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[FONT=Calibri]Let me set the stage. We’re weaving our way through the “families traveling with children” security line at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport 2 days before Easter to visit extended family in San Francisco, with our 5-year old DD and 2 year old FD. We are “white as the driven snow” Caucasian, DD and FD are Hispanic. See my avatar for image of DD. TSA worker looks at our boarding passes and driver’s licenses for DH and I, which we present as ID. Then the questions start. TSA worker stops the flow of people moving through the line and stares at DD and starts quizzing her. “What is your name?” Points at me. “Who is this, is this Mommy?” Points at DH. “Who is he?” Points at FD. “What is her name? Is she your sister?” DD is a really shy with people she doesn’t know, and just wrapped her arms around my waist and looked away. I said “look, she is not going to answer you. If you need to question someone, you talk to me”. TSA worker scowls and waves us through the line. DD is still asking us about the “scary woman” at the airport and why she was mad at us. [/FONT][FONT=Calibri][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]So here is the thing. Now I know this woman was trying to make sure we weren’t kidnapping DD and FD. And maybe TSA workers in the “family” line are extra vigilant about this. And maybe that is a good thing. But she didn’t say a single word to the Caucasian couple in line in front of us, traveling with their 3 Caucasian kids. And there are a lot of transracial families out there, including bio families, where parents and kids don’t physically resemble each other. And children are abducted by adults of the same race all of the time.[/FONT][FONT=Calibri]So is it racist to target transracial familes and question them in the TSA line? Or am I just being overly sensitive? Interested in your thoughts. :thanks: [/FONT]
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DP and I have had a similar situation happen to us before. Although we are both legally DD's moms and we are domestic partners, DP and I do not share the same last name and DD's last name is a hyphenation of both of our names. Plus, she is also Chinese and we're both Black so that raises a lot of questions when were are flying together. I used to get upset when "interrogate" us at airport but now I appreciate it after I heard some stories one off duty TSA officer told me. Once he caught a family with a newborn baby and the baby had drugs (not sure what kind though) in her diaper and wipes case. Another time, the biological father tried to "kidnap" one of his children after he lost custody of them to his ex-wife. So while I hate being pat down in security, I do enjoy flying safely so the extra questions at security do not bother me that much
I have 5 kids. 2 caucasian, 1 latina and 2 African. I am a single mom, and travel often with my kids. My caucasian kids AND my daughter from Guatemala have NEVER been asked those questions. My 2 african kids get asked EVERY single time.
Funny story....my youngest son is special needs. He stutters when he is nervous and he has memory issues. The TSA was interrogating him with the usual questions....what's your name, who's your mom, is this your mom, are these your brother/sisters? He couldn't answer because he was nervous and she wouldn't give him time to get the answer out and he was really embarrased. So.....on the way home he walked through the airport on the way to security saying over and over "My name is RJ, my name is RJ, my name is RJ. My mom is Lisa, my mom is Lisa....." and guess what??? For the first time ever, they didn't ask him his name!!
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It's not racist. They just noticed your kids are a different race than you and they are just making sure they are yours.
Who told you this story because it is a well known urban legend. It never happened. This story or similar story has been circulating around for years.
SupaModel
It really is a double edge sword. I understand why you would be upset but I also understand the TSA seeing something that looked off and wanted to check it out. I just heard a story on Sunday how a friends daughter went missing at disney world so they had to shut down the whole park looking for her. Well the police came and said whatever you do just look for the shoes she was wearing. The mom noticed her daughter shoes and it turn out within the small amount of time some monster took her and shaved her head and put her in boys clothing!!!
Okay, maybe that particular story is a myth, but the premise is not impossible and something similar has happened very recently. I live in the St. Louis area and there was a recent kidnapping of a 4 year old girl, Alisa Maier, who was grabbed in front of her house. She was found a day later wandering alone at a carwash with her hair cut and wearing boys clothes.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I definitely wouldn't call it racisim. He didn't question you because of her race, but because of your differences. It maybe outside of what is required, I don't know, but it wouldn't bother me too much. I'm happy I found this topic, though, so I can be prepared. We're flying into an out of Sea-tac in a couple weeks, so it's nice to have a warning. I doubt we'll get questioned because out biracial daughter has light skin and loose curls and her daddy is olive complected with curls, so the differences are not extremely obvious yet.
It sounds to me like the TSA worker was a little bit harsh, but I also think it is good that they are paying attention. I think watching the body language of children who are boarding with a parent who doesn't look like them is probably better than asking a small child questions, in many cases.
Three of my kids are black or biracial. We used to fly with them a lot. We only had a TSA worker question us once, and that was when we landed in Chicago on our way back from our three-year assignment in Germany. We had adopted our third child, who is biracial, over there. The adoption had taken so long that we hadn't had time to get the baby a new passport, so his still had his birth mother's last name on it. The TSA worker asked "Why is the baby's last name different from yours?" We just explained it, while the baby, who was 16 months old, was in my arms, with his arms around my neck, kissing my cheek. That satisfied him and he waved us through. I have to admit that it made me a bit nervous when he asked that question, but I was glad that he was paying attention!
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Taking the birth certificates is a great idea! Adoption decrees are a good, too. An adoption decree is a legal document. My youngest son recently needed his birth certificate for his job, but his dad was the last one who had it and who knows where it is now. I gave him his adoption decree and they accepted that.
I also bring a birth certificate for our son and travel letters from DCF for our foster kids whenever we travel.
But seriously - they handled it poorly. I would complain. And don't hesitate to ask to speak with a supervisor.
I can't stand TSA. They are so poorly trained. Seiously - it doesn't make me feel safe. Several years ago, and three months before my husband had a total hip replacement we had a vacation. Going through airport security was a nightmare. They took my husband's cane away, made him balance on one foot, turning several times, then the TSA staff kicked his bad leg because his feet weren't far enough apart. I screamed at them and insisted on speaking to a supervisor. "You have a clearly disabled man, take away the cane he needs to walk, make him hobble and balance on one leg and then kick his injured leg? What part of the Americans with Disabilities Act do you not understand?" After insisting on talking with a supervisor, they became very helpful. They got us a wheelchair, gave us an excort to the gate, and helped with our carry on bags.
They have a job to do, but scaring children is NOT a part of that job. Go ahead and complain.
Good luck.
Larue
Thanks everyone for your sharing your experiences. :thanks: We have flown with DD about a dozen times before, and with her and FD twice before, and have never had this experience. I will not be so taken off guard next time. And I'll make sure I'm carrying some form of ID for the girls.
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Actually you can get a passport for a foster child. You will probably not get permission for a passport unless you actually have plans to take the child out of the country, but it can be done.
We went to Mexico with our son when he was still a foster child. The social worker went to Court and got an order permiting us to travel to Mexico and a certified copy of the Order giving DCF custody. She then gave us a notarized letter giving us permission to get the passport and a certified copy of his birth certificate. We then went down to the passport office and completed the application.