OT Dad and Daughter Hauled Off Plane Because Passenger Assumed He Was Sex Trafficking Her

[SlyPokerDog]

A dad returning from Mexico with his 3-year-old daughter was briefly detained on suspicion that he was engaged in sex trafficking. (And not to pile on, but it was a United flight.) Despite papa having her passport, his passport, and a notarized letter from the mom saying that she gave them her permission to travel, the authorities felt compelled to act upon a "tip"—a tip that was nothing more than a passenger's hysteria-fueled hunch that 3-year-olds are being trafficked right and left in the USA.

After our 3-year-old snoozed on her father's lap for most of the flight, the plane landed. He texted me to tell me they had arrived. When the plane taxied to the gate, however, a number of officers from the Port Authority and Customs and Border Patrol boarded the plane, approached my husband and instructed him to grab his carry-ons and follow them. He and our daughter were escorted out of the plane before anyone else could get off.

Once out of the plane, four officers from Port Authority and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) surrounded them. They fired so many questions at him that he didn't know who was asking what. He had no idea what was going on. Our daughter started to cry in all of the commotion.

After asking about where our daughter was born, who was there, and where her birth certificate had been issued, they asked for my phone number; that was when they called me, asking me the same questions in order to verify the story. At that point they seemed satisfied that my husband was not, in fact, trafficking our daughter. They then told me that this accusation was not coming from the CBP, who were trained to identify these kind of situations, but from a passenger on the plane. They were following protocol to act on reported suspicions such as this.
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http://reason.com/blog/2017/04/19/dad-and-daughter-hauled-off-plane-becaus

 

[SlyPokerDog]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...king-our-daughter_us_58f4adade4b01566972250cf

 

[Hobbesarable]

The “incident”: another passenger on the plane, who was obviously inebriated, accused my husband of child trafficking. She claimed that my fair-skinned daughter didn’t look like her Mexican father, and stoked suspicion that he had kidnapped her. This passenger had no basis for this claim, nor any evidence to back it up.

That's ridiculous. How much alcohol did she drink on the plane?

 

[Minstrel]

The "see something, say something" thing needs to end as a failed experiment. People in general are too stupid to pay attention to as reporters of suspicious behavior.

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

The "see something, say something" thing needs to end as a failed experiment. People in general are too stupid to pay attention to as reporters of suspicious behavior.

We have a brand new Dodge dually diesel at work that is getting a new exhaust. The muffler looks like a satellite or some alien probe.

If you took it, strapped a flare to it and taped some roofing nails to it and left it somewhere people would go nuts.

It looks suspicious by itself if you didn't know what it was.

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

 

[BlazerWookee]

Better safe than sorry

 

[ripcityboy]

People try to "prevent tragedies" but people are also "fucking idiots."

 

[Natebishop3]

Better safe than sorry

No. There's this ridiculous idea that men can't take care of children, and that any man with a child is suspicious.

No it's not "better safe than sorry."

Men shouldn't feel weird about taking their kids out in public without the mother. This is getting way the fuck out of hand. There's nothing suspicious or worthy of note to see a man with a 3 year old child. That alone is not enough reason to report them to the authorities.

 

[MarAzul]

No. There's this ridiculous idea that men can't take care of children, and that any man with a child is suspicious.

No it's not "better safe than sorry."

Men shouldn't feel weird about taking their kids out in public without the mother. This is getting way the fuck out of hand. There's nothing suspicious or worthy of note to see a man with a 3 year old child. That alone is not enough reason to report them to the authorities.

Perhaps there is room for most people to be right here, even if they are wrong.

 

[MARIS61]

The "see something, say something" thing needs to end as a failed experiment. People in general are too stupid to pay attention to as reporters of suspicious behavior.

Nonsense.

Most convictions start with someone seeing and reporting.

 

[stampedehero]

People try to "prevent tragedies" but people are also "fucking idiots."

Yeah Real Jackasses!

 

[Mediocre Man]

Don't know if he can, but I'd sue the shit out of someone. For the embarrassment to me and trauma to my child

 

[riverman]

Nonsense.

