US Immigration horrendous

[Wiltonian]

Hi I am the OP, I took my mother on a Back to Back in May 2017 on the QM2. During the trip on arrival at New York my mother was not feeling good (85 yrs old) so we cancelled our trip to Manhattan. However, everyone who was on board had to get off the ship and do a 'round robin' through US customs and immigration, regardless whether or not you intended to leave the ship. It took me three hours to get through this situation, even though having to wheel mum through in a wheelchair we were given 'priority' over the long queue! However on the way back UK Immigration was on board, gave everyone a specific day and time to go down to the area of inspection to have their passports checked. It took all of 10 minutes!! Nothing like the same!!

 

Had the same transmitting through LAX between NZ and London. Four hour stop-over, but they made us "enter" the US (although we were restricted to "air-side") which took 2 hours, then sit in guarded lounge before "leaving" the US to rejoin the same re-fuelled plane. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

[Aussie One]

My wife and I flew into Newark New Jersey we waited inline for three hours to go through immigration it worked out we walked the line was over a mile to be greeted by a immigration officer with a gun on his belt sorry you guys in the USA but never again will i enter your country Aussie

[Cruise Raider]

Well, it could well be a ploy by the USG to move/repatriate as much cruise business to Seattle as possible.

 

 

It might be working but not in the way they might wish. We were just considering a cruise from Vancouver to SF and decided to pass altogether. We are going to drive to Tahoe instead. As mentioned, too bad .. Vancouver is a lovely city but I am just not ready to spend a day in the Canada Place terminal again just yet.

[Texas Jake]

Had the same transmitting through LAX between NZ and London. Four hour stop-over, but they made us "enter" the US (although we were restricted to "air-side") which took 2 hours, then sit in guarded lounge before "leaving" the US to rejoin the same re-fuelled plane. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

 

 

At Liberty Newark International after US citizens have cleared customs and rechecked their baggage, TSA agents force arriving international passengers with domestic connections to the longer lines for security screening and will not allow US citizens to use the shorter lines which are just outside the baggage check.

 

I actually avoid flying as much as possible within the US. US Citizens are treated with disrespect by US Customs and the TSA. Don't even get me started about the interior border checks within the US but within 100 miles of the Mexican border. The checks near Tuscon, Arizona are a complete pain for some commuters.

[RDC1]

Travel enough and you will run into problems sooner or later. 4 weeks ago I spent over 2 hours getting through outbound immigration at CDG. I have had significant delays in excess of 3 hours at Heathrow.

Once spent 4 hours in Toronto trying to explain to Canadian immigration officials that the purpose of my trip was to represent the USA FDA in meetings with Health Canada, for some reason they could not get it through their heads that I was not getting paid by anybody in Canada.

 

I have run into delays in the US (Houston and LAX come to mind) but 90% of the time the processing is relatively short and in line with more other places.

[iancal]

Fingerprints and or eyescans are not unusual any more. Lots of countries are doing this. We went in and out of Panama twice a few months ago. They did fingerprints on entry and exit...times.

[DYKWIA]

Travel enough and you will run into problems sooner or later. 4 weeks ago I spent over 2 hours getting through outbound immigration at CDG. I have had significant delays in excess of 3 hours at Heathrow.

Once spent 4 hours in Toronto trying to explain to Canadian immigration officials that the purpose of my trip was to represent the USA FDA in meetings with Health Canada, for some reason they could not get it through their heads that I was not getting paid by anybody in Canada.

 

I have run into delays in the US (Houston and LAX come to mind) but 90% of the time the processing is relatively short and in line with more other places.

 

I think you are right delays in immigration can happen in many countries. Whilst staff who work in these places are rarely friendly (Australia and New Zealand being more friendly than others in our experience ) many of the security staff in the US Airports, particularly those who manage the queues are downright rude and aggressive. That is unacceptable, and demonstrates that either these individuals are completely unsuited for the work they're doing or their training is inadequate, or both.

