Reply to Flying with 14YO daughter and her friend tomorrow, friend does not have TSA Precheck

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We were traveling back to DC from Europe and had a layover in Detroit. I took our 2 younger kids thru one security lane and my husband took our (tall, but very timid) older child (13) thru a parallel line. Once I made it thru, we stepped to the end of the other lane to wait for my husband. I saw him still gathering the bags, iPads, shoes, etc...but didn't see my older child. We looked all over the small security area in a panic, but it was like said child just vanished. I was in tears and my husband was searching for a pic to show the agents so they could help us search.

Several minutes later, child comes out from a back room with 2 security agents who said they saw something "suspicious" on the scanner and needed to search child in private security area. The "suspicious" item turned out to be a retainer case that was in the pocket of a hooded sweatshirt (child was wearing the actual retainer so only the plastic case was in the pocket). It was busy and chaotic in the security area, and I guess my husband was so focused on getting all of our stuff off the belt and repacked, that he didn't notice our child had been taken away by TSA. Our child is a timid, rule follower and was too afraid to alert us or to challenge the agents, and as a result quickly complied when asked to step into the private screening area.

I asked the agents what happened, why child was taken from the main area, and what went on in the private screening area, but both were dismissive and combative...one of them started completely ignoring me. I became livid and berated both agents to tears. When their supervisor showed up, they were reamed again for not following protocol and searching a minor without parental knowledge or consent.

One of the 2 agents said that they assumed child was at least 18 and not actually a child. Granted child is a little tall for 13, but in no way looks like an 18 yr old. The supervisor pointed this out to both agents and asked why they didn't confirm age with the child before taking them from the area, but both just kept saying they thought child was an adult and wanted to do the screening in private.

At the supervisor's insistence, we filed a formal complaint against both agents with TSA before leaving the airport that day. Not sure what ultimately happened to the 2 agents (doubt they were fired due to staffing shortages), but they were led away from the security area by the responding supervisor and 2 other Admin level supervisors while we were still there filing the complaint.

So given my experience, I'd try to get the pre-check added to the friend's boarding pass, but if you can't do that then it may be a good idea to just arrive a bit earlier so all of you can go thru the standard line together, but I wouldn't let them do it alone. [/quote]
Good lesson for everyone. This is shocking.[/quote]

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