This depends on the particulars of what happened, and it's going to be difficult for most non-experts to navigate, in the same fashion as "determine whether this code is Python or Ruby" is difficult if you've never seen a command line.

Say you're talking to your friendly neighborhood CBP officer and they say this:

"I think you're an immigration risk and, accordingly, I'm issuing an Order for Expedited Removal. You get on the next plane back home." Your passport gets tagged with a 5 year timeout.

However, they could say something like:

"I think you're not eligible for the Visa Waiver Program, because some factors suggest you're an immigration risk. I recommend you withdraw your application for entry into the United States and voluntarily get on the next plane back home." You will not get timed out for 5 years.

Note that the second one is neither a recommendation nor a request.

Disclaimer: IANAL but IA someone who has to have an anomalously-good-for-most-Americans understanding of immigration procedure.

Yes, it's a small but real risk foreigners should consider every time they chose to cross the US border.

It's no small risk. It's forcing you to whistleblow with no protection. Forcing you to do something, that they kill their own citizens for.