I'm an American citizen who once got grilled by TSA for coming back from overseas with a unopened package of American made beef jerky that I purchased in America (I bought it as a snack before I left and didn't get around to eating it). They tried to say I lied on the customs declaration and because I couldn't "prove" that it was from the US (despite clearly being of US origin) they wanted to fine me and take away my pre check clearance. I apologized over and over and said it was a honest mistake, and they let me go without further incident after yelling at me for 15 minutes. TSA is truly security theater.
@@FDRTKOva it was probably customs then. Pedantry aside, my point still stands - harassing me and making threats for 15 minutes over beef jerky is totally unnecessary. Just explain the issue, give me a warning, ask me to throw it away, and send me on my way. They're just putting on a show and abusing their power.
To ge fair, in my country that's the most important part of security, specially as there are a ton of pests that haven't made into it. Though we do have space for a back and forwards, and if you brought a lot of (declared) food stuff you thought would enter and part of it doesn't they just confiscate it and take it as an honest mistake. Though it can be fucking slow it's literally the last step so it will all be over soon.
@@sniferlip Whered you hear that? What Im refuring to is the the test in 17' that the failure rate of the TSA of finding contraband was 80%-85% every time. Edit: the latest released test now has had a failure rate of 95%, your more likely to just look at a dude at an airport and guess thats he's got something illegal on him than the TSA's "rigorous" tests which are primary just looking thought peoples clothes on a screen and fondling a dudes crevasses.
With these horror stories, I’ll give you guys a nice one: About 10 years ago me and my family went on a big trip to Florida, and when we were going through passport control in Orlando, everything was going smoothly. And then I saw my 6 year old niece have to get her passport stamped, but she was also carrying her Build-a-bear aswell. So the TSA guy in a lighthearted joking way asked her if (the toy) had his passport too. My niece said Yes and gave the guy those joke passports that you can get from the store with your toys name and details. Took a look at it for a few seconds and smirked said “well, everything is in order” and stamped both her passport and the toy bears. She was smiling for hours after, and my aunt was struggling not to laugh at the adorable ness of it all.
Connor is 100% right, anytime TSA grills you answer with 1 or 2 words, DON'T explain. Their job is to see BS so when some explains too much and looks nervous, they will grill you further. I travel to Mexico couple times per year and I have been called 1 or 2 times.
Yea that's no excuse because police are trained to deal with the same type of BS and worse. And they don't need to go through all of the crap TSA does.
@@lookitskazzyyeah, based on another comment someone said it’s because Joey got deported due to some sort of visa issue. I am just parroting what they said so that could be wrong.
@@conormurphy4328 Pasty white guys didn't bring down the World Trade Center. We profile people for a reason. If you don't like it you're welcome to go somewhere else.
It sounds like they are confusing TSA with CBP, Customs and Border Protection are the guys you talk to when you enter the US, TSA only deals with security for the airplanes.
That is nothing man. I lived in Norway for 6 years. I am Western European, white, but hair is not blonde. Every single fracking time, I got pulled over in my own town little airport security. Random check they said...one time they made me draw a map on how to get to my home and work, with go arounds, right turns, etc. Ridiculous...
I'm ethnically from India, but an American citizen. If I haven't shaved in like a week and even if I'm flying somewhere domestic, TSA 100% WILL pull me aside for "random" bag searches lmao. For overseas flights, I'm definitely sure to arrive at the airport 3 hours early, make sure there's at least 3 hours layover between any connecting flights, just in case.
I travelled to Europe from the US with a group of Asian, Latino, and Black college students. None of us Asian students got checked but the Latino students were almost always pulled aside for another check… It was like clockwork
Years ago, when my sister was about 20 she wanted to cross the border (from Canada) to go shopping by herself. They grilled her, searched her car (all she had in there was a Bible and a water bottle), made her go to a backroom for 3 or 4 hours, and then just let her go. It was too late to do much of anything so she drove back home in tears. We're pretty sure it was because she's gorgeous and sweet, and they just wanted to gawk at her for awhile. There's no other reasonable explanation for it. I'm still mad about it . EDIT: To everyone defending the TSA in the comments: I appreciate your theories and some are probably right, but there's also no way you are going to convince me that it's okay to detain a young woman alone in a room for hours without being allowed to contact her family for no reason other than "maybe she 's up to no good." So stop trying lol
@@biazacha Possibly? But it should have been pretty quick to figure out they had the wrong person. Trust me when I say she is the least suspect person you'd ever meet. 😅 Especially back then.
I'm sorry your sister went through that, that is really scary. A bit of insight: young women traveling alone are always pulled aside - attractive or not. Part of TSA training is to see young women like that as traffickers of some sort - human, drug, illegal imports, etc. If she seemed naive or sweet, they would have definitely thought it was an act. The fact that she had so little in her car would have also been suspect, especially if she kept her car super clean. As someone said before, she also very likely matched a BOLO so they held her for a few hours to verify that her documents were legit and that they were not part of an alias for whoever the BOLO was out on.
@@L337Dratini I guess that makes sense in a twisted sort of way ! But I think the TSA needs some updated training then. The idea that a woman traveling alone is seen as suspect seems pretty misogynistic.
