So, now I'm going to find out your real name from from the previous time, right? >> Yeah. >> What's your name? >> Yen. Yen Yen. >> So, this is not your passport. >> No, that's not a passport. Those are Vietnamese visas. >> A traveler hands over a US passport with the photo page torn out. On the pages that remain, are handwritten marks that do not belong there. His story keeps changing from flying all the time to just meeting an arrival. At Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, a single missing page unravels an identity. >> Take everything off. Sit that down. >> Can I help you? >> Please stand up. All right. So, you are being on you are under arrest for tampering with government record, so basically fraud. >> I don't >> Who's the passenger? He said >> been changing his story now. He said he flies all the time, but now he's saying, "Oh, no, I'm just going for arrivals now." >> He just said what? >> Now, he's going for arrivals to pick up somebody. It's like a but he's like, "I know I travel all the time with that passport." But now he's starting to get a little nervous. >> But >> This shouldn't be here. And you see >> This one shouldn't be in all of it. >> What shouldn't be there? >> No, but I don't We don't even know what is that. >> That's like the the little address that's circled in the black on that second page. It's the same address on every page. That's not a US address. >> Yes. He doesn't have nothing physically >> Hey, get back over here. >> Can I keep my passport? >> Go over here. Is there a Would there be any reason for that to be fake? >> No. >> Do you have your ID on you? >> That's >> already asked me all these questions. >> Well, I'm asking you different questions. Can I get your ID? >> Uh I don't have a physical ID, sir. >> You don't have a physical ID? >> No. >> Do you have a passport? That's your only ID? Where are you from? >> Huh? >> Where are you from? >> Plano. >> Plano? Did you have a Texas ID ever? >> Uh I don't drive anymore. I'm not sure. >> Okay. What's your first name? >> Zeng. >> How do you spell that? >> Z E N >> Z E N? >> I don't have your passport right now. Could you walk away? >> Last name? >> Yang. >> Y A N G? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. >> Cool, thanks. I appreciate it. >> Huh? >> I said a lot of cops can't spell that, so I appreciate your understanding. >> Yeah, Yang. I mean, that's pretty easy. >> No, they can't even spell Smith. >> Really? >> I need to get a new passport. >> Okay. Why did they Why did they say >> Uh it's got a missing a page. >> It's got a missing a page? Okay. Where are you flying to? >> I'm not. >> You're not flying? >> I was going to want to go to uh D for arrivals and uh American Airlines told me that I can catch a flight through here, and I realized that was probably a bad idea. I shouldn't have taken the yellow >> But do you have a boarding pass or anything? For a flight to catch you on? Okay. >> Why would I have one? >> I'm just wondering. >> I got an American Airlines tag. >> You got a what? >> I got the tag from American Airlines. Okay. >> What's the tag for? >> I don't know. They gave it to me. >> They did? >> Uh I did, yeah. That's my ID, by the You can see my ID. My ID. >> That's your ID? >> Well, that's the only ID I have. >> Where do you live at right now? >> Plano. >> Plano, sorry. >> The passport we need the ID to show when we're supposed to date it. the passport and he was like I fly all the time. I don't know what's going on with this. And then I was like I was like okay, let me ask more questions more questions. So then where is your boarding pass? To see where was he going. And then he's like well I don't have a boarding pass. So why you don't have a boarding pass? He goes oh um I'm just going to arrivals. So now it changes like that. From flying all the time to I'm going to arrivals. So [laughter] like a >> Yeah. >> So that's why we first we didn't request the boarding pass because only we needed the passport to scan it. I mean it would pull all his information from his >> scan >> I because there's no page. [laughter] >> Oh, it's missing. >> There's no page. I it's missing the Do you know the front page where your picture is? >> Yeah, yeah. >> It's completely gone. >> Oh, it's not there at all. >> It's not there. So let me show you I don't know if you guys want to look at it. >> Is that it right there? >> Yeah. >> Yeah, see it's missing a page. It's missing the page with his face on it. Okay. >> He got like a visa over there. >> I've never seen the address written in it. I can't need to buy >> Come on I have to stick under the UV. >> That's That's not a passport. >> That's no marking in this. >> That's That's not That's on >> We don't recognize that. And then he and the only thing he has is this. So this is the only thing that um I don't know if this is his real name or somebody sells passport and the name >> that lighting that you put in there that's not supposed to be there, right? >> I mean it's a picture of a guy. >> one is a visa. Yes, we need to check. >> It's from Vietnam. Okay. >> All right, this marks >> That's not a passport. >> No, that's not part of the US passport over here. >> Okay. >> It should be nothing. >> Should be nothing. >> And then this one Yeah, this one should not be >> Shouldn't be highlighting anything at all. >> Nothing highlight