quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I understand this was just an innocent mistake. And, yeah, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are frequently raging assholes. But... if she's been flying enough to have GES, then she damn sure should have known better than to fail to declare fruit at Customs. Hell, I haven't flown internationally for over 25 years and and even I know better than to pull a stunt like that.

I could see anyone making an honest mistake. The form itself says "I am bringing fruit, vegetables, plants etc. yes or no" She didn't buy the fruit in France, it was given to her on the plane. Chances are the apple originated in the U.S. to begin with. Most customs agents would have simply tossed it in the special garbage can and gave an easy verbal warning. Hell, it was still in a sealed plastic bag and given to her on the plane, so it's an apple that is already approved to be in the U.S. .

Pure conjecture on your part that the apple originated in the United States.

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Originally posted by FenderBender:
God bless the CBP keeping us safe from French apples.

Never been bitten and only dropped once.

Came back from France once with a bouquet of Mimosa flowers that my Godmother wanted to give to my mother, Well going thru customs they took them and I asked why?(I was 13-14 at the time) and the agent looked thru the flowers and lo and behold there was a cocoon in it. Needless to say they took them and I never took anything like that thru customs again... LOL back at JFK in the old days they had an International Arrival building where you could watch the people coming thru and the agents would be pulling all types of things out of the bags...

Some of you are giving the reporting a little to much credit.

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"He had asked me if my trip to France was expensive and I said, 'yeah.' I didn’t really get why he was asking that question, and then he said 'It’s about to get a lot more expensive after I charge you $500,'" said Tadlock to Fox 31.

If we are to believe this was her second fine how did the agent know this when he found the fruit. I highly doubt he had that information in front of him.

If this was her second time being caught then shame on her. If it was her first time I really think the customs agent could have dealt with this a little different.

I think it gets confusing when, on the flight, a flight crew member hands out an apple. She didn't bring it onto the plane from a foreign country.

This could just be a simple mistake and a $500 fine is a little excessive.

How much fruit comes across our southern border every day.

Mrs DF almost made us miss our flight out of Nassau, Bahamas because she was 'smuggling' seeds in her bag. Smuggling was their term for it. She had no clue it was illegal to take seeds home from some plant she thought was pretty. Imagine if we could be free...

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Originally posted by comet24:
If we are to believe this was her second fine how did the agent know this when he found the fruit. I highly doubt he had that information in front of him.

One possibility, her first offense may be the reason the system flagged her for the random search.

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Originally posted by tatortodd:
]The apple is symbolic of the larger problem. The woman has Global Entry because she is a frequent traveler who supposedly knows the rules and can go in the short, fast line because she doesn't need all of the inspection like the unwashed masses that can't follow the simplest guideline. In Houston, the GE can be 30 min whereas the regular line is 2 hours so with privilege comes responsibility..

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Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

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Originally posted by StayFrosty:
not writing $500 citations to everyday Americans who make honest mistakes.

She had GES, it wasn't an honest mistake...it was a sense of entitlement

For goodness sakes. How can you possibly make that jump? Plenty of people have global entry because their credit card pays for it and it comes with pre-check. Even though she has global entry this could have been her first time in years (or ever) traveling internationally.

The range of responses here to this woman's behavior reveals how differently people feel about breaking rules. Some of us are clearly more authoritarian than others. What she an entitled individual, a scatterbrain, a person who liked to make trouble? We will never know. We seldom get the full story. It is worse now with social media, as people quickly move onto the next story.

Fight it in court? Add that expense to the taxpayers onto her fine after she is found guilty.

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Originally posted by mr kablammo:
Fight it in court? Add that expense to the taxpayers onto her fine after she is found guilty.

While I’m not against the fact she was fined, part of our justice system is allowing people to fight their charges. I don’t want this to be a country that doesn’t offer due process and I’m a little surprised to find someone here that would. I think it’s silly for her to fight it in court, but she has every right to do so.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig Sauer Kraut:

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Originally posted by tatortodd:
]The apple is symbolic of the larger problem. The woman has Global Entry because she is a frequent traveler who supposedly knows the rules and can go in the short, fast line because she doesn't need all of the inspection like the unwashed masses that can't follow the simplest guideline. In Houston, the GE can be 30 min whereas the regular line is 2 hours so with privilege comes responsibility..

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

quote:

Originally posted by StayFrosty:
not writing $500 citations to everyday Americans who make honest mistakes.

She had GES, it wasn't an honest mistake...it was a sense of entitlement

For goodness sakes. How can you possibly make that jump? Plenty of people have global entry because their credit card pays for it and it comes with pre-check. Even though she has global entry this could have been her first time in years (or ever) traveling internationally.

Regardless of whether the applicant or someone else (e.g. credit card company) foots the bill for GE, the applicant still has to read the rules and sign that they understand them.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by Sig Sauer Kraut:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
]The apple is symbolic of the larger problem. The woman has Global Entry because she is a frequent traveler who supposedly knows the rules and can go in the short, fast line because she doesn't need all of the inspection like the unwashed masses that can't follow the simplest guideline. In Houston, the GE can be 30 min whereas the regular line is 2 hours so with privilege comes responsibility..

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

quote:

Originally posted by StayFrosty:
not writing $500 citations to everyday Americans who make honest mistakes.

She had GES, it wasn't an honest mistake...it was a sense of entitlement

For goodness sakes. How can you possibly make that jump? Plenty of people have global entry because their credit card pays for it and it comes with pre-check. Even though she has global entry this could have been her first time in years (or ever) traveling internationally.

