There are many innovations that have made the air travel experience in the United States easier over the years, including Trusted Traveler Programs, like Global Entry and TSA PreCheck. Global Entry is awesome, because it expedites the immigration process.
Once enrolled, Global Entry is a privilege and not a right, so it can be revoked at the will of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), even before its expiration. Along those lines, it’s interesting to note some data on how the number of people having this perk revoked has increased sharply, as flagged by View from the Wing.
Global Entry revocations have increased 144% since 2020
Bloomberg has some fascinating data on how the number of people having their Global Entry membership revoked is increasing at a rapid pace in recent years. Per a public records request, CBP revoked 17,291 Global Entry memberships in 2024, a 47% increase compared to the year prior, and a 144% increase compared to 2020.
For what it’s worth, over that same time period, the percentage of enrollments in Global Entry “only” increased by 83%. While the story makes the claim that Global Entry revocations are outpacing membership growth, it’s of course important to understand the nuance there — that’s as a percentage, rather than in absolute terms. 17,000 revocations among 13 million members is still a tiny percentage.
Part of the issue is that there’s often not much transparency as to why people have Global Entry revoked, and the government only provides vague reasons, if any explanation is provided at all. Many people just find out about their Global Entry revocation by getting an email about their Trusted Traveler Program status having changed, and then they log-in to find that they’re no longer enrolled in Global Entry.
You could have Global Entry revoked for a variety of obvious reasons, ranging from bringing a gun to a TSA checkpoint (one would hope, but it’s a common thing!), to a general criminal conviction, to failing to declare items while going through immigration.
It’s called a “trusted” traveler program for a reason, and if you lose the government’s trust, obviously your privileges could be limited. But there are also all kinds of reasons for revocation that are less clear, which could be due to travel history, or even being shipped a package that’s believed to be counterfeit. Of course some CBP officers may also be on a power trip, and they also have the power to revoke Global Entry.
39% of Global Entry revocation appeals are successful
One positive thing is that you can appeal the revocation of your Global Entry membership, and people (surprisingly?) have very good luck with this. According to the data, between 2020 and 2023, 39% of appeals to the ombudsman regarding denial or revocation of Global Entry membership were reversed. That’s a high percentage, and it clearly shows how there’s a bit of a grey area when it comes to the reasons for denials.
While I’ve never lost Global Entry, several years back I wrote about how I consistently got “SSSS” on my boarding passes for quite some time, meaning I wasn’t eligible for TSA PreCheck, and always got secondary searches at US airports. This was seemingly due to my travel patterns, and I was happy that I managed to appeal that pretty efficiently.
I know a lot of people probably assume that an increasing number of revocations are politically motivated, given talk of more searching of phones at borders. However, I don’t think that’s what’s happening here. The increase in revocations has been pretty consistent year after year, and it really increased significantly in 2024 and 2025, so that covers two administrations.
My best theory is simply that I think “trusted” travelers have become a little bit less trustworthy. Hear me out. When these programs started, only hardcore travelers got Global Entry, and those were probably people who fully understand rules when passing through immigration, and took them seriously.
In the meantime, 13 million people have Global Entry, including much more casual travelers, who may not travel as much. As you increase the ranks of Global Entry members, I suspect there’s also an increase in the crowd of people who don’t realize what they’re agreeing to, and what their obligations are. “What, I have to declare the jamón ibérico I’m bringing back from Spain in my suitcase?” At least that’s my best theory.
Bottom line
An increasing number of travelers are having their Global Entry membership revoked, often without a clear explanation given. Over the past five years, there has been a 144% increase in the number of revocations, while there has “only” been an 83% increase in memberships.
Ultimately we’re talking about tens of thousands of memberships being revoked, which is a tiny fraction of the over 10 million members. But still, it’s a trend, and I’m curious to see how this evolves in the coming years.
What do you make of the increasing number of Global Entry revocations?