Your customs experiences re-entering the US from Canada?

CA Traveler wrote:

AKsilvereagle wrote:
Then the officer asked me what is my social security number, as I stated that with all due respect, I refuse to disclose the number due to potential crime deterrent and identity theft deterrent as federal law states that I have the right to safeguard my number, and if I am to be detained and not cleared by your agency by refusing to disclose my number I will feel obligated to provide the information under duress, as I am sure you have authorization to view my database which that number is clearly on file anyway...

Great overall post but please clarify this part. It would seem that he is just trying to verify who you are and already has or can get the SS number. So it would seem that withholding the number would have limited potential crime deterrent. And also that you understand your rights and helped to establish who your are without giving the SS number.

Thanks for the post.

To look at your question from another side; most likely the Officer already knows the answer to their question.

By asking that question AND gauging / observing the response from the party being asked the question, the Officer is gaining information from the subject's non-verbal responses, gestures, facial expressions, body language clues, and sincerely level of the subject.

All this information is used by the Officer to determine what his / her actions will be with regards to continuing the discussion further or choosing to release the subject into the USA without continued delay.

To further emphasize, a CBP Officer asks the same line of questions to hundreds, perhaps thousands of travelers. After that much communication with the traveling public, a CBP Officer has a general idea of what a normal and reasonable response to a question should be.

A reasonable response may include: the answer, the lack of an answer, the delay before the answer is given, the body clues given by a person who gives a sincere and truthful answer, too much eye contact or not enough, and the involuntary clues that a body gives if deception is in progress.

After talking with the traveling public, normal reactions and answers to questions asked usually fall within a bracket of 'what' is normal. The issues for the traveler comes when the answers fall outside of 'what' the Officer has experienced as normal. Then more inspection or questioning is likely.

Like what has already been mentioned, short simple and truthful answers to the questions asked is the best policy.

Lakeside