Welcome to the US, please be paranoid

I can't help thinking you have mistaken paranoia for people, (immigration officials) simply being fed up with you. The usual immigration forms only tend to ask for information, much of which is in your head: Name, address, date of birth, occupation, purpose of travel, passport number etc. Not that difficult?
In the end one of them was helpful and was sympathetic, so that's one bad one, one good one. Instead of reflecting on the good one, your inclination was to brand The United States Paranoid based on your this experience and one other experience 3 years previously. I'm not convinced that your extreme conclusion is valid based on this.

"Several of the comments posted here seem to contravene "OUR RULES" in the "Please read this before you post" area. One of these rules states "BE NICE - Messages posted that are offensive either to an individual, group or company, or that contain an excessive number of swear words will be removed. Try to be nice and criticize constructively!". Does this site have a moderator?

It sounds as if Jane and her party were treated unnecessarily unpleasantly. Presumably the form was I-94W Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure Form. At the top it states "Type or print legibly with pen in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. USE ENGLISH". No mention of pen colour. I can see no reason why the form would deter a terrorist, unless it explodes on writing a lie on it.
Mike P 05-May-2008 17:03"

Kindly use your own ID and stop passing yourself as me.
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Several of the comments posted here seem to contravene "OUR RULES" in the "Please read this before you post" area. One of these rules states "BE NICE - Messages posted that are offensive either to an individual, group or company, or that contain an excessive number of swear words will be removed. Try to be nice and criticize constructively!". Does this site have a moderator?

It sounds as if Jane and her party were treated unnecessarily unpleasantly. Presumably the form was I-94W Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure Form. At the top it states "Type or print legibly with pen in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. USE ENGLISH". No mention of pen colour. I can see no reason why the form would deter a terrorist, unless it explodes on writing a lie on it.

It is exactly this strict control that has ensured no further attacks on the States since 9/11. Compare that with our (and other European countries) ridiculously lax border control. How many terrorist attacks and attempts has Europe seen in the last few years? Dozens. I forget which American politician recently said that the greatest threat to the Western world is European grown terrorism, but he was spot on. Whatever you may think of American, it cannot be denied that when they recognise a problem, they sort it out.

Sorry, but have to agree with the last two comments. Maybe if the UK immigration was as good as this then we wouldn't be in the state we're in and maybe they wouldn't let some of the thicko's back in again when they venture abroad.

Who completes a form in red pen in capital letters unless it asks for block writing? Do you do this when back home? It is ignorant and rude.

Reads like a bunch of brain donors on day release to me.

Inspite of having 10 hours to fill in a form, you still got it wrong, and had to be diverted to the area for thickos who can't fill forms in, at immigration.

My guess is they were not going to make allowances for you because you were thickos and America has plenty of it's own and it does not need any more. I don't blame them, if you weren't the bunch of thickos you obviously are this would not have been an issue. You must have been particularly dense though as they had to come to your rescue and finish the darned thing off for you anyway!!

However, in your defence if the vast majority of passengers managed to fill the form in incorrectly then it could be argued that the form was so difficult that it needed changing rather than than the people filling it in. If you were in a minority that in itself speaks volumes. I mean people like you just blunder on through life and just expect to be able to leave it to someone else to clear your flaming mess up after you. I think the expression for you is "Wasters!"

The US has had two buildings destroyed in a highly sophisticated terrorist attack in which thousands of people were killed. That alone is enough to make them paranoid.

They support and sponsor the rogue state of Israel and its actions against its neighbours, and are globally detested for doing so, and this makes them a potential target for further terrorism.

It's no wonder they are tight on security. My concern is that they are doing it the wrong way, placing too many resources at the big gateways and making life difficult for ordinary folk, whilst the real nasty guys slip in the back way.

The USA isn't perfect, far from it. But, we need the USA if the world is to have any future. Yes, George Bush is an absolute disaster, but don't judge the USA by one failed President. I love travelling there - the Americans are generally a great bunch of people who tend to be more optimistic than us miserable Europeans. Ok, they have loads of illegal immigrants, but the emphasis they place on border checks for tourists etc is quite appropriate.

Its like that for people visiting the UK sometimes as well! My wife is from North America and has Indefinite Leave to Remain. Every time we come back into the UK she gets grilled harshly at customs and it takes forever. She's a tough lady, but they've made her cry on numerous occasions. She has to fill in landing cards and show proof of things too. Citizens of a country aren't treated like that. Its still not as strict as America though.

democracyintheUKisbroken - that is so funny. The US only knows about it's own version of democracy and whilst they have imbecile's like Bush in power no one will take them seriously. And as for the US teaching the rest of us a lesson - no thanks. We at least know how to spell potato on this side of the pond!

LoL democracyintheUKisbroken
The USA has the most illegal immigrants in the world, the Mexicans sure flood in ok!.