Meg Butler highlights a discussion of ‘the least racist airports’ to enter the U.S.
There’s no question that immigration and customs develops a different culture and reputation at different airports in the U.S. While you’d hope they would apply standards and procedures from their handbook uniformly, there’s a difference between de facto practice and de jure rules.
People learn procedures by watching other people, and by discussing how to go about doing their jobs with colleagues. In other words, customs and immigration procedures are carried out by people.
Copyright: andreyuu / 123RF Stock Photo
When I used to manage immigration for scholars at work our (very high end) immigration counsel used to recommend that Canadians coming to the U.S. for employment never enter the country through the Toronto airport. U.S. authorities there simply took a tougher stance questioning employees.
Twenty years ago Portland airport became known as ‘Deportland’. Asian travel agencies used to advise their customers not to fly to the U.S. via Portland. That contributed to Delta dropping Portland – Taipei and Portland – Seoul although it was never clear to me that was the primary reason those flights didn’t work.
At the time Portland airport’s “deportation rates were demonstrably higher than those in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.”
I don’t have the latest comprehensive sense of airport cultures. I’m a white male U.S. citizen with Global Entry so my own personal experience offers little guidance here, and my own personal experience wouldn’t likely be enough data points in any case — although I can certainly observe what’s going on around me.
For instance I’ve noticed in Tokyo that it’s inadvisable to stand in a customs line to exit the airport behind Indians and South Asians. They will invariably get much more extensive questioning and searches that Japanese and Caucasian travelers.
If I were from Latin America my approach would be to fly through Miami. Even if border officials there were racist I’d largely blend in with other travelers rather than standing out. The odds that racism would cause them to treat that passenger differently that other passengers seems reduced. Similarly I’d think I would prefer to enter the U.S. via Honolulu as an Asian passenger.
What’s been your experience at different U.S. points of entry?
This post is indeed relevant and while there may be differences of opinion on whether or not it should be labeled racism vs discrimination vs profiling the acts still remain.
As a black USA citizen, world traveler, with Global Entry and who consistently travels abroad, I have never been harassed more than in my own country and most specifically Miami. I despise having to re-enter the US via Miami. Almost without fail I am harassed by a customs agent along with having my bags rummaged through. I never and repeat never have had any issues at any of my other international destinations (and there have been hundreds). Also as a point of emphasis I have not experienced any of the same issues at any of the other US entry points either.
Indian passport holder here. I’ve traveled through Middle Eastern and US airports a fair bit. Discrimination based on nationality abounds.
Just check the airline terminals for India-bound flights in AUH or CDG – those are possibly the oldest and visibly most dilapidated terminals in the airport.
Among US airports, DTW is quite OK. I’m surprised no one mentioned EWR. It has the most CBP complaints possibly for any US airport. Whether you’re Indian or Israeli, you can expect to be verbally water boarded. So it’s not a nationality or race thing here.
Indian travelers are considered at high risk for illegal immigration, so they aren’t treated very nicely in many airports in first-world countries.
Indians living in US can’t even transit airside through Germany or UK or Canada without a valid US visa stamp.
Before you say that your US visa stamp should be valid all the time, keep in mind that legal presence in US isn’t linked to validity of your US visa stamp, and that getting a visa stamp requires a trip to India .
Being on EB2 category for green card as an Indian means a 20-30 year wait for my green card, so my travel situation isn’t going to improve any time soon.
I think customs and immigration in a lot of countries equate skin color with nationality and tendency to immigrate illegally, which appears as racism.
Indians should therefore expect a higher level of unjustified and unfair scrutiny while traveling abroad.
A lot of customs officials in first world countries haven’t caught up to the fact that some Indians earn well and live in developed countries.
If Indians transit via FRA, they shouldn’t be surprised if they’re asked why they’re going to India.
As an Indian, I do feel Indians are racist as India is one of the few countries where fairness creams are openly advertised, endorsed by big celebrities and sold without restriction. Africans studying face racism. Brown people can be racist too.
This isn’t to say that racism is justified, but this is issue is a bit more complicated than it appears.
I have Global Entry, and even then, I get stopped and questioned flying back into the country through Miami. Every time. Without fail. Somehow, I will get ‘randomly’ stopped walking through baggage claim to the exit. I am white, so it’s not necessarily a race issue. They just stop and question a lot of people going through. Between the overzealous agents and the absolute logistical nightmare of having to walk a mile just to get to customs, I certainly wouldn’t recommend going through Miami to anyone.
As a Latin American traveler, Miami has by far always been the worst experience for me.
i’ll echo the sentiment of miami. i returned from turks and caicos, saving the bathroom for once landed and will NEVER make that mistake again. upon deplaning i was hounded by an immigration agent and prevented from going to make that crucial bathroom stop, which only made me more frustrated as i was doing the toilet dance while answering asinine questions about why i traveled to turks and caicos for vacation alone (my friends and i were flying to different home destinations and had met up there #rolleyes)
always empty your bladder before getting off the plane to go through immigration. it is a tip!
Reading the comments of people who claim the author is “race-baiting” or using “click bait” reflects the ignorance of those who have not yet been targeted by discrimination at borders. And if you think border agents are all fair and non-discriminatory, check this out:
https://www.propublica.org/article/secret-border-patrol-facebook-group-agents-joke-about-migrant-deaths-post-sexist-memes
I’m not sure why but I was taken aside when I returned from Rome, Italy to DFW in 2017. One question I remember was why I had gone to Italy. I replied a vacation but I thought why not? Is it illegal all of a sudden to go to Italy? It’s there. I wanted to go so I went! I don’t understand people sometimes but I guess they figure there is a method to their madness! I don’t know if racism, sexism or ageism played a part.