Regardless of whether the applicant or someone else (e.g. credit card company) foots the bill for GE, the applicant still has to read the rules and sign that they understand them.

I didn’t (and don’t) dispute that. I just think the jump to she is a frequent international traveler isn’t necessarily supported.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig Sauer Kraut:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by Sig Sauer Kraut:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
]The apple is symbolic of the larger problem. The woman has Global Entry because she is a frequent traveler who supposedly knows the rules and can go in the short, fast line because she doesn't need all of the inspection like the unwashed masses that can't follow the simplest guideline. In Houston, the GE can be 30 min whereas the regular line is 2 hours so with privilege comes responsibility..

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

quote:

Originally posted by StayFrosty:
not writing $500 citations to everyday Americans who make honest mistakes.

She had GES, it wasn't an honest mistake...it was a sense of entitlement

For goodness sakes. How can you possibly make that jump? Plenty of people have global entry because their credit card pays for it and it comes with pre-check. Even though she has global entry this could have been her first time in years (or ever) traveling internationally.

Regardless of whether the applicant or someone else (e.g. credit card company) foots the bill for GE, the applicant still has to read the rules and sign that they understand them.

I didn’t (and don’t) dispute that. I just think the jump to she is a frequent international traveler isn’t necessarily supported.

You could also read the ENTIRE thread and see the posts that it was a $500 fine indicating 2nd time offender.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by Sig Sauer Kraut:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by Sig Sauer Kraut:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
]The apple is symbolic of the larger problem. The woman has Global Entry because she is a frequent traveler who supposedly knows the rules and can go in the short, fast line because she doesn't need all of the inspection like the unwashed masses that can't follow the simplest guideline. In Houston, the GE can be 30 min whereas the regular line is 2 hours so with privilege comes responsibility..

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

quote:

Originally posted by StayFrosty:
not writing $500 citations to everyday Americans who make honest mistakes.

She had GES, it wasn't an honest mistake...it was a sense of entitlement

For goodness sakes. How can you possibly make that jump? Plenty of people have global entry because their credit card pays for it and it comes with pre-check. Even though she has global entry this could have been her first time in years (or ever) traveling internationally.

Regardless of whether the applicant or someone else (e.g. credit card company) foots the bill for GE, the applicant still has to read the rules and sign that they understand them.

I didn’t (and don’t) dispute that. I just think the jump to she is a frequent international traveler isn’t necessarily supported.

You could also read the ENTIRE thread and see the posts that it was a $500 fine indicating 2nd time offender.

I did and it’s not unheard of for an officer to get a fine incorrect on a citation. Happens all the time.

quote:

Originally posted by kimber1911:

Also note the fine $500.

This tells us it is her second offense.
First offense = $300
Second offense = $500

A CBP spokesperson said in a comment to Fox News that "all agricultural items must be declared."
"Prohibited items that are not declared by a passenger are confiscated and disposed of by CBP. More importantly, civil penalties may be assessed for failure to declare prohibited agricultural products and may range up to 1,000 dollars per first-time offense for non commercial quantities. If the items are determined to be for commercial use, violations will be assessed at a much higher rate," the statement read.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

You could also read the ENTIRE thread and see the posts that it was a $500 fine indicating 2nd time offender.

Did you read all 49 pages and are certain she was fined correctly? Because there's conflicting information about whether the fine is $300 or up to $1000 for first time offenders.

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

She had GES, it wasn't an honest mistake...it was a sense of entitlement

Please let us know the secret to your omniscience.


My god, what's bigger than a log?

If she was a prior violator, I flat guarantee that a) the CBPO at primary inspection, b) the CBPO or Ag Specialist at Customs/Ag, and c) the CBPO at the "choke point"-- just in case b) was asleep at the wheel-- knew she was inbound before the plane even landed. There is nothing random about this, nor does there need to be.

The $500 is a civil penalty, not a criminal fine. There's an appeal process, but if she a) knew it was in her luggage and b) failed to declare it, she'll be paying. It's unusual for a casual violator to be hit with a first penalty. A second assessment means she just doesn't get it. I'm confident that the CBPOs at that port of entry were also looking for dangerous criminal aliens, prior deports, smugglers of very bad stuff, pedophiles, spies, and terrorists in addition to ag violators. That day, they happened to catch an ag violator.

I am not painting her as the moral equivalent of a drug smuggler or a criminal alien, but one foreign pest/disease introduced to the heartland can do more damage than a hundred dope smugglers. $500 is a pretty light reminder to do it the right way if she is in fact a "repeater."

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
it was still in a sealed plastic bag and given to her on the plane, so it's an apple that is already approved to be in the U.S.

Why do you say "sealed" plastic bag? That word ("sealed") does not appear anywhere in the linked article.

quote:

Originally posted by kimber1911:
Also note the fine $500.

This tells us it is her second offense.
First offense = $300
Second offense = $500

I had little sympathy for her before, for the reason stated. Now I have even less. None, in fact. People like her are why we have three-hour lines in Customs.

I bet a lot of you were asshole hall montitors growing up. I’m surprised I haven’t heard “she likes hoarding apples she must be a Hillary voter” yet. Cut the lady some slack. The customs guy seems like a total dickbag. When I was 9 I snuck a tortoise into the country from Chile in a fanny pack. Fed him lettuce in the bathroom. I turned out alright