Or the example the author used in the comment above mine ! It's real, it happens. I was detained once on a flight back from Colombia because I had a stamp from Yemen in my passport. I used to study Arabic. I was detained for no reason, held for hours, and separated from my group. Mind you I'm a white American woman, so it wasn't the stereotypical racial profiling -

The agent was so mean - asking me if I was a Muslim (I'm not but so what if I was?! , if I loved America or if I thought I'd be better off over in Yemen, asked if I was gay, if I was Christian, etc. ). He was the one who detained me, despite me being as respectful as I could be.

When I finally was allowed to see the real customs official - he presented me with a bunch of "anti american" articles I'd written while living abroad many years earlier - ie an article condemning the Iraq War and the illegitimacy of G W Bush's presidency. Like - soft, soft stuff. In the end he finally understood that I was genuinely interested in Arab culture, that I went to Yemen for an experience, to learn and to research - but still -

The point is, the author is right in his prior comment!