What does a country owe you when its customs agents give you the once-over at the border, even though you’re completely innocent of any criminal activity? Should it refund your vacation?
That’s the question Regina Hutchings, a social worker from Media, Pa., wants Bermudan officials to answer. Last month, Hutchings decided to take a last-minute trip to the island. The experience quickly turned into a classic vacation from hell.
When I got to customs, they checked my bag and did a hand swab test. They claimed this machine indicated I had one bar to state that I was exposed to cocaine. As a social worker and instructor, I have never used illegal substances in my entire life.
From out of nowhere, the dog came and I screamed. The dog sniffed at my suitcase and barked once returning to one of the officers. One of the women officers went to speak with a male customs officer for about ten minutes. She returned and stated, I had to go through a body search due to one bar showing up on the machine.
Two women officer took me to a room, asked personal questions down to my social security number and I had to remove my clothing.
You know what’s next. Yes, the cavity search. I’ll spare you the details.
Needless to say, the experience left Hutchings traumatized.
I was frightened and scared since I was alone in an unfamiliar country. This was my first time as a tourist in Bermuda and using my passport.
They found no drugs and offered no apology. I asked them why I was singled out and they refused to answer my questions.
Hutchings wrote to the Bermudan prime minister, asking for an apology and a refund of the $1,500 for the vacation she was unable to enjoy as the result of her dehumanizing treatment at the hands of customs inspectors.
A short while later, she received the following response from W. Fostine-DeSilva, collector of customs.
While I understand how upsetting your interaction with our staff was and that the process is intrusive in nature it is important that you understand that the processes in place are congruent with internally accepted “best practice” for dealing with the examination of international travelers.
As to her request for a refund:
I regret that I am not in a position to commit to any kind of payment for damages as you suggest. It is my view that the search was lawful, approved by the manager on duty and based on information that was communicated to you.
As far as responses from government officials go, this one is better than average. If this had happened to Hutchings in the states, she would still be waiting for an answer.
There is no precedent for a country refunding someone for their vacation — at least none that I’m aware of. But Bermuda could have apologized to her in writing. Those don’t cost it anything.
For a country that is so dependent on tourism, a simple “we’re sorry” would have gone a long way to making Hutchings feel better about what was clearly a difficult and in the end, unnecessary, experience.
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I think many here are confusing airport security and customs agents. The two are completely unrelated. Also, customer satisfaction for a trip has nothing to do with law enforcement (which is what customs agents do). The agents did their job, period. They had 2 positives and needed to investigate further. Granted, the full search is no fun for anyone, but being American doesn’t exempt you just because. No apology was required and certainly no refund. At least she received a reply to her query by the customs collector, which is more than I could say for any customs agency in the US of A would have offered. I am constantly baffled at the sense of entitlement and arrogance displayed by traveling Americans to other countries.
I’d really like to see Regina actually respond to people like Jay Drew who had serious empathy and similar experiences, and yet felt that these people were just doing their jobs, and she wasn’t entitled to any kind of refund.
Up until this point, I haven’t seen her even acknowledge these people, other than to just say that every one of her critics just doesn’t get it. These people *do*. And they’re still telling her that she needs to stop feeling so victimized. She hasn’t acknowledged any points of view that the dogs were highly trained, that the detectors could have picked up trace elements, and that she redflagged on several behaviors. Regina, to me, this really seems as if you’re unwilling to listen to, or acknowledge, that your point of view might be wrong. I am truly sorry for your experience; it’s not one that any innocent person should have to endure. Still, as long as the guards were professional in how they treated you (you weren’t abused by these people, right? And your search was conducted professionally, by a woman? You just had to go through the searches?) I really think you are heavily overreacting, especially when you refuse to respond to anyone’s very valid, very proven points with anything other than “you don’t know what it’s like to be me!” Even when they do, you seem to not want to respond to them…
I’ve also been pulled over for random searches. My boyfriend is a photographer and he gets singled out -every time- in the lines because of his equipment, and it’s pretty intrusive (though not as intrusive as a cavity search, I’ll grant you!). It doesn’t stop me from traveling, and won’t, and shouldn’t stop anybody. It’s quite true that you can vote with your feet and not go somewhere after a bad experience, and that’s your right. And maybe it’s true that all customs agents everywhere should get a little sensitivity training… but seriously, this sort of stuff is everywhere and won’t end anytime soon. Innocent people get caught up in things they shouldn’t. It’s not right… but it happens.
