Again I agree. The man was not wise in challenging a border official like that. I'm just saying though that the official way overreached his powers. And to be fair, no they do not have unlimited powers and can be fired if complaints are lodged against them accusing them of abuse of power.
I remember one case of a police officer who'd pulled over one of my brothers-in-law (now ex-) one too many times for quesitoning, and so my brother-in-law asked for the officer's name and police ID number, wrote it down, and then asked if the officer intended to make an arrest.
The officer said no, and so he responded that if the officer pulled him over again, that he'd report him for racial profiling and harassment. The officer never bothered him again.
So they do have limits to their powers.
Police do, Machjo, but border officials have very few limits on their power. They cannot assault someone for instance. But they have a very broad mandate to ask any questions they want to establish if you are a bona fide tourist.
That's why I said that they have more sweeping powers than a policeman. A policeman cannot search you without just cause, a border official can. He can search you, your body (he can strip search you, look up your ass to see if you are carrying contraband for instance). He can search your car to his heart’s content.
I remember another incidence (we travel a lot and we have many international friends, so I know many such incidents). This guy was crossing the border in his car. I don’t know why the official became suspicious, but he decided to thoroughly search his car. Mechanics literally proceeded to take it apart. They removed tires, mirrors, doors, hood, everything they could.
This man was grumbling all the time, asking what the Hell was going on. Finally the official said to him
“Sir, I think I should inform you that while we have the authority to take your car apart, we are not required by law to put it back together.”
He became very quiet after that. Anyway, they did not find anything in his car, pieced it back together and he was on his way, after a couple of hours delay.
Does a policeman have powers like this? Lodging a complaint against a border guard would almost never work (unless as I said, he assaults you or something).