over here. >> Do you guys have a normal one I can look at? >> That would be great. >> Okay. No markings. >> No markings. >> Look right here at the front page. Mhm. >> Shouldn't be that marking over there. This is a normal passport. This is what we see. >> Okay. >> And he's missing this page. >> And this is a US passport. >> US correct. >> Same exact one. Right now. >> Okay. >> Do you have any other form of identification on you? >> I've been asked that 10 times and TSA just took me a photo. >> What? >> TSA just took me a photo and my >> All right, one second here. >> It's history. >> You're Vietnamese? >> Okay. >> No, I have my wife is. I married her in 2013 in Vietnamese. Tells you my whole story. >> This is your passport? >> Yes, sir. >> You know I'm going to find out your real name from from the previous time, right? >> Yeah. >> What's your name? >> Yang. Yang Yang. >> So this is not your passport. >> No, that's my passport. Those are Vietnamese visas. >> Cuz I don't even see where's the picture and stuff. >> So it's missing the front page. >> You obviously haven't been to Vietnam. I can tell from that. >> He's presenting it as a real passport to try and get through the checkpoint. Yeah, showing another >> other ID. >> The pages have writing all the way down different languages. But if you get pulled into the customs, it doesn't matter then. >> Right. >> And there's no other than the first page, there's no way to determine >> TSA already scanned my barcode. >> Doesn't matter. >> All right, so the first page is ripped out of this thing Yeah. and then it's got This is Vietnamese and he's supposed to be Chinese. This is not his name, so Is there a way to determine by scanning this barcode? Can you call them and see if you can figure out Take the shoulder bag off. Take everything off. Set that down. Just stand up. All right. So you are being you are under arrest for tampering with a governmental record. So basically fraud. That happens. That happens. We'll have to figure out what the exact what the charge is. It's tampering with a governmental record. We just don't know the level. It's more than likely a felony. You think your girlfriend did it? Huh? You think my girlfriend did it? You're the one that presented it with the check. Well, I'll just stop talking then. And let me go move this for you. Okay. All right, go ahead. It's going to be all right. There you go. Some rights. I haven't been to DFW jail. It's going to be the first time. They don't like me here. It's a nice jail. They'll take care of you. They They have food. You you food, right? >> A passport is not just a travel document. It is a federal record with legal weight. Under Title 18 United States Code Section 1543, knowingly using a mutilated passport is a felony. Removing a page is exactly the kind of mutilation the statute was written to punish. The photo page carries the biometric data, so without it, no machine can confirm who he is. The same conduct is a state crime under Texas Penal Code Section 3710. Impairing the truth of a governmental record, and a passport qualifies, is tampering. The officers were allowed to keep asking questions because his answers kept shifting. Terry versus Ohio lets police extend the detention when responses deepen, rather than resolve suspicion. The decision to arrest rested on the whole picture, not any single detail. Illinois versus Gates measures probable cause by the totality of the circumstances. Because the name on the document did not match the name he gave, another statute appeared. Texas Penal Code Section 32.51 covers fraudulent use of another person's identifying information. When officers announced the arrest, they stopped their substantive questioning. Miranda versus Arizona applies only to custodial interrogation, not routine investigative questions. His later remark that his girlfriend presented the passport was volunteered, so it still counts. Because the airport is federal ground, federal charges can follow independently of the state case. Title 18 Section 1001 makes each false statement to a federal officer its own separate count. When a story keeps changing under questioning, each new version can dig the hole deeper. Here the account shifted from frequent flyer to arrivals pick-up, and suspicion grew with every answer. Silence beyond basic identity would have given officers far less to work with. When a passport is altered, even by removing a page, the document itself becomes the crime. It does not matter who did the cutting. Knowingly presenting it is a federal felony. A travel document is a government record, and then damaging its truth carries serious prison exposure. When lawfully detained, a person must give their name, date of birth, and address. Beyond that basic identity, the right to remain silent still applies at a checkpoint. Answering every extra question, as this traveler did, rarely helps and often hurts. When words are volunteered after an arrest, no one can take them back. Blaming a girlfriend for the passport was an admission that he knew what it was. Spontaneous statements are admissible, so silence remains the safer choice. Good document work here rested on comparisons and databases, not on a hunch. The case was built the slow way, one verified anomaly at a time. In the end, a torn-out page said more than any answer the traveler could give.