A friend is an ESTA holder. At a point of entry, an immigration officer verbally told her that she needs to leave the US within 1 month, even though her ESTA status allowed for a 3-month stay. (She had a return ticket 2 months from the date of entry.)
The immigration officer did not write any date (at all) on the stamp in her passport. The ESTA website lists her required departure as 2 months out.
Are there any other records where the immigration officer might have recorded his 1-month assertion?
Unless the I-94 admission period is limited to less than 90 days, then an applicant for admission under ESTA can stay the full 90 days (assuming the activities stay within the B-1/B-2 lines) regardless of what the admitting CBP officer says or even writes down. In other words, if a CBP officer believes that an applicant for admission should be admitted for less than 90 days, then the officer must limit the I-94 admission period.
I believe you are referring to the I-94 website, not the ESTA one... that (digital) form is the legal limit of her admission so she cannot be accused of overstaying if she follows that.
That said... they obviously have all sorts of classified places to put notes that you can't request, and there was clearly something in her file that made them suspicious in the first place, so staying the full three months is almost certainly not going to improve that.
Yes, they record conversations had at the border as notes. I've had previous conversations come up as questions: do I still do X, did I travel to Y. Consistency seems to be important. Maybe they are verifying also one's identity.
The immigration officer did not write any date (at all) on the stamp in her passport. The ESTA website lists her required departure as 2 months out.
Are there any other records where the immigration officer might have recorded his 1-month assertion?