Detained crossing the border

[antryg]

Last week I read a news report on how bad security at Logan was, even after all the upgrades and problems that they have had with security from 9/11 to the present. Idiots like these make me ashamed of being a US citizen. It seems all the publicity on their poor work ethic and performance is finally making an impact. they've decided to terrorize innocent people. I hope your lawyer can make a good case to really stick it to the airport and that the Canadian govt. will put the screws to ours. If you need help, let me know and send me the pertinent facts. I'll lobby my representative and Senator to get some redress for you.

[Leonis]

Animal that's shocking mate! I'm appalled and disgusted.

[Cloudbringer]

Animal....all I can say,is that is HORRIBLE! I apologize for having such tunnel-visioned people living in the same country I do! GOOD GRIEF! Let us know how it goes with the lawyers and I hope they get you an OFFICIAL apology from the US government.. that was outrageous!

Sigh... it's crazy when stuff like this happens.

[Donut]

In my experience US Immigration people are the most miserable, humourless and surly bunch of people I've ever come across. Do they give them training to be so rude?

My advice to people I'm travelling with whenever I've been to the States is always 'don't crack a joke' to immigration officers.

And yes - I learnt many years ago to "STAND BEHIND THE LINE SIR!!!!!"

Of cuurse I've never had dealings with British Immigration so they may be as bad.

I met two immigration officers in a bus station in New Orleans. They stood in my way waiting to hear my accent. "Did you just get off of a ship?" - "No I just got off a bus!!!!!!"

[Masklinn]

This is unbelievable...
This has grew quite out of proportion

I hope your lawyers will be successful in, at least, getting you some kind of official apologies.

[Davros]

Originally posted by Donut: In my experience US Immigration people are the most miserable, humourless and surly bunch of people I've ever come across. Do they give them training to be so rude? My advice to people I'm travelling with whenever I've been to the States is always 'don't crack a joke' to immigration officers. And yes - I learnt many years ago to "STAND BEHIND THE LINE SIR!!!!!" Of cuurse I've never had dealings with British Immigration so they may be as bad. I met two immigration officers in a bus station in New Orleans. They stood in my way waiting to hear my accent. "Did you just get off of a ship?" - "No I just got off a bus!!!!!!"

Least favourite immigartion people :
1) US
2) UK
3) Surinam

You are right about the US - stand behind the line, have your form filled out 100% correctly, never crack a joke, and don't poke fun at the surly attitude. In Miami, after waiting 70 mins in the endless queue, my boss had missed one square to tick. He had a pen in his pocket - they wouldn't let him tick the box on the spot - he got ordered all the way to the back of the queue and missed his conecting flight to LA. Don't you dare be a smart ass and object - just get the hell out of here to the back of the line.

The UK guys - I got a very friendly guy the first guy I visited there. He wanted to engage me in converstaion - over here for 10 weeks huh - hope you have a great time - tons of things to see - play a bit of golf do you - what's this - you are an ENGINEER??? Admit it - you are over here to work - admit it, admit it, admit it, admit it, no-one gets 10 weeks holiday - admit you are looking for work (ad infinitum).

Surinam - it is just a 90 minute process to leave the country - 6 queues and 2 interviews (one by the tresuary and one by the military) to get to the departure loungue.

Back on topic - that is terrible Animal - hope you sue there ass off.

[Melusine]

Originally posted by wellard: But I wonder at the iq of these guys. If your *implant* was a bomb and you were a suicide bomber did they take you to a hopital full of women and children to examine you? like d'oh what if the bomb is on a timer? How would they explain that to the press.... [img]graemlins/stunned.gif[/img]

Exactly Wellard, well noted!

Animal, I'm really sorry you had to go through that! I flew from Glasgow to Amsterdam recently and I did notice that security had tightened a lot. Someone went through every INCH of my purse - opening my wallet, looking inside the case in which I keep my glasses, opening lipstick, even examining tampons for crying out loud. On the way to Glasgow, someone examined the content of my luggage with the same amount of scrutiny.
Even something that's so unimportant in comparison to what you went through made me feel really bad - almost makes you feel guilty, you know? Like "why do they seem so convinced about this? I didn't pack anything I'm not allowed to did I?? Did some idiot put something in my pack?"
I cannot even begin to imagine what they put YOU through. I'm very sorry to hear it mate. It's outrageous and completely ridiculous the way you've been treated! Especially the fact that you had written proof of the pins in your back did it for me. If you could show them that, WHY WHY WHY wasn't that enough evidence?
Good luck with trying to get the rude idiots to at least give you a decent apology!

[ 02-20-2003, 07:20 AM: Message edited by: Melusine ]

[harleyquinn]

Animal, I hope you sue their arses off. In fact, I hope anyone who's harrased and violated by the US custom's and security does so that the government finally realizes that going to these extremes and they're current policy of "Guilty until proven innocent" just won't do! Good luck, keep us posted.

Slightly off topic, I want to know if any lawyers can tell me, if this ever happened to me, can I refuse a strip search/cavity search, at least until I had a lawyer fighting for me? I wanna know because as someone who was violated and abused in high school by a now ex-boyfriend, I wouldn't be able to handle what Animal went through. It took me years to get over what happened to me, and something like this would push me over the edge. Never mind the fact that with all the technology we have today (like x-rays), I don't see any need for this type of invasion of a person's body except to humiliate the person.

[Sir Krustin]

Animal, I'd be furious myself but I wouldn't expect much from a lawsuit. Those customs guys can pretty much do what they want and get away with it.

If they decide to dissasemble your car at customs, even when they don't find anything more often than not they'll leave all the pieces in a heap and you have exactly one hour to clean up the mess and leave or they confiscate everything. This actually happened to somebody I know - he barely was able to get the partially assembled vehicle on the road after effectively being detained for most of the day. No apology, no legal recourse.

Good luck making the morons suffer.

[Epona]

Animal, that is terrible! I hope you can at least make those bastards apologise. You would have thought that having X-rays and a letter from your surgeon would have been acceptable, it's not as if you weren't expecting it.

I once made the mistake of going through airport security wearing steel toe capped work boots - I was on my way to an archaeological dig and my luggage was full of site essentials - bags of nails, microscopes, spirit levels, that sort of thing, no room for my work boots so I had to wear them. It caused me a bit of trouble, but nothing like that.

I have to say the worst I've ever experienced was in Cairo airport. They have no customs, but their immigration officers are complete bastards. I was travelling with a group of friends from London, one of whom was of Indian descent, but he'd been born in London and had a UK passport. He was detained for hours while they questioned and threatened him in a back room, racist shits. Fortunately he managed to get away without even having to pay a bribe, thanks to the fact that the 4 of us waiting for him started kicking up merry hell and got on the phone to the British Consulate in Cairo. Even on the way *out* of the country he was questioned at the airport - 'are you sure you're from London, you look like you're from Bombay, where are you really from?'

I'm really sorry to hear you had to go through all that.