MIAMI – Rep. Carlos Gimenez is demanding answers after U.S. citizens, including those with Global Entry status, were subjected to heightened screening procedures at Miami International Airport in the wake of diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and Colombia.
Gimenez, who called the situation “outrageous,” visited the airport to meet with Customs and Border Protection officials, who confirmed that the controversial policy was rescinded Tuesday, providing relief to the local Colombian community.
3 p.m. report:
Isabel DeBartolo, a U.S. citizen with Global Entry status, expected her arrival at Miami International Airport from Cali, Colombia, to be routine.
Instead, she found herself caught in an unusual and prolonged screening process alongside other passengers from her flight that landed on Sunday.
“There were three or four immigration officers asking passengers where they were coming from,” DeBartolo recalled. “Everyone was being routed somewhere else… I was just following everyone from my flight.”
DeBartolo, who typically clears immigration swiftly thanks to her Global Entry status, was surprised to be directed to a separate area within the airport she had never seen before.
“It was a very long hallway, and pretty much all of the passengers from my flight were there. We were stuck in that line, and it was just not moving for quite a while,” she said.
She described a thorough screening process in which passengers were led into a large area equipped with screening machines to Local 10′s Christina Vazquez.
“We were asked to put our bags on those machines, and after they came out, officials started opening them one by one,” she said. “I was there for around two hours. It was a little bit crazy, completely out of the norm. I was never used to having that type of screening.”
Her experience echoed concerns raised by other travelers from Colombia on social media, many of whom reported similar delays and enhanced screenings in recent days.
The screenings coincided with heightened diplomatic tensions between the United States and Colombia, leading some to speculate whether politics played a role in the increased scrutiny of passengers from the South American nation.
Gimenez, who is also Chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, shared his frustration about the delays.
“Quite frankly, I don’t understand it either, and I am upset about it,” Gimenez said. “Apparently, there was an order that all flights and all passengers from Colombia were going to have special screening, including citizens.”
Gimenez visited MIA to speak with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, who confirmed the increased screenings. However, he said they assured him that the order had been rescinded Tuesday at noon.
“I will be following up on this with the administration — who gave that order and why,” Gimenez said. “American citizens should not have to put up with this. Somebody got carried away and didn’t think out the consequences of their actions.”
Gimenez said he believes the heightened screenings of passengers arriving from Colombia at MIA were tied to diplomatic tensions between the United States and Colombia.
“You mentioned having maybe a committee meeting about it, why would that be important to create space to speak about it, even if it was already rescinded on Tuesday?” Vazquez asked Gimenez.
“I think it was actually more dealing with what was going on with the president of Colombia and the president of the United States, and somebody got carried away with it and carried it too far and maybe didn’t think out the consequences of their actions. And maybe we will even have somebody come before our committee to answer to why this happened. This should never happen again,” Gimenez replied.
DeBartolo expressed frustration over the ordeal.
“Why do we have to be involved? We are U.S. citizens. That should have never happened,” she said.
Gimenez said a congressional hearing could help ensure the situation is not repeated.
“It shouldn’t happen, and we are watching, and that is something American citizens should not have to put up with this,” he said. “I think somebody just got a little bit, they got into this thing with Colombia and they just said, ‘OK, let’s do this, enhanced screening for everybody.’ But they didn’t say enhanced screening for every non-citizen, they said everybody, including American citizens. No, that is taking it too far.”
“American citizens, we have certain rights,” Gimenez added. “All American citizens should be treated the same, with dignity, absent some intelligence for safety reasons that would mandate this, but I don’t believe that that is the case.”
DeBartolo welcomed the news that the order had been rescinded but remained frustrated by the ordeal.
Gimenez suggested the situation may warrant further investigation.
“Maybe we will even have somebody come before our committee to answer why this happened. This should never happen again,” he said.
CPB released a statement which you can read here:
“CBP is tasked with protecting our Nation’s borders as well as enforcing numerous laws at our Nation’s ports of entry on behalf of a variety of other Government agencies, including state and local law enforcement. All international travelers arriving in the United States, including all U.S. citizens, are subject to inspection and examination.”
Click here for more information on the Global Entry program.
Click here more information on the Global Entry program.