@jeffjarvis I avoided flights via the USA in the past because of similar horror stories.
We travelled with someone with a south american name, apperance and passport (and a German dual-passport) and the best case scenario is luggage that gets searched, partially destroyed and delayed up to collecing all the guys called "Jose" that pass through (even if the surname does not match at all and timing is impossible) because some Jose murdered someone while "our" Jose was not on the continent...