@@cheshiregirl2322 I wouldn't say it was misogynistic, because before they did that, they often targeted people who looked stereotypically suspicious people (e.g. intimidating-looking men), which meant that traffickers started having young women or women with children to get their jobs done instead. Now that TSA caught on, they also have to check women who most likely look too innocent to be true. I suppose they try to keep up with the trends of who's most likely involved in some sort of trafficking (I've heard about little children getting involved, but not sure if it's been done within airports or other long-distance travels)
Am an American with a foreign wife. We have marriage papers, still working on the green card… they stop her basically every single time. And then have me come fetch her. This is also with all the proper paperwork in hand. It’s ridiculous. I also have family in TSA and they mean well, but the culture there is very clearly “how many people can I stop today.” Definitely asinine. Edit: Also yeah LAX is fucking traaaaash
@@Graestra It definitely is and *part* of that, I get is necessary. But the flip side of that is when you’ve been to the U.S. multiple times, have no political affiliations, and can produce paperwork for being there, it definitely ends up looking malicious. Some of it is down to presentation, too. I’m pretty sure you can screen people and not come across as an absolute bully. I know this because I’ve been screened abroad and never felt like I was being mistreated or rude to. Basically, it’s a necessary job for sure, but the dudes ego tripping on folks with perfectly valid reasons for being there is just unprofessional, imo.
To be fair, I'm an American citizen and I've been grilled a few times. Even been to secondary a couple times just because I have a common name. I don't take it personally, but after getting off a 10-12 hour flight I'm a freaking zombie and I don't have it in me to deal with that. Most times I just get the guy that says welcome back and that's really all I want to hear.
As others have said, this was CBP not TSA. The goal of CBP is to determine that you are actually a visitor, have no intentions of staying (immigrant), and will not be working (without a visa/authorization). If you have no money for your stay, that signals that you will need to work illegally. If you have too much money, you might be illegally importing/exporting. If you have no transportation plans, you've probably got friends or family in which case muddies the "strictly visiting story."
I live really close to the border with the US at Niagara Falls and goddamn those are the highest strung border security people I've ever met. "Do you have a job, do you have a permanent residence, what do you do, how much do you earn, have you ever wanted to live in the US, what is your ancestry, are you a French speaker" and just on and on and on and I was sitting there with my car idling wondering what the hell this border control guy is doing at the NEXUS fast crossing.
Granted I haven't been through the Niagara falls crossing in a few years but I don't remember that, the American border agents were the chill ones compared to the Canadian guys.
@@rudolphna54 I'm pretty sure it's really bored agents because the NEXUS bridge is pretty low traffic much of the time and everyone who goes through has a NEXUS pre-approval card. It might also be worth noting that I'm Canadian.
I went to the US for the first time over the summer (live in Canada, but I wasn't born here. Both my mom and I are permanent residents, but mt dad already has citizenship (+ he's been to the US before)) through the Windsor-Detroit border and we got stopped for, like, an hr and almost missed our flight My dad explained to me that it had smth to do w/ the fact that we only have pr + American tourist visas and that it was our first time entering the country. But the funniest thing was that, despite both my parents being fairly fluent in English, my dad was panicking so much I had to retake my constant role as translator between a border patrol officer and my dad😂😅
Here's what these types of guys do. They ask you a bunch of questions. They'll ask for lots of details to see if you're making shit up. And then they'll ask you again to see if your answers change.
Some of the Custom and Border Patrol Officers sometimes like to power trip for no reason. As an International Student Advisor, it can be a pain having to talk students down after their experiences.
I have a feeling I seen that TSA agent before. He's intimidating, impatient, & and doesn't want to be there. He yelled at me just for being in the wrong line. The dude has no chill. Silly enough, I live in Hawaii 😂
Got grilled by TSA in December whilst visiting my partner in the US. I live in Europe. The TSA officer could not fathom that I was going to stay over a month. I work remote and my employer is A-ok with me working from wherever i want. TSA guy kept implying I was trying to "work in America" and kept asking in different ways "So you are here to work?" "You are doing work in America?" and so on. Like Connor said, I kept firm simple answers "I work for a European company. I work in Europe. I live in Europe. I work remote with an EU company." TSA finally gave up and threw my passport back at me after 20 minutes. I get its their job but its such a unpleasant experience every time.
@@jorgeroman2058 I get that it seems like a gray area but that would imply nobody is allowed to take work calls, check emails or send work files when they are on American soil. That just doesn't make much sense in a developed world where so much work is conducted online. I'm not working for an American company nor do I intend to. No other country I've visited has asked these questions or treated me as poorly. Kinda sucks cause I have a great time when I visit but border control is terrifying.
When Made in Abyss slid in at the end, it makes me imagine Garnt making a deep dive video on the series. Garnt loves his fantasy adventure cosmic horror. I'm wondering what Connor has thought about it so far as someone who's relatively new to it compared to Joey and Garnt.
I know I'm by no means the only one, but I'm American and just got back from Japan recently and got grilled by TSA harder than I EVER HAVE IN MY LIFE! And it was very similar, like weird and random questions that didn't make sense and were obviously fishing for something. 😅 I don't know if they've told them to ramp up the drama lately or what, but it's honestly insane.... I don't mind people doing their jobs, I would never be upset at someone for that. But this was so much more than that, doing your job shouldn't involve being an asshole....
During my time in the military, I got the "completely random individual search" every single time I flew, which was around twice a month sometimes. Didn't matter if I presented my military ID or that my bags were locked at previously scanned.
