Oct 16, 2026 · 45 min · 13 segments
Shezza joins Outlaw to break down what people in movements need to know about protecting their privacy and navigating US law enforcement interactions while traveling, with a focus on airports and…
Is there anything else you wanna add about how these law enforcement interactions while traveling might be unique from other kinds of law enforcement interactions people might imagine? Where do you see people most often get caught off guard when they're actually having these interactions?
I think something that I think about and, like, try to talk as much as I can about, um, a, a lot is, um- Where your most seasoned organizers and, like, folks in the community might really have well-metabolized, like, the lessons around what to do if the FBI or the NYPD or whatever law enforcement comes knocking at your door.
Like, w- folks tend to, at this point, like, have a strong sense of, like, for whatever reason, maybe they're from, like, immigrant communities and they're dealing with the onslaught of ICE attacks on their communities, maybe they're from organizing communities and they just really have, like, consumed a lot of good know your rights workshop material over the, over the decades and the years.
Um, they know, like, you don't have to open the door, you don't have to talk.
Maybe even if they don't know that you don't have to open the door, they know, like, it's best not to talk to a, to a law enforcement officer without an attorney.
But a lot of that kind of, um, dissipates when it comes to the border.
They don't have a s- a good sense of how that context is different and what their rights are in that context.
And people have major rights in that context, and there are really good practices that people can implement to protect the integrity of, you know, everything from their electronic devices to their information and, and, and their communities and themselves.
Um, but people just don't have that type of consciousness, that type of collective consciousness.
And then just materially in terms of, like, the, the law enforcement, uh, authority at the border, when you're engaging in international travel or travel by air, um, you're kind of signing up for a certain degree of scrutiny.
Um, and, and the, the relevant law enforcement agencies like Customs and Border Protection, Transportation Security Administration, or TSA in the context of, uh, domestic travel especially but also sort of at airports even when you're traveling, um, internationally, they have a certain amount of authority to search people who are sort of trying to travel, to ask them questions that pertain to verifying their identity and, like, verifying basic information about the trip that they're on, and, uh, sort of, uh, border regulations, so things about what you're bringing into the country, what you're taking out of the country.
Um, they have authority to question people about, um, some of these, like, basic topics.
Um, but there are limits, and there are limits to what people actually have to answer.
Of course, a lot of that depends on immigration status, um, and it's a much more complex terrain, so it's not as simple as saying, "Don't open the door, don't talk to them," period.
But there are parameters, there are guardrails that people can put up, um, and, uh, it's a context that people can come to understand and, and better equip themselves to navigate.
We're gonna focus today on specifically the situation of coming into airports when returning from international travel.
But as you've said, this kind of surveillance and oppression can happen more broadly when traveling.
Can you talk a little bit about that focus specifically and where people might go to think more about other places of interactions with law enforcement when traveling?
I mean, th- this can come up at a land border as well, and I would say that, um, the, the guidance and the best practices are the same as at an international airport.
And it can come up as well in the context of domestic travel, right? We can see people, um, it's not unheard of that people be questioned in the context of domestic travel, but it's certainly, um, less, uh, common than being questioned coming back from international travel.
Is there anything else you wanna add about how these law enforcement interactions while traveling might be unique from other kinds of law enforcement interactions people might imagine? Where do you see people most often get caught off guard when they're actually having these interactions?
I think something that I think about and, like, try to talk as much as I can about, um, a, a lot is, um- Where your most seasoned organizers and, like, folks in the community might really have well-metabolized, like, the lessons around what to do if the FBI or the NYPD or whatever law enforcement comes knocking at your door.
Like, w- folks tend to, at this point, like, have a strong sense of, like, for whatever reason, maybe they're from, like, immigrant communities and they're dealing with the onslaught of ICE attacks on their communities, maybe they're from organizing communities and they just really have, like, consumed a lot of good know your rights workshop material over the, over the decades and the years.
Um, they know, like, you don't have to open the door, you don't have to talk.
Maybe even if they don't know that you don't have to open the door, they know, like, it's best not to talk to a, to a law enforcement officer without an attorney.
But a lot of that kind of, um, dissipates when it comes to the border.
They don't have a s- a good sense of how that context is different and what their rights are in that context.
And people have major rights in that context, and there are really good practices that people can implement to protect the integrity of, you know, everything from their electronic devices to their information and, and, and their communities and themselves.
Um, but people just don't have that type of consciousness, that type of collective consciousness.
And then just materially in terms of, like, the, the law enforcement, uh, authority at the border, when you're engaging in international travel or travel by air, um, you're kind of signing up for a certain degree of scrutiny.
Um, and, and the, the relevant law enforcement agencies like Customs and Border Protection, Transportation Security Administration, or TSA in the context of, uh, domestic travel especially but also sort of at airports even when you're traveling, um, internationally, they have a certain amount of authority to search people who are sort of trying to travel, to ask them questions that pertain to verifying their identity and, like, verifying basic information about the trip that they're on, and, uh, sort of, uh, border regulations, so things about what you're bringing into the country, what you're taking out of the country.
Um, they have authority to question people about, um, some of these, like, basic topics.
Um, but there are limits, and there are limits to what people actually have to answer.
Of course, a lot of that depends on immigration status, um, and it's a much more complex terrain, so it's not as simple as saying, "Don't open the door, don't talk to them," period.
But there are parameters, there are guardrails that people can put up, um, and, uh, it's a context that people can come to understand and, and better equip themselves to navigate.
We're gonna focus today on specifically the situation of coming into airports when returning from international travel.
But as you've said, this kind of surveillance and oppression can happen more broadly when traveling.
Can you talk a little bit about that focus specifically and where people might go to think more about other places of interactions with law enforcement when traveling?
I mean, th- this can come up at a land border as well, and I would say that, um, the, the guidance and the best practices are the same as at an international airport.
And it can come up as well in the context of domestic travel, right? We can see people, um, it's not unheard of that people be questioned in the context of domestic travel, but it's certainly, um, less, uh, common than being questioned coming back from international travel.
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