US says opens some private mail in terrorism fight

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials can open personal mail arriving from abroad as part of the fight against terrorism, and do so when they deem it necessary to protect the country, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said on Monday.

News of the little-known practice follows revelations that the government approved eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without judicial oversight after the September 11 attacks, which sparked concern from civil liberties advocates and some lawmakers who called for congressional hearings.

"Customs and Border Protection is charged with making sure that terrorists and terrorists' weapons don't enter the country," said Suzanne Trevino, a spokeswoman for the customs agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

"One of our areas of responsibility is to inspect international mail coming into our country," she said. "We respect privacy and always keep that at the forefront, but at the same time we need to make sure we do our job in keeping U.S. citizens safe."

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0002/20060109/1758981374.htm&floc=NW_1-T

[villager]

1. time to bring back the wax seal?

n/t

[pinerow]

2. I wish they would open and trash my junk mail...sheesh!!!

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I had a Christmas card from Australia that seemed to have been

resealed with a piece of tape, but it didn't have any printing or stamp from Customs on it. What got me thinking it might have been opened was that I didn't receive it until last Friday (1/6). I also had one from another country that had been torn almost in half. Guess that was from getting caught in some machine.

[oregonjen]

4. Same here, I had a Christmas card from Japan opened

there was no seal or tape to close it. Just the envelope flap tucked in. The sticker on the outside of the sealed envelope that my Aunt-in-law used was torn. Makes me wonder...

[MADem]

5. WONDER??? Hell, you can guarantee that they opened it n/t