I lost a connection in Washington because TSA only had like 5 ppl working and we had 4 international flights all arriving around the same time and the people from Turkey or the color people from France all spent 5-10 minutes each... 3 hours in customs... never again in that airport i swear.
I hope the flight crew had stayed a little late for most of the flight passengers once they realized most of passenger were probably being grilled at TSA. 😨
My 2 times at LAX weren't bad, probably because both times I arrived there it was pretty late at night. If I had a complaint about it it would've been due to the bus shuttle service to get from International to domestic buildings and vice versa. Worst airport I've been to is Atlanta.
I'd like to say you spoke to Customs & Boarder Protection agents and not TSA. TSA doesn't inspect international inbound passengers, only out bound passengers
I made the mistake of talking too much and got told "you look nervous" by Japanese Airport Security when I left. Not only did I get held up, I got picked for a "random security check" when boarding. When I got to US Customs in Dallas, I must have looked normal, just gave a "howdy" and got waved through after a quick glance at my passport.
Garnt: “I would rather go through this 100 times than go through LAX.” CBP Officer: “alright, this dude is definitely not up to anything if he suffers through LAX for work.”
The only time I was ever cross with a border guy happened recently. They are so intense. I live in Ecuador and had to go back for my mom's funeral- the flight in from Ecuador was late, and I was already upset. The flight attendants assured me that if I was quick I could make the flight, etc. But we get to passport control and the dude whose line I get funneled into is like, being cool with every other passenger. Right ahead of me was an ELDERLY DISABLED lady and he decides to just absolutely grill her about everything. So I missed my connecting flight. I get up to the window, and the guy's like "hey why the long face?" I say "I missed my flight by now" and show him my ticket. He asks why I'm traveling in and I said "my mom died. I'm on my way to her funeral." His face went blank and he was like "o gosh I"m so sorry" and I said "tell that to my dead mom." I don't usually sass the border people at all but at that point what the hell, right? I just took my ticket back and walked off after that.
That's because they aren't talking about TSA, they're talking about Customs and Border Protection. TSA only cares that you are the person on the ticket and you don't have certain items. CBP are the ones that care about immigration and foreign nationals.
@@ninjasownpiratesas a person who has been grilled and unnecessarily patted down by TSA and knows people who have. And the tsa has there bad reputation foe a reason. And it shouldn't be that way because police have to do a similar job for big events in cities and do a hell of alot better job than TSA.
Man, i when to US once to these guys, are literally part brits as a SEA country man. If my parents didn't have an established business import & and export, we probably would get grills, too
Joey mentioned that there's a specific cause for why he always gets drilled and another commenter mentioned that Joey was deported from the US in the past due to a visa issue. So while you're probably not wrong in general, it sounds like that isn't necessarily the case this time.
@@lookitskazzy I know why Joye gets grilled. But that doesn't explain Garnt's experience. And, let's be serious, the US TSA is famous for grilling foreigners with certain name type and skin tones.
A few years ago I went to Mexico with my dad so ofc we had to bring food back… when we got to immigration an officer took our stuff and told us to follow him dude we were scared. We were waiting in a tiny room until they let us go lmaooo. Our guess is that the queso Oaxaca looked suspicious.
They either specifically hire for TSA and border agents to be like that, and/or they train them that way. Also: if you are male and in your 20's and not traveling with a female or worse, traveling alone, they will target you because of "likelihood." ... That and the skin colour thing. Because I went through Hawaii, same as the boys, was traveling as a single male alone and they agents let me through but pulled out the totally wholesome and obviously on vacation Pakistani family with small kids that were in front of me.
They're trained that way. Same as cops, they're trained to trap you whether or not you're lying. They also target non white people from undeveloped countries because they believe those people are more likely to overstay their visa.
They are strict and they always will be. Prior to 9/11 it was a lot more laid back. If you're traveling to the U.S. expect to get shit from TSA. On one hand it sucks that middle eastern people are discriminated against but can you really blame them? I personally don't think so.
@@kengxi idk Man U can be cautious without being an asshole and it seems to me some of them are are worse than others in that regard. Controlling people will likelihood is ok in my option but grilling them for dumb stuff is just a waste of time.
@@kengxi "can you blame them" Yes. Yes i can. Because seeing a middle eastern person and immeadiately thinking "potential terrorist" makes them idiotic fucking racists wasting everyones time and causing trauma for the sake of trauma.
@kengxi i don't know, man. I think if the documents are good and you don't find anything suspicious in them, there is no need for an additional screening. But of course, that would require you to be a rational human being without any racial bias.
When me and my sister were kids, we were trying to come back from Canada and the border patrol almost didn’t let us back into our own county with our dad cause he didn’t have a note from our mom that we all didn’t know we needed to leave the country in the first place cause the Canadian border patrol didn’t ask for it. Then again, my dad could’ve also been profiled for child trafficking cause we look nothing like him😂
LAX is literally insane my sister eventually had to quit bc she wouldn't be able to keep up with her schedule whilst pregnant getting up at 3/4 am heading to the airport special area where they would pick up the workers around 6 then take u to ur dropoff then just to work and get out at 5-6pm it's just a super inconvenience to get to and from there especially traffic hours in the morning and afternoon it's the pinnacle for it plus the pay isn't worth it
For those who still didn't get it that's not TSA that's CBP. TSA could care less as to why you are going through the checkpoint they just want you out and gone.
