This is why I have zero interest in travelling to or through the US as a tourist. The risk to reward ratio is too great for me - there's much better places to go visit where there's a smaller chance of being fucked over by a border patrol agent.
Just hand over your papers. As a tourist people will be nice enough, but you should expect searches and to obey authority like if you were visiting China or Russia.
This kind of thing happens to residents who are trying to push for change in their country and accepting personal risks.
I've been to the US plenty times on business, and once as a tourist - every time the border guards were deeply unpleasant and behaved like egomanical bullies. Maybe I've just been unlucky, but a lot of people seem to have a similar tale.
I should also add, I've been to dozens of countries and never experienced anything like this.
Same experience here. Standing in a queue for 3 or 4 hours and occasionally getting shouted at by aggressive guards with their hand on their gun holster because you had the temerity to use your phone to let your colleagues/family/hotel etc to let them know why you're 3 hours delayed despite the plane landing on time. Then you finally reach the booth and are given Interrogation Lite (tm) about why you are there, if you have a return ticket paid for, where you are staying and generally eyed suspiciously before being finger-printed and having mugshots taken like you've just been arrested.
But you know, welcome to the land of the free!
FWIW, Global Entry for non-US citizens has made it so much better. You just whizz right through in about 30 seconds without having to deal with anyone apart from just give them a receipt from the machine.
Wow that's a relatively small list. I was surprised to see Australia not on it, especially considering we have our special E3 visa, and other countries like UK and Singapore are on it.
The UK has a similar program, Registered Traveller [1], which has a more exhaustive country list. Having an Australian passport, I often get curious looks when I use the smart gates, but I'm always able to go through (though I am always nervous it won't work and ill look like a silly foreigner for going I the wrong queue).
Not sure what these countries have in common that gets them on this list:
Citizens of Argentina,
Citizens of India,
Citizens of Colombia,
Citizens of United Kingdom,
Citizens of Germany,
Citizens of Panama,
Citizens of Singapore,
Citizens of South Korea,
Citizens of Switzerland,
Citizens of Taiwan,
Mexican nationals
Learned today that in Mexico to be a citizen one must be Mexican National, 18 years of age, and have an "honest way of living".
I can concur. As a U.S. citizen I find that foreign immigration agents treat me better when I'm entering their country, than American agents do when I'm returning home.
Or, I just don't go. I understand the risks are incredibly minor (and the negatives probably overplayed), but there's just so many other places to go to that aren't as problematic as the US at the moment. Border guards with a bad reputation, government with a bad reputation, gun policy with a bad reputation, all things that I'm happy not entertaining as a tourist.
When it comes to tourism, the US certainly has a PR problem at the moment. Among my (admittedly, incredibly privileged) group of friends, all have expressed reluctance to visit the US in the past couple of years.
I went to the U.S. recently, and apart from having to go endless times through the x-ray machine and removing shoes, belt, etc (which I haven't experienced in other countries), it wasn't too bad.
They did do a thorough questioning when applying for the visa, but the border itself was pretty easy.
And once inside, people were overall very friendly.
As a Kickstarter backer, I paid somewhat less than their current prices for carbon fiber buckles. I also have a couple of their metal-buckle belts, and I definitely prefer the carbon fiber ones.
I find India far worse; that country is so paranoid compared to other places I have been. The US (and definitely China which, in my experience of going there often, has very friendly border guards) are a walk in the park compared.
When I had to go to India (Kolkata) in 2015 as part of my job, the process was slow and frustrating. I had to apply for a business visa and answer a myriad of questions, including whether I or anyone from my family had any ties to Pakistan, my religion, my travel history, names of various family members, political affiliations, fingerprints, the whole lot. It then took 3 months to get my passport back, with the visa added. The opening hours for the embassy were 10:00-12:00, weekdays only, and I had to go there personally, I couldn't send someone else to pick it up.
Before landing, we had to fill out more forms, including one that basically said "do you have ebola? Yes/No", which I found rather entertaining. After landing, we had to fill out even more forms, including whether we were bringing in any weapons, fireworks, satellite phones, that sort of thing. I'm probably forgetting a few more random forms I had to fill out, there were so many of them.
Yes, which is why for me it is the worst. Comparing with Sri Lanka, Cambodia, China or, well mostly anywhere else I have been, it is frustrating, bureaucratic and with an ‘everyone is a criminal’ air.
