Foreign Customs: U.S. supersedes authority at German Airports, Seaports in Name of ‘War on Terror’
John Goetz, Christian Fuchs, Frederik Obermaier and Tanjev Schultz: U.S. supersedes authority at German Airports, Seaports in Name of ‘War on Terror’ ■ The U.S. agents appear without warning. Suddenly, they’re standing next to a flight attendant pointing someone out. That passenger shouldn’t be allowed to board the plane. Officially, these American border patrol agents are only supposed to give ‘advice’ about potentially dangerous passengers. In practice, though, they determine who can and can’t fly to the U.S. They are part of a troop of agents and security guards stationed in Germany permanently. More than 50 agents from Homeland Security, the Secret Service and immigration and transportation services work alongside the CIA and NSA in Germany. These agents enjoy diplomatic immunity and have power akin to German customs and police officers. They decide who can board planes, which containers are loaded onto cargo ships—sometimes they even make arrests, apparently.