Lol this kinda reminds me of when I was in a country where I needed a temporary visa for certain parts. I was asked what am I there for? whats my profession? My current career isn't widely known so I tell the check point guy I am a photo retoucher. He goes whats does that entail? and I make the mistake of phrasing it like I alter photos to make them look better. He raises an eye brow at me and explains anything I take pictures of can't be plagiarized or doctored and I am struggle to back peddle like, no no, thats not what I do, I touch up photos for marketing purposes and I am on vacation so my pictures are for fun. lol omg it was kinda rough, I studied graphic design I should have just gone with that.
I hate American tsa. I'm american but I always fly with my mom who has a Mexico passport. I usually have to stop the tsa from messing with her but the only time I couldn't was when I encountered CATSA during COVID and I noticed that they would send anyone foreign looking for testing and holding. They were ridiculous
so many people don't know the difference between TSA and CBP. TSA only deal with people entering the airport while in the US CBP deal with people entering the US from international flights and through Canadian/Mexican border
The guys clearly forgot about USA's crippling addiction to being the winner compared to another location. Doesn't matter what or where. Their place is always better than the other place, no matter how shitty
I think im poor for a good reason. Im in india never left it. I complained about being poor and not being able to afford to go abroad. But. I think its a good thing. Because i have severe anxiety. Im being protected from a traumatic experience. Everything happens for good
My sister brought a damn pocket knife with her through the airport, a few months just after 9/11 They took the knife, but waved her through in a few minutes
Connor being like , bro I have no free time at all. Me : at least you decide how to spent the time your not free , doing stuff you want to do and that you planned for .
I'm an American citizen who once got grilled by TSA for coming back from overseas with a unopened package of American made beef jerky that I purchased in America (I bought it as a snack before I left and didn't get around to eating it). They tried to say I lied on the customs declaration and because I couldn't "prove" that it was from the US (despite clearly being of US origin) they wanted to fine me and take away my pre check clearance. I apologized over and over and said it was a honest mistake, and they let me go without further incident after yelling at me for 15 minutes.
TSA is truly security theater.
To be fair, the food and drink is more USDA and not TSA.
@@ShiroKage009 USDA would just tell you to throw it out and move along. TSA's job is to yell at you.
Uhh, TSA doesn't give a shit about food, it's usually liquids gels and aerosols.
@@FDRTKOva it was probably customs then. Pedantry aside, my point still stands - harassing me and making threats for 15 minutes over beef jerky is totally unnecessary. Just explain the issue, give me a warning, ask me to throw it away, and send me on my way. They're just putting on a show and abusing their power.
To ge fair, in my country that's the most important part of security, specially as there are a ton of pests that haven't made into it. Though we do have space for a back and forwards, and if you brought a lot of (declared) food stuff you thought would enter and part of it doesn't they just confiscate it and take it as an honest mistake. Though it can be fucking slow it's literally the last step so it will all be over soon.
Reminder: The TSA have been tested multiple times and failed in all categories.
It was Border Patrol , not TSA
@@sniferlip Whered you hear that? What Im refuring to is the the test in 17' that the failure rate of the TSA of finding contraband was 80%-85% every time.
Edit: the latest released test now has had a failure rate of 95%, your more likely to just look at a dude at an airport and guess thats he's got something illegal on him than the TSA's "rigorous" tests which are primary just looking thought peoples clothes on a screen and fondling a dudes crevasses.
YOU are WRONG@@sniferlip
With these horror stories, I’ll give you guys a nice one:
About 10 years ago me and my family went on a big trip to Florida, and when we were going through passport control in Orlando, everything was going smoothly. And then I saw my 6 year old niece have to get her passport stamped, but she was also carrying her Build-a-bear aswell.
So the TSA guy in a lighthearted joking way asked her if (the toy) had his passport too.
My niece said Yes and gave the guy those joke passports that you can get from the store with your toys name and details.
Took a look at it for a few seconds and smirked said “well, everything is in order” and stamped both her passport and the toy bears.
She was smiling for hours after, and my aunt was struggling not to laugh at the adorable ness of it all.
That’s lovely.
Connor is 100% right, anytime TSA grills you answer with 1 or 2 words, DON'T explain. Their job is to see BS so when some explains too much and looks nervous, they will grill you further. I travel to Mexico couple times per year and I have been called 1 or 2 times.
Yea that's no excuse because police are trained to deal with the same type of BS and worse. And they don't need to go through all of the crap TSA does.
Huh, the white guy got through TSA in seconds and the two brown guys get drilled, wonder what the theme is here.
Welcome to America
Didn't Joey briefly mention he has an issue that results in him always getting enhanced screening?
@@lookitskazzyyeah, based on another comment someone said it’s because Joey got deported due to some sort of visa issue.
I am just parroting what they said so that could be wrong.
@@conormurphy4328 Pasty white guys didn't bring down the World Trade Center. We profile people for a reason. If you don't like it you're welcome to go somewhere else.
Didn’t Connor specifically get the pleasant lady that just let him through. It’s all gonna depend on the mood of the person.
It sounds like they are confusing TSA with CBP, Customs and Border Protection are the guys you talk to when you enter the US, TSA only deals with security for the airplanes.
