I guess he exercised his rights and asking for a uniformed officer seems reasonable. In fact everyone seemed reasonable in that video.
Personally I would have told them whatever they wanted to know, but that’s just me.
That’s what Customs officers are for.
The incident referenced in the OP was persons asserting to be TSA agents. They are there to “(p)rotect the nation’s transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.” So says the TSA mission statement. They are NOT there to enforce Customs law.
Even if I was approached by someone claiming to be an undercover agent of Customs and Border Protection I would still request proof of id and such before talking with them further.
I’m not sure that really answers the question. If the border search exception is broad enough to let a customs agent do it, then it’s broad enough for anyone.
Of course, no Fourth Amendment exception would ever mean that you are compelled to answer a question posed by a police officer. Generally speaking, questions are not the subject of Fourth Amendment protections. Instead, your right to remain silent is a matter for the Fifth Amendment.
Well, for anyone with the authority of a law enforcement officer. And the TSA is crystal-clear that their officers do not have (and are not supposed to exercise) law enforcement authority:
TSA is a child agency of the Department of Homeland Security, as is “US Customs and Border Protection” - which weirdly does not end in “Agency” or “Administration” or any such bureaucratic descriptor noun. 
Anyway, the difference is that CBP officers are, as near as I can tell, genuine law enforcement officers who can use force and can bust your ass for importing contraband or entering the country illegally.
So now it seems clear that TSA agents, plainclothes or not, lack the authority to detain you or compel you to submit to a search/seizure. CBP, OTOH, clearly have that authority, at least in the customs area. But it’s still not clear whether they have that authority elsewhere on airport grounds.
I’d have said, “About $20*. Why are you asking?”
The video doesn’t show the initial contact/query. Hard to judge the interaction without that data but I think dude overreacted. Since there’s some “toneyvera” stamp on the video, it’s all a bit suspect, really.
*regardless of how much $ I had with me.
Maybe you noticed the video was uploaded by user tonyvera1902? The “stamp” is a watermark, commonly used to deter copyright infringement.
I’m watching another of Tony Vera’s videos right now in which he’s standing up to cops trying to browbeat him (interesting to watch, actually; the cops do understand the limits of their authority, and they try pretty hard to intimidate him into shutting down his camera and leaving and Mr. Vera behaves in a not-entirely-diplomatic manner, but in the end they leave him alone). Apparently he’s got a career/hobby filming celebrities at LAX, and happened to be there to catch the OP’s conflict.
Oh yes, I noticed tonyvera had a “channel” but I didn’t click. Now that you’ve summarized, I’m again (rhetorically) questioning how advantageous it would be for him to stage* these encounters to get more clicks. I’m not calling any fraud, but I could understand one using some encouragement to make his point.
*for various definitions of “stage”.
“Fuck you, and what’s your badge number, punk?” There’s an awful lot to be said for being a middle-aged white guy. :o
-OR- Eight bux, American, sir. It depends.
I am not a lawyer, but I have read about this exemption.
To answer the question of where does the border search exception apply-as defined by the Supreme Court anywhere within 200 miles of any international border. No border crossing required. Which includes the majority of the US population. There is one consolation, the exception only applies (as I understand it) to actual Customs Officers enforcing customs law. The local cops or the FBI can’t make use of this exception.
I didn’t watch all the video, but loved that guy. Cheerfully assertive without crossing over in crankhood.
This. I would add an expletive.
Or maybe “twenty bucks, same as in town” and see if he got the reference.
Regards,
Shodan
I’m not sure that their statutory or regulatory arrest authority (to the extent it is defined somewhere outside a blog post) has any bearing on whether the Fourth Amendment prevents them from stopping or searching you.
ISTM, having arrest authority is what makes you immune from certain kinds of tort claims. But it doesn’t automatically make it a Fourth Amendment violation if some government actor without such authority nevertheless searches or seizes you.
Would it be a citizen’s arrest?
Regards,
Shodan
Citizen’s arrest is only allowed if the arrestor reasonably believes the arrestee has actually committed a felony or misdemeanor. If Random Citizen just walks up to a guy and asks him how much money he’s carrying, and the guy says “piss off”, I don’t think Random Citizen can legally conduct a citizen’s arrest solely on the basis of that interaction. Also, as Richard Parker points out, cops have some legal protection if they get the facts wrong; Random Citizen does not, and may be subject to a lawsuit if he’s wrong about whether his arrestee has actually done anything.
If my suitcases are full of heroin … I’m handing the entire million dollars to the TSA agent … that’s why the drug lord gave me the cash in the first place …
FWIW, Most, if not all, the international airports I’ve been in recently, prohibit recording at the customs and security areas.
I didn’t watch the whole video. Was it confirmed that the two men were in fact plainclothes TSA officers? As opposed to criminals attempting to run some sort of scam or intimidation scheme?
The guy in the video isn’t in the customs and security areas.
A uniformed officer eventually showed up. The traveler chatted with him for a bit before leaving, and I don’t recall the officer arresting the TSA guys that started the whole confrontation.