 

Sadly, my wife only yesterday said (after watching your president seemingly give the green light to police brutality) she thinks she's done with travelling to the states and if we do a future Caribbean cruise then we should try to avoid the states. If the first people who greet you when you arrive in a country can't treat you with any warmth or respect and it's bordering on hostility you come away thinking "they don't want us here so why bother"

[2016USAHoliday]

Wow, we must have gone through the checkpoints (numerous airports, land and ports) on good days! We found the agents really friendly and polite! Really fast as well, especially the Aus-LAX. 40min from getting off to being outside waiting for our shuttle.

 

I think the only one who gave us a disgusted look was one in the bag screening in LAX. However that quite possibly could have been because I offered to eat Vegemite straight out of the jar to show it wasn't harmful........ didn't work, I lost it

 

Note to self, avoid cruising out of Vancouver.

[Globehoppers]

Fingerprints and or eyescans are not unusual any more. Lots of countries are doing this. We went in and out of Panama twice a few months ago. They did fingerprints on entry and exit...times.

 

Safari in 2011 we were fingerprinted on arrival and departure in Kenya and Tanzania.

[DYKWIA]

Sadly, your observation is correct. Even Americans with Blue passports are receiving additional scrutiny and "discussion" if they have a "funny" name and a darker skin color.

 

We have neither, in fact my wife is distinctly posh compared with her bit of rough (me), she does admit I have the brains though :-)

 

If we get this treatment I shudder to think how others are mistreated

[rumpelstiltskin]

...many of the security staff in the US Airports, particularly those who manage the queues are downright rude and aggressive. That is unacceptable, and demonstrates that either these individuals are completely unsuited for the work they're doing or their training is inadequate, or both.

If the first people who greet you when you arrive in a country can't treat you with any warmth or respect and it's bordering on hostility you come away thinking "they don't want us here so why bother"

 

This behavior has been going on for decades & has nothing to do with terrorism, the current President, etc.

 

The root of the problem is: There are few consequences for the rude employees. Because they are Federal Govt employees, it is very difficult for them to be fired from their positions. Usually, they must be convicted of a crime before they can be removed. Rudeness is not illegal, just obnoxious.

 

And because of that, those types of personalities are attracted to FCS jobs.

It gives them a sense of power & control.

You, the passenger are at their mercy & they know it.

Those types are there only to draw a paycheck with good bennies, & eventually a nice pension.

Inconveniencing passengers is the only bright spot in their miserable existence.

 

Of course, not all federal employees are that way. But sadly, the rude ones really stand out.

 

BTW, they do not discriminate as they treat US citizens just as poorly.

[Texas Jake]

This behavior has been going on for decades & has nothing to do with terrorism, the current President, etc.

 

The root of the problem is: There are few consequences for the rude employees. Because they are Federal Govt employees, it is very difficult for them to be fired from their positions. Usually, they must be convicted of a crime before they can be removed. Rudeness is not illegal, just obnoxious.

 

And because of that, those types of personalities are attracted to FCS jobs.

It gives them a sense of power & control.

You, the passenger are at their mercy & they know it.

Those types are there only to draw a paycheck with good bennies, & eventually a nice pension.

Inconveniencing passengers is the only bright spot in their miserable existence.

 

Of course, not all federal employees are that way. But sadly, the rude ones really stand out.

 

BTW, they do not discriminate as they treat US citizens just as poorly.

 

 

Living in the southwest US, I can verify that this attitude by US Customs and Border Patrol has been getting worse since the 90's. The interior border checks from Texas to California is filled with agents who are on power trips with many seeming eager to abuse US citizens just because they can get away with the behavior.

[Project_gal]

Living in the southwest US, I can verify that this attitude by US Customs and Border Patrol has been getting worse since the 90's. The interior border checks from Texas to California is filled with agents who are on power trips with many seeming eager to abuse US citizens just because they can get away with the behavior.

 

Those of us who are not US citizens/residents can do nothing about this. Surely, it is up to those who are part of the "world's greatest democracy" to act. Why do you put up with it? After all, you are the people paying these government officials.

[ano]

Those of us who are not US citizens/residents can do nothing about this. Surely, it is up to those who are part of the "world's greatest democracy" to act. Why do you put up with it? After all, you are the people paying these government officials.

Worlds greatest democracy? You might be looking at an outdated list.

[Wiltonian]

Worlds greatest democracy? You might be looking at an outdated list.

