Because of the ongoing investigation, Kim’s name was in DHS’s case management system, which meant Special Agent Hamako would receive an automatic email if Kim w

Because of the ongoing investigation, Kim’s name was in DHS’s case management system, which meant Special Agent Hamako would receive an automatic email if Kim was booked on a flight to or from the United States. Some time later, the agent received an email notifying him that Kim was going to return to the United States in November 2012, and that he would be departing LAX for South Korea on December 5, 2012. [...] On December 5, 2012, working with a LAX duty agent and Customs and Border Protection officers, Special Agent Hamako conducted the planned search of Kim as he departed the country. First, he searched Kim’s checked luggage, which was located behind the check-in counter with Korean Airlines. [...] Next, Special Agent Hamako stopped Kim on the jetway between the gate and the airplane as Kim was boarding his flight. He identified himself and asked Kim if he had any electronics, to which Kim responded that he had a laptop. Special Agent Hamako told Kim that he would be detaining the laptop pursuant to a border search and that he would return it once the search was complete. (from https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2013cr0100-42 https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2013cr0...) There are usually no checks when you leave the country, but they do happen sometimes. Once when I flew out of Philadelphia, there were people at the jetway wearing some kind of uniforms, who asked to see everybody's passports. No idea what they were looking for.