what is the meaning of the word "detention"?

N

new_LPR

Registered Users (C)
So there is this qsn on naturalization form that " Have you ever been arrested/deported...or detained by an officer?

- if you have been sent to secondary screening, is that termed detention?

- At one time several yrs back, when I had become LPR but not yet received GC, I had gone to Mexico through land. While coming back, I showed my Indian passport with the LPR stamp on it. I was immediately sent to a room and asked to sit for several hrs. They took my photo, fingerprints and did all kinds of check . When all was clean, I asked them " Why am I even in this room in the first place"? They told me its because I was a citizen of a country of special interest - weird - I have not heard India being in any list. I was shaken by this experience. I considered this an abuse of their power...

This incident has been asked a few times later at POE when they asked me "what happened?"
I have told them I dont know why this was done - and told them the reasoning they gave above.

Now... the qsn - what is the above incident considered? Is it considered just a routine secondary screening?
Do I need to declare it????

I would REALLY like to know what is in my record. I have no way of knowing it. Who can tell me whats in my record?
- I received NO paper, NO document of any kind when this thing had happened.

If a person is "DETAINED" what happens? Is he given a paper detailing it?

I really dont know what to answer for that question.
 
In the context of th question, secondary inspection at a POE is not considered being detained.
Detain in this sense means to be held (your not free to go) by police for questioning.
 
You are not being detained Mr. TS they are just checking your status here in the US since you dont have the physical greencard. When i went back in my home country all i got is the temporary stamp in my passport and when i came back they put me in the room and they ask question but i didnt consider it as a detained because they are just checking my status in the US. For me deatained means you are not free to go or you are being held by authorities. You dont need to declare anything since you are not being detained.
 
lonely1982 said:
You are not being detained Mr. TS they are just checking your status here in the US since you dont have the physical greencard. When i went back in my home country all i got is the temporary stamp in my passport and when i came back they put me in the room and they ask question but i didnt consider it as a detained because they are just checking my status in the US. For me deatained means you are not free to go or you are being held by authorities. You dont need to declare anything since you are not being detained.
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Well, technically, you are not free to go until you have cleared secondary immigration inspection. But, in the case of questions on the N-400, this is not the detention they mean but rather detention by a law enforcement officer for questioning when you are specifically told that you are being held, detained, etc.
 
Similar Experienc at POE at Niagar Falls from Canada

Hi Guys
On my way back from Canada to US. At POE, US Immigration
The officer asked me if I was carrying any fruit/vegetable part. I told him I have some mangoes (like 12) in trunk, He send me for secondary screening
I didn't realize I had vegetables like DrumStick and Okra. They fined me $300 for not declaring those things, I had no such intention, but just missed out ofmy mind about telling vegetable part, bcos I just though he was asking if I had fruits.
I paid fine.

Now is this a Big Issue, Will this cause a problem for my naturalization
DO I need to tell this to officer at Interview ?
 
I consider this a citation. I would mention it.

GC_KA_CHAKKAR said:
They fined me $300 for not declaring those things, I had no such intention, but just missed out ofmy mind about telling vegetable part, bcos I just though he was asking if I had fruits.
I paid fine.

Now is this a Big Issue, Will this cause a problem for my naturalization
DO I need to tell this to officer at Interview ?
Click to expand...
 
Look at the positive side. At least someone is bringing fruit and vegetables into the US. We are the most obese nation because of not eating enough fruit and vegetables (Potato isn't one!!!) :)

TheRealCanadian said:
Failing to disclose vegetables is unlikely to be a sign of poor moral character. Poor taste in food perhaps..... :)
Click to expand...
 
I agree with all the people that being sent to a room and held for a long time is not considered "detained".
What exactly happens when a person is "detained"? Is there a leeter or something given to a person? OR is detention subjective???

The issue I have is this. 2 times in the past when I was entering at POE, I was asked " Sir did you ever have any problem in crossing the border"?
I said "no" - assuming the incident that had happened was a routine screening

The officer in both those cases asked "REALLY? Tell me what happened once when you were coming from Mexico". At that time the officers look kinda angry as if I was trying to hide something.


I dont want the IO to be puzzled at something.

The best way to obviate this is to find out what's in my record? IS there a way I can find it out my calling USCIS or making an appointment and asking them to go over my record there itself to tell me what to declaree?
 
new_LPR said:
At one time several yrs back, when I had become LPR but not yet received GC... While coming back, I showed my passport with the LPR stamp on it. I was immediately sent to a room and asked to sit for several hrs.
Click to expand...

