A 14-day-old gravely ill American terrorist?

Traveled overseas recently?

I have, and believe me, re-entering the U.S. through Customs and Immigration isn't fun. Long lines, no bathrooms, surly agents barking orders at tired, jet-lagged people, no cell phone use allowed (for what reason I'm still trying to figure out), having to schlep all of your luggage throughout the entire process. You get the picture. It's a necessary part of our border security, but does everyone there always have to be in such a bad mood?

This story seems to be an extremely tragic and unnecessary result of one of those lovely experiences. A 14-day-old infant from American Samoa flying to Hawaii for emergency heart surgery dies after being detained in a Customs room at the Honolulu airport. Detained for what? No one's saying.

I'm wondering why a person from American Samoa would need to pass through Customs and Immigration at all, since it's American Samoa, a U.S. Territory, and its residents are U.S. citizens. I don't have to clear Customs when I go to Maryland or New York, and this would seem to be the same sort of situation. But again, no one's talking, for "security reasons" no doubt, so we'll have to wait for the inevitable lawsuit to see what really caused the goons at Homeland Security to lock a deathly ill infant up for questioning.