Especially when they are in their booths examining your passports? I can’t think of anyone else who does that at a major Airport, maybe at remote land frontiers. The last time I entered, the guy did not ask a question, just gestured to the machines, typed, grunted and admitted me (I doubt I’ll get admitted as easy now :D).
I mean Passport control world over is filled with tired, smelly and cranky people who just want to GTF out. WHile armed presence is probably a good idea in these troubled times, won’t it be better to have dedicated personnel and not give a Pistol to the guy sitting in the booth?
My guess it’s that it’s more a matter of principle than practical need. They are law enforcement officers after all, and some jurisdictions make it a policy to have law enforcement staff armed when on duty.
Maybe it’s intended as a token of power. They very much have the power to deny you entrance to a country/lock you in a cage if they don’t like your story or your documents.
If by “US Passport control officers” the OP means Customs, they are LEO’s and most agencies require full uniform and equipment while on duty.
I’m certified in the Time System so if the dispatcher calls in sick I can get yanked off the road and made to work dispatch. I still wear my duty belt as I’m on the clock.
“Passport control” or immigration are the guys who check and stamp your passpor. “Customs” are the guys who inspect your baggage. In the US IIRC the same body does both, in other places, they are different agencies who do so. This OP relates to the former.
Because the flow-charts says so. Nobody has the authority to go over the head of the flow-chart. It is the highest form of tyranny. There is a master flow-chart, and all others derive from it. It is rumored that it originated with the Texas Schoolbook Authority.
the former are still agents of the US Customs & Border Protection agency. CBP agents are law enforcement officers. There’s your answer.
the guy sitting in the booth probably doesn’t do that job day in and day out. and again, as LEOs he/she may be required to respond if there’s an incident in the airport/border crossing.
I’ve never been through one that I remember any details of, but wouldn’t they be the first person to run your ID and find out if you were a terrorist or wanted murderer?
I suppose it would depend on the individual agency in question. I was told by one municipal police officer that his department required him to be armed at all times whether in uniform or not, whether on duty or not. When he was off duty he would have a firearm in his glove compartment.
IIRC, one of the Milwaukee Sheriffs* decided that all his deputies were deputies 100% of the time. And with that, they had to carry their gun and handcuffs with them even when off duty.
PK probably remembers this better than I do.
*This may have been the police chief/police officers, I really don’t remember that well.
Does the guy stamping your passport carry a gun? For the record I am not asking about firearms at border control, I have said that those a probably a (regrettable necessity). Rather why are particular personnel at particular stations carrying firearms when prima facie they have no use for them.