Rick Taylor, a veteran political consultant in Los Angeles, claimed that while returning from a trip overseas, he was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, who asked him if he was from California. He was then taken away from his family and held in a holding room for almost an hour with other Latino travelers.
Taylor, 71, stated, “I was still freaking out even though I know how the system works and have pretty good connections.” If I didn’t know anyone and didn’t understand the language, I can only image how I would feel.
Taylor hypothesized that maybe the Obama-Biden T-shirt in his suitcase was the reason he was singled out for additional interrogation, but he was unable to provide an explanation.
A CBP officer asked Taylor, “Are you from California?” as he was returning from a week-long trip to Turks & Caicos with his wife and kid, who were in a different customs line. “Yeah, I live in Los Angeles,” he stated in response.
When he was a young candidate for the Los Angeles City Council in the 1990s, the man who oversaw campaigns for the city’s last Republican mayor and current Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was taken to a waiting area and isolated from his family.
There, Taylor claimed he was bullied by CBP personnel and wrongfully designated for detention, and he waited for forty-five minutes before being released.
Taylor, a consultant for the effort to reelect L.A. City Councilwoman Traci Park, stated, “I don’t know why I was singled out.” They don’t communicate with you. They don’t provide an explanation. You’re simply left feeling perplexed, furious, and anxious.
Westside Current was the first to report on the story.
California
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Zev Yaroslavsky, a former Los Angeles County Supervisor, said the episode reminded him of Sen. Alex Padilla, who was handcuffed and arrested on June 12 when he attempted to pose a question during a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles.
“After returning from an international vacation, federal authorities detained my former chief of staff and political consultant, Rick Taylor, at Miami International Airport,” he said in an email. If that could happen to me, it could happen to anyone, as Senator Alex Padilla stated a few weeks ago. This is an uncontrollable federal government operation! Where is it going to end?
According to a Florida Customs and Border Protection official, the Los Angeles Times’ question, which was received late Friday afternoon, is expected to have an answer next week.
According to an email from CBP Public Affairs Specialist Alan Regalado, Mr. Taylor is more than welcome to submit a complaint online through our website, and someone will get in touch with him to try to find out what went wrong.
Taylor, a partner at strategic communications and marketing firm Dakota Communications, stated that he was more worried about going back to the United States with his wife, a Vietnamese native and U.S. citizen.
He claimed that before going on vacation, he contacted a member of the Trump administration to ask if he could get in touch with them in case his wife was arrested.
California
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On June 20, the family took an American Airlines flight and arrived in Miami, where he intended to spend time with friends before heading back to Los Angeles on Tuesday.
According to him, Taylor, who does not have Global Entry, was arrested while his wife and daughter, who both have Global Entry cards, easily passed security.
He claimed that when the agent verified that he lived in Los Angeles, he was instructed to follow a green line and a tiny orange tag was placed on his passport. He eventually found his holding room and another agent as a result.
According to Taylor, 95% of the people in the room are Latino and speak Spanish.
He claimed that there were three white men in the room, including me. I kept asking myself, “What am I doing here?”
California
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Despite being permitted to keep his phone and sending updates to his family via text, he claimed that the lack of communication was extremely frightening.
He said that in his considerable overseas travels, he had never been stopped.
Taylor claimed that approximately forty-five minutes into his detention, an agent requested that he gather his bags and turn them in for examination.
He claimed that soon after, he was freed.
Taylor stated, “The agents have been successful in getting me to reconsider travel.” I would strongly advise people to reconsider going abroad while this administration is in power.
