by Sharelle B. McNair
February 18, 2026
The difficulty is not in regards to the cash being seized however extra so in regards to the restricted tips on what amount of money is deemed suspicious.
Do you know that if vacationers move by way of Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) brokers with greater than $100, brokers can take it?
A brand new lawsuit claims TSA brokers have allegedly stripped cash from greater than 10,000 vacationers since 2014, labeling them as criminals however by no means charging them, the New York Submit reviews.
A federal legislation, not broadly identified amongst vacationers, bans taking greater than $10,000 in money into or out of america with out an official kind.
Dan Alban, the lawyer main the nationwide class-action lawsuit towards the company, hopes the go well with will put an finish to this.
“TSA has secret insurance policies that inform its screeners that they have to seize vacationers’ money,” Alban, who works with the Institute for Justice, combating to cease airport checkpoints from changing into Structure-free zones, mentioned.
Whereas touring inside the U.S. with massive quantities of money is completely authorized, TSA continues to push again towards passengers like Rebecca Brown, one of many main plaintiffs in the go well with.
Brown, 57, was touring by way of Pittsburgh Worldwide Airport together with her father’s life financial savings—a complete of $82,373—which she was attempting to deposit right into a joint checking account near her residence in Boston.
Carried in a Tupperware container, the money grew to become a sore eye for TSA brokers throughout a baggage scan, prompting a Drug Enforcement Administration agent to grab it.
It wasn’t till Brown publicized the lawsuit that the cash was returned to her— seven months later. “I do suppose that this was unconstitutional, what the TSA did to me,” Brown mentioned, in response to CBS Information.
Alban says the difficulty isn’t in regards to the cash being seized, however extra about the restricted tips on what quantities of money are deemed suspicious. With the Drug Enforcement Company’s unofficial motto being, “you make it, we’ll take it,” the federal company doesn’t have to find out if an individual is responsible or not of a criminal offense, however can take the money, forcing residents to have interaction in an extended and costly battle to get it again.
Cash saved in rubber bands, “store-bought bands,” or bundled with “handmade bands” may be seen as a menace, even when it has a home made label, the Submit reviews. TSA brokers may even seize cash if all of the money has the identical denomination of foreign money or totally different denominations. Carrying cash in socks can be thought of suspicious.
Alban feels the go well with is step one in getting the federal government to iron out the rules for vacationers carrying money or different objects that TSA has labeled as threats. “There’s every kind of stuff that TSA considers to be Delicate Safety Info that’s laughable and no one would think about this secret,” he mentioned.
“The federal government shouldn’t be capable to take cash for no cause…” Brown mentioned. “Nobody needs to be pressured to undergo this nightmare.”
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