US BORDERS
By admin
I was forced to visit the United States the other day. I say “forced”, partly because I was on a work trip, but also because gaining entry into the country was one of the most unpleasant travel experiences I have ever been subjected to.
After disembarking from a seven-hour flight at JFK, irritable and jet-lagged, I humbly took my place in the lengthy immigration queue, along with the rest of the world’s great unwashed.
Like most American airports, JFK operates this ridiculous system where there are hundreds of desks allocated to deal with US citizens and a mere handful for the remainder. Which means, of course, that while our Yankee cousins waltz through the airport in record time, the rest of us have to spend the first day of our trip abroad trudging inchmeal through a snaking people-corral, swearing at a tastelessly patterned carpet. Not my idea of fun.
Now, I’m fully aware that immigration officials are not in the pay of the USA tourism board. Their job is to sift out the undesirables, not to act as welcoming party. But they are the first American citizens that foreigners meet. Surely the immigration service could allocate more desks for non-US citizens and make the whole disembarkation procedure a lot more efficient? And a lot speedier?
This is the wealthiest nation on Earth, the great democratic land of freedom. Yet it seems easier to get into Burma or North Korea than it does into the USA.
And while they’re at it, couldn’t the officials occasionally crack the odd smile? What happened to “Have a nice day”?
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one time when my husband and I were entering the states the immigration guy looked at him and looked at me and said to my husband ‘what’s a nice looking girl like her doing with an ugly guy like you?’ the immigration guy then realised he had been just a touch rude and blustered that he was one to talk etc etc!
and then going into australia an immigration official looked at my passport photo (taken a few years previously) and said ‘ah, great hair fashion disasters of our time!
I think I prefer it when they just stick to the obligatory questions.
Hmm, my experience is very similar on entry to the Great USFA (NOT). JFK again, funny that…..Must be the great friendly NY people……
Having queued for about an hour with my wife, we passed through the few non USA gates and were walking out of the terminal check in towards the luggage control…
”Mrs Xxxxxx, came the passport control man, as he ran towards us in a friendly manor!”!! Sorry could you come this way as there seems to be a slight issue. ”
Well, not so friendly were we slung into a passport holding room with about 40 other people, mostly from Muslim states wearing there Burka’s and long beards. To say the lease we were uncomfortable as this now felt like a short break in Basra…..
30 Minutes later we were unceremoniously released with the classic - Have a good Day.
Yeah on you weak Dollar - Sucker
by holiday1 on 21st April 2008I would have to agree, I visited last year with some friends, one of whom works for the MOD and has a special issue visa in his passport stating so, resulting in all sorts of interesting questions from various officials when visiting abroad. The gentleman in question took over 20 minutes to clear customs and immigration and when he finally arrived the other side (as we were starting to sweat a little over what had become of him) he was grinning from ear to ear and simply said they had been talking about baseball. I don’t know which is worse, the worry of him being apprehended on entry to the country, or that the immigration officials though it was fine to just chat for 20 minutes making other travellers wait for their turn at the booth.
by julianc on 11th April 2008Easy to say. We didn’t have 9/11
by mike on 29th February 2008
