US Citizen Detained, Told to Expect "Big Trouble" by US Customs for Trip to Cuba

US Citizen Detained, Told to Expect "Big Trouble" by US Government f
Posted by: "Michael Morrill" michaelmorrill@verizon.net michaelmorrillpa
Fri May 8, 2009 6:02 pm (PDT)


This is what happened to me on Wednesday upon my return from Cuba.
Sorry, it's in English only. I'll try to get it translated later:

I arrived in Harrisburg this morning after a two-day trip from Havana
that brought me to Toronto last night. Direct commercial flights
between the United States and Cuba are prohibited by US law.

I got to the airport in Toronto at 5:35 AM. I checked in with Air
Canada and proceeded to U.S. Customs. I filled out my declaration
form honestly and wrote that my trip included Canada, Mexico and
Cuba.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers screen people in Toronto
and other major Canadian airports instead of in the U.S. The officers
can deny entry to travelers and can impose fines, but they do not
have the power to arrest in Canada.

When I got to the customs officer he asked me the usual questions
until he got to the section about what countries I had visited. When
I mentioned Cuba he stopped the interview, put a big red "S" on my
declaration form and brought me to a room for "further screening."

I waited about five minutes before my name was called by an officer.
(I have the names of all of the officers and supervisors involved,
but will not use them in public.) He began by yelling at me, "What
year were you born? Don't you know that we've been trying to isolate
Cuba since 1959?"

I answered that I thought the embargo was unjust and should be
repealed. I wanted to challenge the embargo and refused to lie about
going to Cuba.

(Over 100,000 US citizens go to Cuba each year without a license from
the US Treasury Department. Almost all of them lie. It's easy to do
and tour books on Cuba even tell you how to do it.)

Another officer yelled from her station nearby, "It's people like you
who make it bad for everyone else!"

The first officer said, "You're in big trouble. Plan on staying here
a while. What time is your flight?"

I told him 7:30. He told me there was no way I would make that
flight. He then left me to get some paperwork.

While he was gone his supervisor came over and said, "I understand
you have a problem with rules. You'll find out what it's like for
rule breakers."

When the first officer cam back he said "We're confiscating
everything that reeks of Cuba." He then looked at every item in both
my carryon and my big bag. He finally identified the following as
subject to confiscation: two books, two DVDs, three music CDs, two
t-shirts and 2 hats (for my younger children), daily newspapers,
business cards from Cubans and a other printed materials that
originated in Cuba. Oh, and two packs of Cohiba cigarettes for
friends who asked me to bring them Cohibas (I couldn't afford the
cigars!). I also had about 20 Cuban coins for my kids' coin
collections.

He took all of my papers, including business cards of people I met,
notes, and travel information. They made copies of everything.

While they were making copies, other officers came by to check me
out. Two officers came by picking up each item, whispering to each
other and laughing while pointing at me. Another supervisor looked at
each item, making small talk. One of the CDs had a statue of Che on
the cover, prompting him to say, "Songs about a terrorist. You can
lose your passport for this." Another officer came by and said "I
just wanted to see the crusader. This is probably going to be your
last flight out of the country."

Around 7:30 the first officer told me they were going to confiscate
everything that was questionable. I told him that even during the
Cold War it was permissible to bring back educational and
informational materials. That has always included books and has been
expanded to include DVDs and CDs in recent years. He said that was
true only under licensed travel.

Around 7:45 I was told I could go. (My flight was scheduled for 7:30)
They told me that I could keep the printed materials and the CDs and
DVDs, essentially agreeing with me about my ability to bring them
back to the US. They also told me that they were not confiscating my
other items, but I couldn't bring them into the US. The officer told
I would have to throw them away. When I got to a trash can I placed
the items on top of the can so that someone might find them and take
them since they were brand new. He told me I had to put them in the
can. I reluctantly complied.

Before leaving me, he said "This isn't over. You can expect a big
bill in the mail."

I got on my flight and returned to the land of the free.

Michael Morrill

www.morrillmajority.org

I've heard that US agents were lurking in Canadian airports, and elsewhere, waiting to grab Cuba-travelling Americans for years and years.

This is EXACTLY what you'd expect for a country which would go to extremes as this one has to destroy the people's revolution in Cuba.

You can be sure he hasn't heard the last of them, either. Sure glad he took the risk and published his account, regardless.

Thanks.

He can put the government on trial at a US Treasury hearing, but when he asks for a hearing, he will probably never get a reply.

I think that was the error here by the traveler. It opens the door for attack because contraband is a more serious charge than violating the embargo.

However I agree if they ask for a trial it will just disappear most likely. I doubt that there are funds to go to trial over this and the Treasury Department doesn't want that.

asking them about what they would change about Cuba if they had a chance, getting their answers which would sound like what people would bring up anywhere else.

I've heard that from people who've been there, that Cubans most clearly do say whatever they're thinking. The right-wingers take it a step beyond and claim that if they don't tell you how much they really HATE the Cuban government it's because they are scared to death of what would happen to them if they told!

Oh, yeah! Brilliant, isn't it?

He could use some time trying to dig deeper into US/Cuba policy, however. It can only help. Always. He needs to know what lengths the US goes to to create professional dissidents in every country they're trying to overthrow. It's routine. Always happens. There's a world of difference between people who are ernestly interested in change and people who are interested in throwing over their own government and installing puppets from another country. In Cuba's case, as "she-wolf" (as she is called in Cuba) Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has publicly stated when she came here with her parents, they all assumed they'd wait here until the US overthrew the new government and then they'd go back, take over again, and resume the same way of life they had before the revolution.

There's no mystery over the fact that the loudest, most extreme "dissidents" are people with direct ties to the CANF, and the terrorists bankrolled by CANF, with Beatriz Roque being a prime example, as per the recorded phone calls in which she discusses getting money from Santiago Alvarez, the Cuban terrorist in Miami who sneaked Luis Posada Carriles back to the states on his boat, and who also has been involved in countless acts of terrorism against the Cuban people for decades.

The author should take a look at those Cuban "dissidents" before trying to make comparisons to dissidents here!

Everything else about the Buzzflash article is excellent. People need to know what the heck actually happened to him at the hands of US government agents. They would find themselves stunned something like that would happen, no doubt. He was truly treated like a criminal for travelling to Cuba.

By the way, Texan Dan Snow, who has operated a travel agency, was actually put in jail, as well as fined considerably for his trips to Cuba to what, plot against our government? No. He went there to do some BASS FISHING. Yup. Off to the slammer for Dan. Here's his website:
http://www.cubatravelusa.com/about_us.htm

I was out of town yesterday and missed this.

This should be in the Eds & Articles forum AND the GD Presidential!

People really need to see this story that clearly shows that Cuban-Americans and Cuban resident aliens are the only fully enfranchised demographic in the USA, the rest of us are relegated to 2nd class status.

:mad:

because Hillary indicated that if the bill passes congress Obama will sign..

Note that the traveler made an error bringing back the cigarettes. If he had not done that it would be a civil issue. With the "contraband" he might be charged with a criminal offense.