Immigration Scaring Tourists Away from the US

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In the face of all this discussion regarding excessive security measures, I'd just like to chime in with my ...

Kudos to the good folks at Sydney, Australia. Their major Kingswood Smith Airport is one of the MOST hassle free and streamlined airports I have ever gone through, and I've been through a few! Apart from some poor management of that HUGE queue at immigration during peak hours, going through there is a breeze!

 

I doubt it was their intent to maliciously ruin your food. The last time I went on international travel, they went through a package of name-brand chips and ended up throwing them away. It happens; they're extremely picky with foods. Heaven help you if you try to bring a piece of fruit on board.

Can you blame them? Their job revolves around dealing with stressed, exhausted, frustrated people all day, many who bark their opinions on how ridiculous the customs are directly to the security personnel as if they had some sort of control over national policies. Give me a week with that job and I'd be rough around the edges, too.

It doesn't seem so stupid to me to search liquids when common liquids only recently had an attempted use for explosives. What is this "real danger" that they'll miss by searching for potentially harmful concealables? "Real danger" will never be a defined black and white picture. So, they have to do what they can and go through the routine precautions in hopes of finding something eye-catching.

Yes, airport security is a mess and a hassle, and it was made this way thanks to a few psychotic bastards. It only takes a handful of people to ruin things for the rest of us. That said, policies are there for a reason. Regardless of whether or not some of them seem overboard to me, I'd rather wait an extra few minutes in line and have my bag needlessly searched than worry about the safety of my family due to a lenient security.

 

I have to agree, somewhat reluctantly, that American airport security procedures are irrational. I have an acquaintance who was stopped and taken aside for an intensive round of questioning, despite being a rather high-level official in the U.S. State Department, with a diplomatic passport in hand to prove it.

Returning from Japan a couple of years back I was methodically searched at several points prior to getting on the plane, but this was done with great courtesy, not just great thoroughness. I don't think I'm particularly threatening - but then, I was going back to the U.S., and maybe during that 5 day stay in Japan something warped my moral instincts, eh?

I don't know a good answer. Having worked in law enforcement, I doubt it is actually possible to stop a really determined murderer. But I suppose they have to try. Wish they didn't have to be such jerks about it, though.

P.S. - a brother-in-law who went to Germany last summer did mention you haven't been body-searched until a German police officer has searched you -

 

You know, oddly enough this topic had encouraged me to avoide going to America as a Tourist.

From what I can gather from your accounts it seems they are trying to scare people away. (And I dont mean just terrorists)

 

The MAJORITY of travellers are not stressed, exhauted or frustrated. This tends to occur when there are flight delays, and it's usually the airline carrier staff who have to deal with disgruntled members of the public - not the security staff. From what I can tell, the carrier staff seem to do a good job of not getting riled themselves.

 

Wow, where do you go? Must be nice at those airports...

Um...if you mean "deal with disgruntled members of the public"...regarding the delays themselves, I'd agree with you, but the security staff STILL have to speak with these people who were annoyed by someone else. 'Just because it ain't my fault don't mean it ain't my problem.'

Well, basically that IS their job - more and more - to deal with upset people. I think the source of the problem with air travel is far too many differing groups of people with widely differing goals and desires. (e.g. Passengers who want cheap, comfortable, fast and convenient travel, versus airline owners who want increased traffic with similarly increased revenue but yet with fewer expenses on things like taxes, fees, maintenance costs, and so forth...)

MY experiences in air travel into and out of the US have been fairly good regarding Customs (the fresh food bit is common sense and IS commnonplace all over the world to restrict the spread of little things like, oh, I dunno Bovine Encephalitis ) with understood rules and no undue delays.

So far, I seem to be the only person who's had any interaction with US Immigration (a completely different issue than mere customs & excise) and that was pre-9/11...lost my case file for 18 months, completely unavailable at the TOLL number I had to call for that year-and-a-half and then told me to start over...

 

Perhaps not the majority, but that doesn't really matter. Dealing with upset people as a security guard is undoubtedly routine, probably because there are hundreds of factors which can cause a person's mood to swing to the wrong direction given the nature of airports. Asking a person to remove his or her shoes, empty out a handbag, or randomly searching someone is, in many cases, the only spark that's needed to ignite a flame of an already stressed passenger, and I've seen that happen on more than one occasion.

 

Sounds to me like air-travel is becoming a very bad choise for travellers. Long waiting times, invading security-measures, cocky personel, high prices, lost baggages, and the Infamous Risk of Missing Something-You-Shouldn't-Had-Missed (a lá "go to jail" -card or "spend a night in the street" -veto). Luckily, though, railway is always a solid choise.

Oh, and here is something for you all to think on if you are going to US to get acquinted with their culture.

 

Again, America's immigration has proven my point.

My cousin (read my previous post above) has finished his studies in Boston and was going to fly back to Singapore. AGAIN, he has been stopped by immigration and was not allowed to fly back along with his fellow students. He was detained for a few days apparently because he was stopped before when he entered the US and was blacklisted by them. They claim it was due to security reason and suspect him to be a security risk or something (ok, i know it sounds silly, but thats what I heard). Finally he managed to fly back with his lecturer after being delayed for a few days.

 

Just looking at the title of this thread I said "so what?" It's not like the U.S. relies on foreign tourism to stay afloat, economically. They can afford to be paranoid and obnoxious to travellers.

That said, I'm also thinking about the fact that if you choose to travel to a country, the onus is on you to prove to them that you plan on compliance with their laws -- if you are a visitor they have every right to screen you. Now some of the screening is pretty extreme, but we're all over them if they miss something and something bad happens.

 

I think the main problem is that most of the screening is for show with no real purpose and wouldnt catch the people it is supposed to catch.

 

Joacquin - exactly!

 

I'd say that of the many activities the U.S. is presently engaged in that are eliminating worldwide goodwill toward the red, white and blue, immigration / entry policies are low on the list of severity!

But I do see your point. America feels it is under attack and is reacting accordingly. But the question that comes into my mind is this: "IS America under attack?"

 

Screening is one thing. Abuse is another. You'd think it would be an obvious line, but a very large number of stories (including some in this thread) make it quite obvious that immigration officials can get away with being abusive and pass it off as "just doing their job" (worse excuse I've ever heard, and I've heard it plenty)

And why should people have to submit to abusive treatment reserved for criminals in order to in fact prove that they are not criminals? Why can't immigration officials treat people with at least a modicum of decency? I've been stopped in Edinburgh airport several times for any number of reason - routine security checks, hand luggage inspection, additional passport control, checks to see if anything I'm carrying has been in contact with explosive substances - you name it. Not ONE time have I felt as if I was being suspected of anything. The security staff were extremely friendly all the way through. There is no excuse for the kind of treatment that Faye and Cúchulainn (and many, many other friends and relative) describe.