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Racial targeting on recent flight from Phoenix to Sacramento

hshires
Explorer C

My son and I were racially targeted by Southwest Airlines on Flight 2943, April 6, from Phoenix to Sacramento. Not sure if Southwest is doing this on their own or because border patrol or some other branch of govt. is making them do it.  I submitted a complaint on the website and received a case number but nothing more.  Here is the submitted complaint:

 

My son--James Shires, adopted 2006 from Guatemala, a full US citizen with US passport--and I were racially targeted by Southwest Airlines staff during the return leg on our roundtrip flight from Sacramento to Phoenix. About halfway through the flight, a flight attendant approached us while we were seated and said to us, "we are doing a survey, what is your last name." I told him Shires and he asked me to spell it. He asked my son the same question and was told "Shires" and he then turned to the woman sitting next to us and confirmed her last name which he clearly already knew. In retrospect this was all a lie as Southwest has full knowledge of the name of every passenger on every flight. I thought it was all very odd but I went back to what I was reading. When the flight landed we exited the plane to find a number of sheriff dept officers waiting in the immediate dock area. We then walked up the ramp and out into the gate area of the terminal. As we attempted to leave the gate, we were stopped by an officer and told something vague about how Southwest was concerned about its passengers and were then asked to show our ID's to confirm our identities. We did that and were allowed to leave. Southwest had full knowledge of our identities -- we have flown Southwest for many years and have frequent flyer numbers -- but because our son is Guatemalan ancestry we were explicitly targeted. This is an outrageous violation of our civil liberties and I demand an explanation.

8 REPLIES 8

Re: Racial targeting on recent flight from Phoenix to Sacramento

dfwskier
Aviator A

@hshires

 

My son--James Shires, adopted 2006 from Guatemala, a full US citizen with US passport--and I were racially targeted by Southwest Airlines staff during the return leg on our roundtrip flight from Sacramento to Phoenix. About halfway through the flight, a flight attendant approached us while we were seated and said to us, "we are doing a survey, what is your last name." I told him Shires and he asked me to spell it. He asked my son the same question and was told "Shires" and he then turned to the woman sitting next to us and confirmed her last name which he clearly already knew. In retrospect this was all a lie as Southwest has full knowledge of the name of every passenger on every flight.

Nonsense!

 

SW is assisting the government in combating the problem of human trafficking. I'd bet you and your son are different  ethnicities and appeared suspicious

 

https://community.southwest.com/t5/Blog/Southwest-Airlines-Expands-Fight-Against-Human-Trafficking/b...

 

As far as your contention that Southwest knows the name pf every passenger on every flight, that is true. But since passengers can sit in any open seat, perhaps you could explain how SW knows the name of the person in seat 4A or 12D, or 20E, or any other seat for that matter.

 

Re: Racial targeting on recent flight from Phoenix to Sacramento

hshires
Explorer C

> perhaps you could explain how SW knows the name of the person in seat 4A or 12D, or 20E, or any other seat for that matter.

 

They don't. I never said they did.  They absolutely knew the name of the woman sitting next to us and for that to happen the person was already in cahoots with SW Airlines staff.  For the flight attendant to tell us that "We are doing a survey, what is your last name" was a giant lie.  As for "appeared suspicious",  oh yes sitting in our seats for the entire seat reading and looking out the window was certainly suspicious.   

Re: Racial targeting on recent flight from Phoenix to Sacramento

floridaguy
Aviator C

I would agree that the behavior is suspicious.  However, asking for ID upon leaving the plane is something that violates our constitutional rights.  If you were placed under arrest, then asking for ID is okay.  However, we do not live in a society of "papers please" so my guess is that this is some type of border control action.

 

There are Youtube videos of people going through border checkpoints in the US (El Paso TX is one) where you are traveling along I-10 and you are asked if you are a US Citizen.  Under our rights, you do not have to answer, but you are probably going to be delayed.

 

My suggestion is to continue to query Southwest on what this was all about.  It certainly doesn't sound like a survey to me and I do wonder how they know the person sitting beside you since they have open seating.

Re: Racial targeting on recent flight from Phoenix to Sacramento

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

@floridaguy wrote:

I would agree that the behavior is suspicious.  However, asking for ID upon leaving the plane is something that violates our constitutional rights.  


There is nothing illegal about asking for identification. In California you do not have to provide ID if asked, but to say the act of being asked for ID violates your rights is 100% incorrect.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Racial targeting on recent flight from Phoenix to Sacramento

floridaguy
Aviator C

Many will disagree.  However, you have your choice in how to respond to those questions.

 

To stop and ask for ID without probable cause does violate our rights as US citizens.

 

https://www.flexyourrights.org/faqs/when-can-police-ask-for-id/#:~:text=In%20a%20free%20society%2C%2....

Re: Racial targeting on recent flight from Phoenix to Sacramento

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

@floridaguy it's always funny when you provide some site that actually proves you are wrong.  There is a big difference between asking for ID and being obligated to show ID.  As stated in the link you provided, when asked to provide ID, an individual can ask if they are being detained, and if not, leave, all without showing ID.  Just the act of being asked for ID violates no rights.  How you and the asking party act afterwards is what may or may not be legal.

 

Just like I can ask you to stop posting stuff you know nothing about, you (unfortunately) have the right to ignore me.

 

Connecting this to the original post, the individual was asked for ID.  They could have asked if they were being detained, and if not, left the scene without providing ID.  The officer asking them for ID was completely legal and the individual walking away if they were not being detained would also be legal.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Racial targeting on recent flight from Phoenix to Sacramento

floridaguy
Aviator C

While I will agree that "asking" may be legal, requiring it is not.  However, asking for ID by law enforcement upon deplaning will intimidate most people.  I believe that the entire post was to express frustration over how they were approached and what happened afterwards.

 

You are correct that when asking for ID you can ask if you are being detained or under arrest.  If not, you walk away.  You are under no obligation.  

 

Quoting directly from the article that I cited:

 

But how can you tell if an officer asking you to identify yourself has reasonable suspicion? Remember, police need reasonable suspicion to detain you. So one way to tell if they have reasonable suspicion is to determine if you’re free to go. You can do this by saying “Excuse me officer. Are you detaining me, or am I free to go?” If the officer says you’re free to go, leave immediately and don’t answer any more questions.

Re: Racial targeting on recent flight from Phoenix to Sacramento

cheyenneallgood
Employee
Employee

Hey there. It's come to my attention that this conversation has become unproductive and I'll be closing the thread for commenting. 

 

@hshires I appreciate you sharing your experience via the Community, but please keep in mind this is a Customer-to-Customer forum. If you'd like to connect with us, please doing so by checking out the "Contact Us" options. 

 

As a reminder, all users are expected to abide by our Community User Guidelines which states, "We want you, and all Members, to feel comfortable sharing thoughts and ideas." In addition, we ask that everyone follow the Golden Rule and treat other Community Members the way you would like to be treated, regardless of differing opinions. 

 

Thanks! 

Cheyenne