Everyone makes this mistake, but yeah. TSA makes sure plane don't go boom, CBP/Immigration makes sure only the right people can enter the country.
That is nothing man. I lived in Norway for 6 years. I am Western European, white, but hair is not blonde. Every single fracking time, I got pulled over in my own town little airport security. Random check they said...one time they made me draw a map on how to get to my home and work, with go arounds, right turns, etc. Ridiculous...
That's really bad mate, them random checks sometimes can be annoying
@@racinly1374it's not random if they don't do it to every group and only select groups
@@alaina4070 that's unfortunately true in certain instances
They deadass made you doxx yourself, that’s messed up.
Everyone looks at the nice social systems in Scandinavia but not many people talk about how they treat foreigners
TSA: What's the podcast about?
Connor: Anime.
At least he called himself out for calling it a lie.
Lmao, that's his mistake.
I'm ethnically from India, but an American citizen. If I haven't shaved in like a week and even if I'm flying somewhere domestic, TSA 100% WILL pull me aside for "random" bag searches lmao.
For overseas flights, I'm definitely sure to arrive at the airport 3 hours early, make sure there's at least 3 hours layover between any connecting flights, just in case.
I travelled to Europe from the US with a group of Asian, Latino, and Black college students. None of us Asian students got checked but the Latino students were almost always pulled aside for another check… It was like clockwork
You chose that life
Damn dude that sucks, I’m surprised no one’s done an investigation on the TSA for their “random” bag checks being mostly a certain type of ethnicity
@@yomamasohot6411 what? That's racist.
@@yomamasohot6411 How? What did they choose? To be Indian?
Years ago, when my sister was about 20 she wanted to cross the border (from Canada) to go shopping by herself. They grilled her, searched her car (all she had in there was a Bible and a water bottle), made her go to a backroom for 3 or 4 hours, and then just let her go. It was too late to do much of anything so she drove back home in tears.
We're pretty sure it was because she's gorgeous and sweet, and they just wanted to gawk at her for awhile. There's no other reasonable explanation for it. I'm still mad about it .
EDIT: To everyone defending the TSA in the comments: I appreciate your theories and some are probably right, but there's also no way you are going to convince me that it's okay to detain a young woman alone in a room for hours without being allowed to contact her family for no reason other than "maybe she 's up to no good." So stop trying lol
Honestly? She probably matched someone in the lookout for smuggling drugs from the US.
@@biazacha Possibly? But it should have been pretty quick to figure out they had the wrong person. Trust me when I say she is the least suspect person you'd ever meet. 😅 Especially back then.
I'm sorry your sister went through that, that is really scary.
A bit of insight: young women traveling alone are always pulled aside - attractive or not. Part of TSA training is to see young women like that as traffickers of some sort - human, drug, illegal imports, etc. If she seemed naive or sweet, they would have definitely thought it was an act. The fact that she had so little in her car would have also been suspect, especially if she kept her car super clean. As someone said before, she also very likely matched a BOLO so they held her for a few hours to verify that her documents were legit and that they were not part of an alias for whoever the BOLO was out on.
@@L337Dratini I guess that makes sense in a twisted sort of way ! But I think the TSA needs some updated training then. The idea that a woman traveling alone is seen as suspect seems pretty misogynistic.
@@cheshiregirl2322 I wouldn't say it was misogynistic, because before they did that, they often targeted people who looked stereotypically suspicious people (e.g. intimidating-looking men), which meant that traffickers started having young women or women with children to get their jobs done instead. Now that TSA caught on, they also have to check women who most likely look too innocent to be true. I suppose they try to keep up with the trends of who's most likely involved in some sort of trafficking (I've heard about little children getting involved, but not sure if it's been done within airports or other long-distance travels)
Any loremaster on why Joey always being pulled over to the backroom?
He got deported from the US a while back. Wrong visa I think.
Having a deportation on your record will do that.
Deportation. He forgot his papers when he was in America once and his friends could not fed ex it in time and he got deported 💀.
okay that’s nice to know, I was wondering that too
Am an American with a foreign wife. We have marriage papers, still working on the green card… they stop her basically every single time. And then have me come fetch her. This is also with all the proper paperwork in hand.
It’s ridiculous. I also have family in TSA and they mean well, but the culture there is very clearly “how many people can I stop today.” Definitely asinine.
Edit: Also yeah LAX is fucking traaaaash
Wouldn't be surprised if it's intentionally like that in order to deter people from trying to sneak through or cause issues.
@@Graestra It definitely is and *part* of that, I get is necessary. But the flip side of that is when you’ve been to the U.S. multiple times, have no political affiliations, and can produce paperwork for being there, it definitely ends up looking malicious.
Some of it is down to presentation, too. I’m pretty sure you can screen people and not come across as an absolute bully. I know this because I’ve been screened abroad and never felt like I was being mistreated or rude to. Basically, it’s a necessary job for sure, but the dudes ego tripping on folks with perfectly valid reasons for being there is just unprofessional, imo.
That's not TSA, yall got grilled by customs
Now wait the next time you go through L.A.X. “So… we saw your podcast” *snaps latex glove*
To be fair, I'm an American citizen and I've been grilled a few times. Even been to secondary a couple times just because I have a common name.
I don't take it personally, but after getting off a 10-12 hour flight I'm a freaking zombie and I don't have it in me to deal with that. Most times I just get the guy that says welcome back and that's really all I want to hear.
