Americans finding mail opened by U.S. Customs
Inspections included a Hawaii woman’s envelope from Britain
By Matt Sedensky
Associated Press
LAWRENCE, Kan. » As an Army officer working in Manila during World War II, Grant Goodman sliced open soldiers' mail, looking for passages that could tip an enemy off to troop positions.
He never thought the tables would turn -- much less in modern-day America.
But when a longtime friend of the 81-year-old retired history professor sent a letter from the Philippines last month, it did not arrive untouched to the retirement complex he lives at here. The red-and-blue-bordered air mail envelope was cut open and resealed with the broad green tape of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
"This is totally shocking," he said. "This is an unexpected invasion of privacy."
Maybe so, but federal officials say it is nothing new.
Long-standing policy makes foreign mail destined for the United States subject to examination, Customs and Border Patrol spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said. The screening is meant to enforce duties on imported goods and weed out illegal food, plants and drugs, among other things.
"Our job is to keep bad things from coming into the country," Trevino said.
That sometimes means opening mail that is completely harmless.
Jenifer Winter, a 36-year-old communications professor at the University of Hawaii, learned that lesson, too. She could not wait to receive the Anna Kournikova anti-bounce bra she ordered from Britain, but it did not arrive for weeks after the company said it would.
When it did, the white plastic envelope carrying it was cut open. It was closed up with that familiar green tape.
"I felt kind of violated," Winter said. "The fact that somebody intercepted the bra and kept it for weeks -- it was both threatening and funny at the same time."
Winter said the soft envelope made it easy to determine what its contents were.
"I couldn't imagine what kind of terrorist device it could have concealed," the Honolulu resident said. "I couldn't help but wonder if they just wanted to see the bra."
Caroline Fredrickson, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's legislative office in Washington, wondered whether foreign mail was being intercepted more than the past and if it was being done for the right reasons.
News of the screened foreign mail comes as some question the government's secret eavesdropping program and other anti-terrorism measures that civil libertarians say infringe on privacy.
"We're concerned because it's part of a general trend in this administration," Fredrickson said. "Far as we know, it's possible that they are like many other Americans: being spied on."
Trevino said the screening was simply in place to protect the American public and that respect for privacy is a great concern.
"We do not specifically read correspondence if it's just a letter," Trevino said. "The only way we could read correspondence is if we have a search warrant or have written authorization from the sender or the addressee."