Regina, my husband experienced the exact same thing when we flew into Bermuda 2 years ago. The only difference being he was searched for evidence of marijuana instead of cocaine. Funny enough there was another couple on the same flight coming from ATL and the wife was singled out as well. We are expats and frequent travelers so I stood to the side and laughed at my husband during his dilemma. In the end we pulled out our diplomatic credential’s and explained we were posted in Haiti and there is no telling what our luggage has been exposed to in the baggage area in Port-Au-Prince. They did apologize and stated they were just doing their job and that Bermuda has a zero tolerance policy for drugs.
Look at it from their perspective as well, you are a traveler subject to the laws of their country and they do not want drugs entering their country. Bermuda takes a very proactive approach to stop drugs from entering their borders. They have the right to scrutinize, search, detain and refuse entry to anyone they suspect of attempting to break their laws. It is always a guessing game when you travel outside the US. It seems that this point needs to be stressed with you, once outside the US you are not protected by US law/morals/ethics etc., the US embassies are not there to bail you out and you ARE subject to law of the country you visit.
I’m sorry your trip was ruined and I feel for you but they do not owe you an official apology or a refund. Just be gald it wasn’t the middle east or asia, you would still be in jail.
Regina, sorry I didn’t mean to imply you went to jail. I meant that in a lot of countries their laws allow them to detain you because of suspicion and that in regions like the middle east or asia they have been known to arrest first and ask questions later.
I understand it is uncomfortable, but that happens worldwide, and really the laws within the USA are more perturbing. It is funny you complain about the customs in my nation, when actually your nation put me in a maxium security prison when I arrived foir 24 hrs once. Boy was that not fun.
Per the patriot act, they are allowed, and we have no rights to lawyers etc, and can be held without charge or reason. The USA has been locking people up like fiends for no reason since 9/11, take some time and look into it. Literally thousands of people held for lengthy times with no charges.
The USA still holds people without charge, and feel free to research it, Bermuda does not. Gitmo anyone?
It was unfortunate what happened, but to expect a refund is totally offbase. Funny thing being, my island often does refund tourists – say if they get in a bas accident or something, the gov does just for goodwill, they are good like that.
Unfortuntely, the drug trade in my island comes through the airport – by foriegners mostly. You think you got singled out lol, try being local, they are very strict on us. We have a zero tolerance policy, guns are illegal etc.
Also, sorry, but you may also be suffering blowback from the “ugly American” vibes that happen here. It is not unheard of for American tourists to commit crimes, and expect to be let off as “they are Americans”, there have literally been cases where people think they are not subject to obeying the law as they are Americans? Maybe a few times a year this occurs here, sadly.
Also, as an FYI per your post, we are not that heavily dependent on vacation tourists btw, our main source of income is actually offshore banking and business, and we do very very well at it, normally ranking as the highest average incomes in the world, and of course we have no income tax.
I do apologize for it in any case, my island is to me my paradise. In many ways it is like stepping back in time, and like many places our crime is rising so my government is doing what they can do curb this, so we can remain our peaceful selves.
Unfortunetly people such as yourselves get caught in this crossfire.
With love from Bermuda.
I was selected for SSSS (extra screening) on a flight from Los Angeles to Seattle this July. Although I wasn’t strip searched, my bags and the clothes I was wearing were swabbed and I was given a very thorough pat-down. When it was all over, I’m sure that I thanked the customs agent and apologized for the inconvenience. She and/or the USA didn’t owe me an apology. I’m not going to write the entire United States off as a future travel destination (although, in all honesty, it’s usually just a transfer point for me as part of a further international flight). Maybe someone else with drugs or a weapon did get past while they were screening me. However, until “must be psychic” and “must have x-ray vision” are prerequisites for working as a gate or customs agent they can only make educated guesses as to who requires additional screening.
I think there are some odd inaccuracies in this story. For example, Regina mentions working three jobs to save for a holiday, and then talks about having “a” stressful job. As well, I think it’s odd that someone would “work three jobs” to “pay for a vacation” and then make the decision about the destination two days before departure, and then only stay for two days.
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