Immigration Scaring Tourists Away from the US

I was in the US last November, and it was quite brutal. I brought over some varieties of Irish breads and cakes, and the *******s at security opened them up pawing all over them, just because...

The American people are generally friendly.

 

American airports are a ****ing nightmare. An absolute nightmare. I thought airports over here were quite bad, but there it's silly.

But yeah, I echo what I've read here. I thought that the American people, on the whole, were quite friendly. Except this one guy in a car when I walked out into a road without looking. It was our first day there and this opened his window and shouted 'You meatball!' which we all thought was absolutely ****ing hilarious. It's like "Yep, we're in America ".

 

Up to this point Canadians have been spared most of the b/s that others have to go through with US customs but it really has been getting worse. The last time I went down to Chicago on business the US customs guy gave me a pretty hard time. If they keep hassling business travelers for no good reason they are going to see a lot more commerce go elsewhere.

 

The problem is that I do think a certain percentage of Americans would be happy to have the US free of foreigners. Though I was generally treated well, my accent did provoke some hostile reactions from some people, especially in the rural parts.

 

And don't forget the great form travellers iirc still have to fill on the aircraft before entering the US, with tough questions like:

• Do you plan to commit a serious crime or terrorist act when in the US --- if yes, make your cross here ...
• Are you a member of a communist party? ---
• Are you a member of a terrorist organisation? ---

As if any bad guy at his senses would answer truthfully. But then, probably Mohammed Atta, had he survived and been brought to trial, would have also been charged of lying on an immigration form, which I'm confident is at least a misdemeanor. 6 months extra on top of his 6.000 death sentences, and no chance for parole! That'll teach him.

 

Talk about misplaced priorities. The government hassles air travelers unnessecarily while the border with Mexico is like a sieve.

 

Which is hilariously ironic as America is a nation of immigrants and foreigners anyway. Not many people in American can place their roots there, so hostility towards foreigners is pretty comical

 

I remember a case two years ago, where a greek university professor, who was invited by an american university to speak in a symposium, was arrested in N.Y. airport as a possible terrorist because he was a member of a resistance group 30 years ago during the colonels' dictatoship.

 

Followed by Barmy's reply of:

Is exactly what I thought of when I read Cuch's post. While it is definitely unfortunate if you were treated poorly, all I can say is the people who think this way are f'ing idiots. Please do not judge us based on the action of an ignorant few. Of course if they happen to be Native American Indians (of course you could argue that even they, too, were immigrants, but at least they got here "first"), then I suppose they could feel that they themselves aren't foreigners.

 

To be fair though, Cuch, if you went around here saying 'Bless mah lucky charms!' I'd probably want to plant the nut on too! . Nah, Irish are sound. I like Irish people they're well friendly. You've never had a pint of Guiness until you've had one in Ireland let me tell you.

 

My experience with American airports is very mixed, the appereance of security and mass checks is there but the reality seems to be a bit lacking. The first time I landed in the US ever I just waltzed through all security checks because I simply had no time as my flight was late. A simple chat with the luggage handlers enabled me to skip each and every security and custom check. Although I appreciate that this enabled me to catch my connection it makes me wonder whether all the checks and blustering is for real or just for show.

When I was over there I spoke to an American who usually lives in Germany and according to him the security measures are a lot more stringent there and to be fair that is true in my experience as well. The only difference is that there seems to be a few more "silly" things in the US like those forms and such which really doesnt seem to fill any purpose. Having someone check through your shoe happens everywhere.

 

actually i think thats commen practise, to avoide animal deseases being spread from one continent to another. to make it easy its illigal to bring in any kind of foodstuff.
the same rules applies in russia for that mather

 

If thats the case, why didn't they confiscate the breads, rather than ruining them? The smirk on the officials face didn't lead me to think it was standard practice.

 

Must say I have no intention of going to the US in the foreseeable future because of their crazy customs requirements.

It's not bad enough that they're doing it with their own country but they're flexing their economic muscles and bullying other countries to do the same otherwise they won't deal with them. Frankly I think the world should call their bluff and do things as normal.

In NZ news we've just started implimenting a new security system at our international airports and the fliers are the ones who will have to foot this massive bill, what's more there's an extra hour expected delay for departures and possibly arrivals due to the new system. Now, for me that's just horrible because I fly to Thailand yearly to see my father and that extra hour means I have to stay awake an extra hour and said flight often takes 14 hours... making me even more dead upon arrival.

All because some bastards crashed into some towers in America the other side of the world needs to suffer.

 

What really gets my goat is that it's not just visitors to the US. I also applies to people merely passing through. You have all the forms to fill in, all the security checks and mug-shots, only to sit in a secure room for 2 hours whilst they refuel your plane.

Don't ever make the mistake of thinking the security personal are in any way personable.

 

How you get treated is heavily dependent on which country you come from.

Case(s) in point:

My friend (Malaysian, chinese, female, 20 at the time) wanted to go to Puerto Rico from Australia and had to make a stop at Los Angeles for a transit (the transit was immediate and she would not spend the night over) so she had to get a temporary US visa for that brief stop over. She got to the US embassy in Australia, spent 5 hours waiting, went in for an interview, got asked 3 questions and was rejected right away. She finally gave up on her plans.

My cousin (Malaysian, chinese) is studying in Singapore and got a scholarship to study 6 months in America. He got a visa and flew over to America from Singapore. Upon reaching, he was stopped by immigration was not allowed to follow the rest of the other students to Boston. He had to undergo more tests and interviews (despite already having a visa). Thankfully, he managed to keep the visa and continue his studies.

Both cases were most probably due to the fact that we come from Malaysia (a muslim controlled country) despite the fact that they aren't even muslims.

 

@abomination my country did the same, do to the fear of terror in form of liqueds, your no longer allowed to bring more then 100ml liquid on board of a plane. this and other new rules has let to extreme longer waiting in the airport and its just so stupid, if people really want to commit terror this will hardly help.

guards who has to serach thousands of handbags daily for stupid liquid containes and chech that your personal stuff is put in the right bags etc, are bored guards who will overlook the real danger while trying to concentrate on rutine.

[ March 21, 2007, 21:37: Message edited by: Equester ]

 

But you gotta admit that 'getting tough on liquids' sounds resolute and determined. Combine it with the war on hankys (which can be abused to I don't know what yet, but ... better safe than sorry) and your super-safe.

 

I <3 security theater.