As others have said, this was CBP not TSA. The goal of CBP is to determine that you are actually a visitor, have no intentions of staying (immigrant), and will not be working (without a visa/authorization). If you have no money for your stay, that signals that you will need to work illegally. If you have too much money, you might be illegally importing/exporting. If you have no transportation plans, you've probably got friends or family in which case muddies the "strictly visiting story."
Yup
TSA only looks at you when you're getting ON the plane, not coming off.
I live really close to the border with the US at Niagara Falls and goddamn those are the highest strung border security people I've ever met.
"Do you have a job, do you have a permanent residence, what do you do, how much do you earn, have you ever wanted to live in the US, what is your ancestry, are you a French speaker" and just on and on and on and I was sitting there with my car idling wondering what the hell this border control guy is doing at the NEXUS fast crossing.
Granted I haven't been through the Niagara falls crossing in a few years but I don't remember that, the American border agents were the chill ones compared to the Canadian guys.
@@rudolphna54 I'm pretty sure it's really bored agents because the NEXUS bridge is pretty low traffic much of the time and everyone who goes through has a NEXUS pre-approval card.
It might also be worth noting that I'm Canadian.
Buffalo is also a pain to cross
Got there at 11:15pm
Left at 2:30 am
I went to the US for the first time over the summer (live in Canada, but I wasn't born here. Both my mom and I are permanent residents, but mt dad already has citizenship (+ he's been to the US before)) through the Windsor-Detroit border and we got stopped for, like, an hr and almost missed our flight
My dad explained to me that it had smth to do w/ the fact that we only have pr + American tourist visas and that it was our first time entering the country. But the funniest thing was that, despite both my parents being fairly fluent in English, my dad was panicking so much I had to retake my constant role as translator between a border patrol officer and my dad😂😅
Here's what these types of guys do. They ask you a bunch of questions. They'll ask for lots of details to see if you're making shit up. And then they'll ask you again to see if your answers change.
Some of the Custom and Border Patrol Officers sometimes like to power trip for no reason. As an International Student Advisor, it can be a pain having to talk students down after their experiences.
I have a feeling I seen that TSA agent before. He's intimidating, impatient, & and doesn't want to be there. He yelled at me just for being in the wrong line. The dude has no chill. Silly enough, I live in Hawaii 😂
Got grilled by TSA in December whilst visiting my partner in the US. I live in Europe. The TSA officer could not fathom that I was going to stay over a month. I work remote and my employer is A-ok with me working from wherever i want. TSA guy kept implying I was trying to "work in America" and kept asking in different ways "So you are here to work?" "You are doing work in America?" and so on. Like Connor said, I kept firm simple answers "I work for a European company. I work in Europe. I live in Europe. I work remote with an EU company." TSA finally gave up and threw my passport back at me after 20 minutes. I get its their job but its such a unpleasant experience every time.
Well, TSA is also right, i think is a big gray area, if you’re working within the US🤷♂️
@@jorgeroman2058 I get that it seems like a gray area but that would imply nobody is allowed to take work calls, check emails or send work files when they are on American soil. That just doesn't make much sense in a developed world where so much work is conducted online. I'm not working for an American company nor do I intend to. No other country I've visited has asked these questions or treated me as poorly. Kinda sucks cause I have a great time when I visit but border control is terrifying.
When Made in Abyss slid in at the end, it makes me imagine Garnt making a deep dive video on the series. Garnt loves his fantasy adventure cosmic horror. I'm wondering what Connor has thought about it so far as someone who's relatively new to it compared to Joey and Garnt.
TSA: What the f*** did I do?
Meanwhile CBP: 😂
I know I'm by no means the only one, but I'm American and just got back from Japan recently and got grilled by TSA harder than I EVER HAVE IN MY LIFE! And it was very similar, like weird and random questions that didn't make sense and were obviously fishing for something. 😅
I don't know if they've told them to ramp up the drama lately or what, but it's honestly insane.... I don't mind people doing their jobs, I would never be upset at someone for that. But this was so much more than that, doing your job shouldn't involve being an asshole....
During my time in the military, I got the "completely random individual search" every single time I flew, which was around twice a month sometimes. Didn't matter if I presented my military ID or that my bags were locked at previously scanned.
I lost a connection in Washington because TSA only had like 5 ppl working and we had 4 international flights all arriving around the same time and the people from Turkey or the color people from France all spent 5-10 minutes each... 3 hours in customs... never again in that airport i swear.
I hope the flight crew had stayed a little late for most of the flight passengers once they realized most of passenger were probably being grilled at TSA. 😨
My 2 times at LAX weren't bad, probably because both times I arrived there it was pretty late at night. If I had a complaint about it it would've been due to the bus shuttle service to get from International to domestic buildings and vice versa. Worst airport I've been to is Atlanta.
Okay why didn’t I seriously walk by you guys in japan when I was there. These guys are so hilarious and so honest AF.
I'm an anxious nervous person by default so this would probably send me over the edge 😂
Grant should have been like, OH You trying to go the convention too? Up top!
I'd like to say you spoke to Customs & Boarder Protection agents and not TSA. TSA doesn't inspect international inbound passengers, only out bound passengers
I made the mistake of talking too much and got told "you look nervous" by Japanese Airport Security when I left. Not only did I get held up, I got picked for a "random security check" when boarding. When I got to US Customs in Dallas, I must have looked normal, just gave a "howdy" and got waved through after a quick glance at my passport.