Most convictions start with someone seeing and reporting.

I wonder if it were you with a 3 year old child of your own if you'd think it was a good thing.....I think it's a gross invasion of privacy and gossip fueled...no passenger on that plane has the right to assume criminal behavior without evidence.....evidence creates convictions...not public gossip

 

[Hobbesarable]

I wonder if it were you with a 3 year old child of your own if you'd think it was a good thing.....I think it's a gross invasion of privacy and gossip fueled...no passenger on that plane has the right to assume criminal behavior without evidence.....evidence creates convictions...not public gossip

Maris would be so pissed off he'd grab hold of his concealed gun and tell them to back the fuck off!

 

[riverman]

In the 70s when my oldest daughter was about 5 years old I was driving off to get firewood with my truck and she ran behind me and tried to jump in the back of the moving truck....slipped and broke her arm...I rushed her to the hospital and was taken to a room and aggressively grilled as if I had broken her arm...I've never been so angry in my life.....my daughter told them what happened but since I was going to get firewood, I was in work clothes and smelled like a chain saw...they assumed I was some abusive guy on a glance without a kind word from the start....fuck those people!

 

[SlyPokerDog]

They guy was on an international flight and still had to clear customs with his daughter. I would imagine that someone who was really trafficking a kid would avoid that.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

In the 70s when my oldest daughter was about 5 years old I was driving off to get firewood with my truck and she ran behind me and tried to jump in the back of the moving truck....slipped and broke her arm...I rushed her to the hospital and was taken to a room and aggressively grilled as if I had broken her arm...I've never been so angry in my life.....my daughter told them what happened but since I was going to get firewood, I was in work clothes and smelled like a chain saw...they assumed I was some abusive guy on a glance without a kind word from the start....fuck those people!

Was it a spiral fracture? Kids with spiral fractures always get looked at for possible abuse. Doesn't matter how the parent looks.

 

[MarAzul]

I was in work clothes and smelled like a chain saw...they assumed I was some abusive guy on a glance without a kind word from the start....fuck those people!

River my friend, you are to opposite of me when it comes to assuming. I use a chain saw often but I don't assume it degrades me in the eyes of anyone let alone indicate I am an abusive guy.
I had to take one of my kids to the emergence room one under similar circumstance, also got the third degree. I assume they were looking to see if I was an abusive guy, my kid was hurt by causes unknown to them. I thought they were performing a good function then and now. Fuck those people?

 

[riverman]

Was it a spiral fracture? Kids with spiral fractures always get looked at for possible abuse. Doesn't matter how the parent looks.

no..just a minor break...crack really....I understand why they ask questions but they don't need to do it with anger or aggression..I can talk to anyone who's civil...these guys weren't civil.

 

[riverman]

River my friend, you are to opposite of me when it comes to assuming. I use a chain saw often but I don't assume it degrades me in the eyes of anyone let alone indicate I am an abusive guy.
I had to take one of my kids to the emergence room one under similar circumstance, also got the third degree. I assume they were looking to see if I was an abusive guy, my kid was hurt by causes unknown to them. I thought they were performing a good function then and now. Fuck those people?

yeah...I'm saying it about two particular people who seemed to convict me before asking my name or listening to circumstance...there's a way to question a parent that is less angry than my case seemed to be

 

[MarAzul]

spiral fractures

Imagine that!
I had an arm spiraled once, but I got it arm wrestling. Never never arm wrestling a short fella powerfully built. The mechanical advantage is not in your favor.

 

[MarAzul]

yeah...I'm saying it about two particular people who seemed to convict me before asking my name or listening to circumstance...there's a way to question a parent that is less angry than my case seemed to be

Yeah, but then, if I were screwing around on my front porch, fumbling with the key and a cop came to check what I was up to, I would be impressed. I would probably thank the cop for his good work.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Yes, everyone should be interrogated by the police when they are entering their own home.

 

[MarAzul]

Naw! Ideally it would be the guy you did not invite. If you appear to fit the descriptions, that's good too.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Yes, everyone should be interrogated by the police when they are entering their own home.