U.S. Immigration. WTF?

[KennDodd]

Why are they so rude?

Sorry, it was London to Houston, a 10-hour flight. But man, they were cunts on that flight. Never again.

United, either. NFW.

People do know that BA don't run border security at LHR right?

Hard to tell @ImpracticalCape

I think the BA comments were just a general whinge about the shittiness of BA and their charming staff.

The border police sound like they are doing their job properly in addressing illegal immigration

They can do their job without shouting at people doing everything right and making children cry surely?

It was obviously an upsetting experience but US border officials have making rather a lot of children cry at the southern border recently in much more serious situations. Making children cry is an unpleasant consequence of law enforcement.

Comparing this to the police. If I had a routine interaction with the police in this country, absolutely I would expect them to be polite and not shout, as long as i was compliant. If I was stopped driving and asked for a breath test for example, or stop and search in the street, if I'd been shouted at and my children were crying I would complain about it. They should treat all people with respect, even law breakers until given reason not to. I do expect law enforcement to be civil, why would I not? I don't want my children to learn to be frightened of people they may need in a crisis.

Maybe it's a cultural thing? Are the posters defending this sort of behaviour American? Maybe they view things differently and think the public should be afraid of law enforcement and I think we shouldn't? American and Americans I have always found to be lovely and don't encounter this sort of aggression or rudeness outside of immigration. It's not just one experience either, although this last one was the worse.

My experience of US immigration is a marked contrast to a lot of the posts on here. Friendly, polite and helpful is the way I would describe them.

In fact, I don't think I've ever come across a rude immigration official anywhere.

I would agree with the shitty BA comments though.

Not American. Just respectful of other democratic countries' law enforcement. And a bit scared of all border controls. And mindful that my making a drama or giving attitude slows the whole thing up and pusses everyone off.

"And mindful that my making a drama or giving attitude slows the whole thing up and pusses everyone off".

What slows the whole thing up to my mind is the lack of immigration staff on arrival. I have seen far more many empty immigration booths both for US and non residents on arrival into the US than occupied. These factors are the main contributors to people feeling miffed and I have seen some of my fellow pax (understandably to my mind) become annoyed. Not all people are staying at the destination they've arrived into and many need to catch connecting flights.

(I would think that none of the pax who were in the immigration lines at Houston the evening I arrived made their connections because these were so very long. Two staff to process all these people is going to take hours).

The whole process on arrival into the US and Canada is inefficient and a result of cost cutting because the authorities are not willing to pay extra staff to work.

Not American. Just respectful of other democratic countries' law enforcement. And a bit scared of all border controls. And mindful that my making a drama or giving attitude slows the whole thing up and pusses everyone off.

So good I said it twice

Oyoy - I found Israeli guards a lot better than UK ones. I was about to chuck away our bottled water last time we were there, and they asked why - I had just assumed it wouldn't be allowed, but they had a good laugh when they heard about the UK rules, especially regarding baby milk, etc...

They are so unfriendly. We were incredibly polite to the officer checking our documents and he was... not. Plus the queue! Good god.

Any tips on getting through quickly or quicker?

Fly via Ireland and clear immigration on that side.

Any tips on getting through quickly or quicker? some airports seem quicker than others other than that, I don't think there is a way to reduce waiting times.
I don't know if first class lounge service/escort could help?

I flew through Shannon last week, no queue at all at immigration and reasonably pleasant officer. Toronto had a chatty officer (although I think he was actually probing to see if I was working illegally since I didn’t then have permission to work in the US) but massive, confusing queues. Entering through an airport with few international flights is usually painless, Providence used to be great but they stopped the Norwegian flight we used to get that landed there. I’ve always found Chicago horrible but haven’t come in there recently. Boston isn’t usually bad for ESTA holders.

My in-laws had airport assistance and were taken through the diplomatic line at immigration so skipped the queue. DH has Global Entry but that’s not an option for most people.

Any tips on getting through quickly or quicker?

Global entry is hands down worth it for reducing wait times but it’s for frequent travellers not the odd family holiday- it’s a lengthy application and you need to be interviewed by TSA.

I’ve done the Ireland connection in the past and I’ve found it adds more time to your journey that you’d typically wait at the border (even before I had global entry), although they were quite nice there.

First class gets you off the plane first so if your power walk you’re ahead of all your fellow passengers- no special line though!

A quieter airport rather than a big connection hub is probably quicker but I’ve never tried that.

I think you have to be a US resident for global entry.

Yes you have to be a resident for global entry. We're applying soon.

They do let a few countries apply as well as residents though. The UK is one I think.

Although I think they apply through the TTP. (Trusted traveller.)