Garnt: “I would rather go through this 100 times than go through LAX.”
CBP Officer: “alright, this dude is definitely not up to anything if he suffers through LAX for work.”
Other than my more recent trip, I always get the random body check. It's almost hilarious
The only time I was ever cross with a border guy happened recently. They are so intense. I live in Ecuador and had to go back for my mom's funeral- the flight in from Ecuador was late, and I was already upset. The flight attendants assured me that if I was quick I could make the flight, etc. But we get to passport control and the dude whose line I get funneled into is like, being cool with every other passenger. Right ahead of me was an ELDERLY DISABLED lady and he decides to just absolutely grill her about everything. So I missed my connecting flight. I get up to the window, and the guy's like "hey why the long face?" I say "I missed my flight by now" and show him my ticket. He asks why I'm traveling in and I said "my mom died. I'm on my way to her funeral." His face went blank and he was like "o gosh I"m so sorry" and I said "tell that to my dead mom." I don't usually sass the border people at all but at that point what the hell, right? I just took my ticket back and walked off after that.
How are you gonna get there? While I'm holding you in this room until you pay me.
My only long chat with TSA was indeed in LAX
Never been grilled by TSA so I don't know what its like but hearing all these stories, makes me glad I haven't
That's because they aren't talking about TSA, they're talking about Customs and Border Protection. TSA only cares that you are the person on the ticket and you don't have certain items. CBP are the ones that care about immigration and foreign nationals.
@@ninjasownpiratesas a person who has been grilled and unnecessarily patted down by TSA and knows people who have. And the tsa has there bad reputation foe a reason. And it shouldn't be that way because police have to do a similar job for big events in cities and do a hell of alot better job than TSA.
Man, i when to US once to these guys, are literally part brits as a SEA country man. If my parents didn't have an established business import & and export, we probably would get grills, too
Gant you need a vespa in Japan. I have a 2 stroke manual one and it's perfect for the mountains in the inaka.
Bruh I read the title as “impregnate” instead of “interrogate”
Joey's new moped obsession is hilarious.
As someone who works for tsa thats not tsa thats customs.
I always keep everything on paper. I always have a printed version of my itinerary when I travel to the USA for business.
little did Garnt know the TSA agent was a fan of Garnt and wanted to spend as much time with him
Their skin color might have played a significant part behind this incident.
Yeah their skin tone is very uncommon in Hawaii
Joey mentioned that there's a specific cause for why he always gets drilled and another commenter mentioned that Joey was deported from the US in the past due to a visa issue. So while you're probably not wrong in general, it sounds like that isn't necessarily the case this time.
@@leviticuscornwall9631 are you trying to be sarcastic?
@@cameronkim6859 They are, since it's well known that Asians of all kinds are by far the most common tourists in Hawaii.
@@lookitskazzy I know why Joye gets grilled. But that doesn't explain Garnt's experience. And, let's be serious, the US TSA is famous for grilling foreigners with certain name type and skin tones.
Connor is right, gotta keep the answer short for TSA for some reason they love that.
He was on a power trip.
3:35
Had Garnt been playing Ace Attorney lately? Because first this but he also used AA music in his latest video 😂
That's Customs and Border Patrol not TSA.
I'm sure the TSA won't mind them getting confused between the two
We can see as Joey at 10:10 summarizes the situation in a single move.
Haven’t been grilled by the TSA. But got bomb inspected leaving Australia, Hong Kong (twice) and Beijing.
2:29 "I always get grilled when I go to the states because of my XXXXXX thing".
Does anyone understand what he said?
I believe he said "ESTA thing" - I heard he was deported from the US on one occasion for having the incorrect visa, or something
The TSA guy asked because everyone in Hawaii knows Honolulu Airport is shit 😂
A few years ago I went to Mexico with my dad so ofc we had to bring food back… when we got to immigration an officer took our stuff and told us to follow him dude we were scared. We were waiting in a tiny room until they let us go lmaooo. Our guess is that the queso Oaxaca looked suspicious.
Bro food is the number one sin for border control, what were you thinking.
Trash Taste discrimination special coming when?
They either specifically hire for TSA and border agents to be like that, and/or they train them that way.
Also: if you are male and in your 20's and not traveling with a female or worse, traveling alone, they will target you because of "likelihood."
... That and the skin colour thing. Because I went through Hawaii, same as the boys, was traveling as a single male alone and they agents let me through but pulled out the totally wholesome and obviously on vacation Pakistani family with small kids that were in front of me.
They're trained that way. Same as cops, they're trained to trap you whether or not you're lying.
They also target non white people from undeveloped countries because they believe those people are more likely to overstay their visa.
They are strict and they always will be. Prior to 9/11 it was a lot more laid back. If you're traveling to the U.S. expect to get shit from TSA. On one hand it sucks that middle eastern people are discriminated against but can you really blame them? I personally don't think so.
@@kengxi idk Man U can be cautious without being an asshole and it seems to me some of them are are worse than others in that regard. Controlling people will likelihood is ok in my option but grilling them for dumb stuff is just a waste of time.
@@kengxi "can you blame them"
Yes. Yes i can. Because seeing a middle eastern person and immeadiately thinking "potential terrorist" makes them idiotic fucking racists wasting everyones time and causing trauma for the sake of trauma.
