Around the fourth hour of my detention at the airport, I decided to ask for a lawyer. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent at the front desk refused. I told him that he can't indefinitely hold an American citizen. "It's not indefinite," he replied. "We'll let you know."
That little exchange captures the absolute power that CBP claims over travelers, including Americans, going far beyond any domestic law enforcement interrogation. You don't have a right to contact a lawyer. Neither do you have a right to know why you're being detained or what will happen next. It's not "indefinite" detention; they just won't tell you what the "definite" part is. Crossing the U.S. border is the closest most Americans will come to experiencing life under the foreign dictatorships I report on.
