Dept. of Homeland Security - Protecting your borders by stopping those with common names

Today we wrapped up our trip - all safe and sound - "Gracias a mi Dios." This picture isn't the best documentation of the days drama but does show the Huber girls after 8+ hours of flight and 13+ hours of travel and airport hassles.
Getting out of Medellin airport required 9 separate lines or security checks:
1) Line to pay (in our case
- not pay) the airport tax (which American Airlines collects up front but you still need the stamped paper showing that you paid)
2) Pre-Security check during line to check luggage.
3) Check luggage through x-ray machine.
4) Get boarding passes
5) Emmigration line (to make sure we had not violated our visa-waiver)
6) Airport police in security screening line asking how much cash we were taking out of the country (kind of a creepy question which my parents assure me is standard operating procedure.)
7) Security screening and carry-on baggage X-ray check
8) Hand search of carry-on luggage
9) Boarding pass & passport check before getting on plane.

The entire process, including a stop at the airport coffee shop, took the whole 2.5 hours that we allotted in arriving early to the airport.

Most people (including us) would think that Medellin airport would have been the biggest hassle of the day. But the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security had other ideas.

After arriving last (from our plane) to the Immigration line at Miami Airport (because Caroline left her book on the plane causing her and Nora to have to wait until all passengers had deplaned), the Huber girls chose one line, while Luby and I chose the adjacent line. When then U.S. Customs and Border Control (CPB) agent called us up I noticed that his name tag said "Vazquez" (irony forthcoming). He electronically scanned my passport then began looking at his computer monitor with some concern. He asked where I worked and typed in a few things. It was a very typical "agent with a computer" encounter that you get anywhere from a hotel lobby to the airport. The agent looks at a bunch of screens, types a bunch of things, and you stand there wishing you could see what they were seeing and doing. After a few minutes, he called over a supervisor and they both began staring at the computer screen and whispering to each other. Finally the supervisor says something like, "Well you could clear him but with this [points to my state address on my customs form], you probably shouldn't." With that, the CBP told me to follow him to a back room so that they could clear something up. He explained that because I had a very common name [irony fully exposed] they had to verify something before clearing me.

At this point a little background information would be useful. Back in early June, I flew on Southwest Airlines to Oakland. I tried to check-in online but was denied with a message that said I needed to see the representive at the airport. When I checked-in the following morning, the rep. told me that my name was on the "Do Not Fly" list and they had to clear me manually upon verification of my birthdate. (Thank goodness my and my nefarious name sake don't share birthdates as well.)

Back to today's story - so off we went to the CBP's back room at Miami International Airport. On the way, Agent Vazquez asked if we had a connection and we explained that we did. He then said he would try to fast-track us through. He presented my passport to a senior CPB person who told me to take a seat and wait, which I did. At this time, I decided it was prudent to not ask a lot of questions since I was so close (in proximity and in process) to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. By this time, Nora, Cecilia, and Caroline were in Customs waiting for their luggage and wondering what had happened to us so Luella and I started to make arrangements for her to go out to meet them while I was cleared. However, before she could finish filling out a form, I was called up by the senior CPB agent and cleared. As I was eager to get out of there as quickly as possible, I simply thanked him and off we went to find Nora and the girls. Fortunately, we still made our flight to LAX on time.

So what does this say about the state of our border and homeland security? How is it possible that a few months after receiving my new passport I am flagged? All the information that they asked today was included in my passport renewal application that I sent in June.