@kengxi i don't know, man. I think if the documents are good and you don't find anything suspicious in them, there is no need for an additional screening. But of course, that would require you to be a rational human being without any racial bias.
When me and my sister were kids, we were trying to come back from Canada and the border patrol almost didn’t let us back into our own county with our dad cause he didn’t have a note from our mom that we all didn’t know we needed to leave the country in the first place cause the Canadian border patrol didn’t ask for it.
Then again, my dad could’ve also been profiled for child trafficking cause we look nothing like him😂
LAX is literally insane my sister eventually had to quit bc she wouldn't be able to keep up with her schedule whilst pregnant getting up at 3/4 am heading to the airport special area where they would pick up the workers around 6 then take u to ur dropoff then just to work and get out at 5-6pm it's just a super inconvenience to get to and from there especially traffic hours in the morning and afternoon it's the pinnacle for it plus the pay isn't worth it
Aki is that famous that she can get Joey through without even being there?
Joey is that famous that the guy knew his GF.
Full form of TSA
For those who still didn't get it that's not TSA that's CBP. TSA could care less as to why you are going through the checkpoint they just want you out and gone.
Garnt out here with them rookie mistakes
More than likely he was just profiled. If Connor had acted like Garnt they would have let his pale ass through guaranteed.
I have friends on tsa they are always on edge cuz they get tested randomly almost everyday with planted luggage and they can not miss anything
TSA has something like a 96% failure rate with those tests (they catch it 4% of the time)
@@tommyallen5761 i wouldn't doubt it
At first I read it "Trash taste got impregnated" lol
Lol this kinda reminds me of when I was in a country where I needed a temporary visa for certain parts. I was asked what am I there for? whats my profession? My current career isn't widely known so I tell the check point guy I am a photo retoucher. He goes whats does that entail? and I make the mistake of phrasing it like I alter photos to make them look better. He raises an eye brow at me and explains anything I take pictures of can't be plagiarized or doctored and I am struggle to back peddle like, no no, thats not what I do, I touch up photos for marketing purposes and I am on vacation so my pictures are for fun. lol omg it was kinda rough, I studied graphic design I should have just gone with that.
I think garnt met with the KPI-hungry TSA officer that has to fucking catch at least 1 sad unlucky person
I hate American tsa. I'm american but I always fly with my mom who has a Mexico passport. I usually have to stop the tsa from messing with her but the only time I couldn't was when I encountered CATSA during COVID and I noticed that they would send anyone foreign looking for testing and holding. They were ridiculous
They should make a special where they do a lie detector test.
Yeah if garnt didnt have the disposition of a nervous wreck all of the time then he wouldn’t be busting his balls as hard
The customs agents are part of CBP not TSA lol
so many people don't know the difference between TSA and CBP.
TSA only deal with people entering the airport while in the US
CBP deal with people entering the US from international flights and through Canadian/Mexican border
The guys clearly forgot about USA's crippling addiction to being the winner compared to another location. Doesn't matter what or where. Their place is always better than the other place, no matter how shitty
Because it is?
This is the funniest story yet 😂 fucking Garnt man
sounds like the TSA alright
I think im poor for a good reason. Im in india never left it. I complained about being poor and not being able to afford to go abroad. But. I think its a good thing. Because i have severe anxiety. Im being protected from a traumatic experience. Everything happens for good
this is wild im happy I have an american passport, whenever I come through tsa in honolulu its always fast asf.
One of the reasons I don't visit third world countries. Crazy people on power trips with way too much power over you.
I didn't catch why Joey always gets flagged.
Yup, repeated that scene several times once at half speed, still no clue.
He got deported once and ever since then has had an issue.
@2:32 what did he say there? he always gets grilled because of what thing?
TSA and border patrol are not the same
How do you guys not have Global Entry at this point
They probably talked to customs.
Sounds like a bomb job.
It all quite here, may as well be the first.
Congratulations looks like you are but U got early access or something
Wtf how
How tf
Wrote quiet wrong but damn
Excuse me but wtf?
2:30 because of what?
I work airport security, due to ssi reasons I can only say it really is standard procedure to grill a number of people per day.
So for no reason they have to do it? That's ridiculous..... Basically trying to pull a show of force
My sister brought a damn pocket knife with her through the airport, a few months just after 9/11
They took the knife, but waved her through in a few minutes
Takes some real guts to watch made in abyss in line. That show has some pretty yabai moments
23 seconds, damn
It was Border Patrol, not TSA. TSA has nothing to do with getting off the International flights.
Sounds like bullying to me smh
TSA is not the same as Immigration!
I couldn't understand Joey. Why does he always get selected to be interrogated by the TSA?
He got deported once because he didn't have the right documentation.
If people with strong passports still gets it hard, imagine the hell we weak passport holders go through.
What Joey and Garnt went through entering Hawaii is what Filipinos go through exiting the Philippines.
Connor, with all due respect, LET GARNT TELL HIS STORY holy.
Connor being like , bro I have no free time at all.
Me : at least you decide how to spent the time your not free , doing stuff you want to do and that you planned for .
Yeah it’s rich when they start complaining. This wasn’t that bad but sometimes it’s like… get a grip.
The only white guy in the group telling the two asians how easy it should be to get into the US is peak America.
He gets the White pass.