had on her hands this time, we reminded him that she had not replaced her fingers since the last time she entered the USA, which had been 5 months earlier. He was having none of it, and had us brought over to the same old detention area. He didn't return to his post, and my wife speculated he wanted a coffee break, and she provided him with the perfect excuse to leave his post. Whatever the reason, we waited again for nearly an hour, and then got called before the panel of three higher-ups. They asked what her deal was. We explained that their colleague was claiming that her fingerprints this time were not the fingerprints she had had on her fingers previously. They rolled their eyes, apologized more profusely this time, and again sent us on our way.
At least it hasn't happened again in recent years. With Trump, we take nothing for granted, but maybe CBP and ICE have been given new guidelines as to what kind of passenger to harass at our airports, and she is no longer included in the A list of racial profiling. She has landed in recent years at Boston, New York and Atlanta, and without incident of late. We had to get her ESTA renewed recently, and were nervous about delays due to the shut-down, but her approval came through within five hours of submission. You can believe we printed it out in duplicate ASAP!!
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