 

British sense of irony at work, I think! Note the inverted commas! ;)

 

Stuart

[NaughtyNanna]

Sorry confused Aussie here, they finger print & iris scan? or were you being sarcastic .

 

 

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I sailed from Vancouver to Alaska in 2005. There was finger print scanning done then! Also a very long wait and from memory, we Aussies had a separate line. Ironically, the machines were broken that day too!! It was very funny because I had heard from other travellers who had come to Canada via the US (I flew directly into Canada via Hong Kong) that the US customs people were very unfriendly and rude. So when I finally got to the counter and was greeted by a very friendly and personable young man, I made comment that "you US officials aren't as bad as I was expecting". He laughed and said "I am Canadian"!!

[Cafedumonde]

This behavior has been going on for decades & has nothing to do with terrorism, the current President, etc.

 

The root of the problem is: There are few consequences for the rude employees. Because they are Federal Govt employees, it is very difficult for them to be fired from their positions. Usually, they must be convicted of a crime before they can be removed. Rudeness is not illegal, just obnoxious.

 

And because of that, those types of personalities are attracted to FCS jobs.

It gives them a sense of power & control.

You, the passenger are at their mercy & they know it.

Those types are there only to draw a paycheck with good bennies, & eventually a nice pension.

Inconveniencing passengers is the only bright spot in their miserable existence.

 

Of course, not all federal employees are that way. But sadly, the rude ones really stand out.

 

BTW, they do not discriminate as they treat US citizens just as poorly.

 

I agree with this. US border agents have been rude for a long time. I remember traveling a lot in and out of the country in the early nineties and there was one time US immigration detained and questioned us for no reason, no red flag. They were very intimidating. We are US citizens. On the flip side, the other Western country that was and is very tight and intimidating with long waits and lots of questions: England. I suppose the US and England are the 2 countries people most want to move to illegally.

[Duanerice1]

I've traveled quite a bit around the world and I have to say it's a rare occasion when I've encountered a "friendly" Immigration agent. They haven't all been rude but really none that were friendly.

 

I've never had a situation like the OP though, that would be terrible.

 

I don't think it's just US, pretty much most of these jobs give the folks lots of power and it goes to their heads.

[bUU]

I'm not a world traveler, but I have taken a number of international trips in my career. I've never gotten the impression that the US immigration agent was on a power trip. They always seemed to me to be practicing standard and reasonable professional detachment.

[Cruise Junky]

I'm not a world traveler, but I have taken a number of international trips in my career. I've never gotten the impression that the US immigration agent was on a power trip. They always seemed to me to be practicing standard and reasonable professional detachment.

 

Take it from someone that crosses your borders a lot.. A great number are on power trips. I have definitely encountered some nice people but not the majority.

[DebbieMacG]

What are people's experiences of immigration at Anchorage airport and Seward port? We have a b2b Seward-Vancover-Seward booked. :)

[Cruise Junky]

What are people's experiences of immigration at Anchorage airport and Seward port? We have a b2b Seward-Vancover-Seward booked. :)

 

You won't see any at the port. What's your flight route? You'll come through US Immigration upon your first entry to the US at the airport.

[wowprincess]

Every time you cross the boarder from BC to Washington State and being Canadian or othe Non-US citizen you are treated as a criminal. They do not train them to be polite or curtious. A bunch of power abusing and impolite people. No I'm not just talking about my experience but what many many Canadians think and see.

 

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Quite honestly, as a US Citizen I have found the same to be true at the Peace Arch crossing. I seem to always get the rudest American even though they are holding my US Passport and I live 20 minutes from the boarder in Bellingham.

[DebbieMacG]

You won't see any at the port. What's your flight route? You'll come through US Immigration upon your first entry to the US at the airport.

Scotland - Iceland - Anchorage.

 

Does anyone have any experience of immigration at Anchorage airport for non US citizens?

[broberts]

I wonder if many are not reading too much into the their interaction with border protection agents. Inevitably these officers are under pressure to process people as fast as possible without mistake. The cost of a mistake potentially being catastrophic. I suspect too that at times the job can be stunningly boring since the vast majority of crossers will be cleared without issue.