I went through a similar experience when I had advance parole documents and I flew back from a business trip overseas twice in 2002. On both occasions, it was for less than an hour, and there were no additional photos taken or anything like that.

When everything was squared away, I asked them if there was something wrong with my file, and they said that this was routine secondary screening because there was something wrong with my record in one of their systems and so they had to check my identity and status using another system. I did not consider this being "detained" for the purposes of my N-400 and until I saw your thread, didn't even occur to me as being an issue. Somewhere along the line, the record was corrected because on subsequent trips returning to the U.S., I never experienced secondary screening again.

new_LPR said:
I would REALLY like to know what is in my record. I have no way of knowing it. Who can tell me whats in my record?
Click to expand...

To really know what is in your record, and you may never obtain the full and complete record, you have to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to USCIS. There are instructions for doing so on their site. But don't hold your breath, it can take a long time to get it.

new_LPR said:
If a person is "DETAINED" what happens? Is he given a paper detailing it?
Click to expand...

A Wiki Answers response to the question of what it means to be detained by a police officer provides this as part of the answer.

A Detention is a non-consensual temporary denial of liberty. A police officer must have "reasonable suspicion" that

  • you are about to commit a crime
  • you are in the act of committing a crime, or
  • you have committed a crime
in order to Detain you. The officer has the authority to temporarily deny you the ability to leave while he investigates his suspicion. You may still refuse to answer any questions, but you have no right to leave. The officer must use a reasonable amount of time to investigate his suspicions until the detention elevates to the level of "probable cause" to arrest you. If the officer fails to determine there is probable cause for an Arrest, he must release you in a reasonable amount of time. The courts have determined that what is a reasonable amount of time is relative to the criminal activity being investigated. If you attempt to leave a detention without the permission of the police officer, you may be subject to Arrest. During a Detention, absent certain circumstances, a police officer may not move you to another location or the Detention becomes a de facto Arrest.

So by this description, if you were not free to leave, you could be considered to have been "detained" by the CBP officer, who is a federal law enforcement officer.
 
Seems the OP was questioned by an border agent.
Please go to usborderpatrol.com and go under 'being detained',part3.(Not sure whether it is an official site or unofficial site but gives some idea.
But official site for CBP seems cbp.gov and not this and also not able to find about the detention there).
Questioning --under holding back, sounds like detaining?.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: I am not a lawyer and I am just a lay man without any legal knwledge.!
Read the above STRICTLY at your own risk.
 
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Well I don't know if secondary screening is Detention, and mind well any checking is gone take time like 1/2 hr to 1 hr and as a reason ur waiting doing nothing.

In my case, when the Officer at POE asked what I was carrying, I just mentioned abt fruit (mangoes) and forgot abt few vegetable like 3-4 lbs i was having. He said u need to go for secondary screening just to make sure if it was okay to take fruit in US
And they found vegetables which i forgot to tell them
I was waiting for an hr, may be the reason was they were trying to figure if it was abstained from carrying such things in US
AFter they were done, they asked me to pay fine and gave me a copy which said the fine amount i paid and reason for that.
I paid the fine and asked officer specifically, is this criminal charge or will there be issue for citizendship, he said you pay fine and ur case is closed.
I am not sure how true he was.

Is this a detention or what
Can anyone clarify ?
 
I think the dilemma about detention is not this but sometimes due to misundestanding. Say if you change your car insurance and the new insurance
company does not report to the state and a cop pull you over, then your manage to show the cop your insurance proof the cop with draw the citation.
Or if you move into a new neighborhood and take a walk in the night and the neighborhood watch group think you are trespassing and call the police. The police come and question you and you clear things up. Or since you have ti dial 9 to make outside call in the work, then at home you also dial 9 and the
number next happen to be 11 you realize that and hang up, then police come
to question. I think anyone who ever experience these should in theory answer Yes to the detenbtion question but I think practically one should not.
(though I don't know if such thing will end up in the FBI name check or not)
 
TheRealCanadian said:
By that definition, everyone who crosses the border has been detained.
Click to expand...

Does everyone who crosses a border get taken to a separate waiting area? There is a plain difference between waiting in line to cross a border and being taken out of line by a CBP officer and being processed separately.
 
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