Reentering the U.S. after international travel.

[yardwork]

I've been reading a lot of concern about travelers having bad experiences with customs and border patrol after international travel. I just returned from a two- week trip abroad so I thought I'd share my experience here.

I didn't really expect a problem as I'm a native-born U.S. citizen. I arrived in my home state on a direct flight from Paris yesterday. I had no problems and I didn't witness any issues involving other travelers, either. All the lines moved fairly quickly, including the one for non U.S. passport holders.

The questioning by the customs agent was definitely more extensive and slightly more aggressive than my experiences prior to Trump's election, including last fall before the election. I was asked the usual series of questions: where did you go, who did you travel with, why were you traveling. The last question was a little odd. The agent said: "Are you happy to be home, though, or not?" The end of the question was said with a slightly aggressive tone. I responded that I was very happy to be home. Right answer.

Then he asked about some duty free bags I was carrying and I said I needed to declare some items and had the receipts. He was very helpful, passed me on to other agents who guided me through the process, and I had a very smooth and friendly exchange with the duty agent.

I'm posting this for others here who might be worrying about returning from foreign travel. Nobody asked to see my phone, rifled through my stuff, or anything. I realize that this is not true for everybody, but the fact is that thousands of folks enter the U.S. every day and the process is smooth and efficient for most.

Be sure to say you're happy to be home, though.