Unfriendly CBP officers

Old Mar 29, 2014, 11:44 pm
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Thumbs down Unfriendly CBP officers

Hi,

I have been working an living in California for about 3 years now, and per year I travel about 3 times to Germany.

Each and every time I reenter the states and go through immigration (visitor line), the CBP officer is rude and commanding. He immediately gives you the feeling as if you were not welcome here.
Not once did I have a friendly or at least neutral and professional acting officers.

To what degree does one have to tolerate their behavior? Can you request to speak to their supervisor or is this not a good idea? Is their any way to complain or give feedback to the CBP so they would start improving the training of the officers in how to respectfully treat visitors?

This really bums me out every time. I'll be so happy when I get GlobalEntry
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Old Mar 29, 2014, 11:49 pm
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Originally Posted by goforgold99
Hi,

I have been working an living in California for about 3 years now, and per year I travel about 3 times to Germany.

Each and every time I reenter the states and go through immigration (visitor line), the CBP officer is rude and commanding. He immediately gives you the feeling as if you were not welcome here.
Not once did I have a friendly or at least neutral and professional acting officers.

To what degree does one have to tolerate their behavior? Can you request to speak to their supervisor or is this not a good idea? Is their any way to complain or give feedback to the CBP so they would start improving the training of the officers in how to respectfully treat visitors?

This really bums me out every time. I'll be so happy when I get GlobalEntry
The CBP officer is in command, so he can be commanding.

Rudeness need not be tolerated; you should request a supervisor if you encounter rudeness, but that might (illegally) prevent you from getting GE and force you to go the ombudsman route.

You haven't specific about what incidents of rudeness. With more information, you might get some better advice; some people here might disagree with your opinion that the CBP officer was rude.

In lieu of a follow up post, my suggestion is to grin and bear it until you get GE. Which will be good training, because then you really do have to grin and bear it once you have GE.
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 6:46 am
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Border control people tend to rarely be friendly to most visitors. But rudeness from such types at airports tend to be more common in the US than in most other countries to which I've been -- that said, I rarely encounter a rude CBP employee and I encounter the rude types less frequently than I encounter friendly CBP employees. More commonly, CBP employees are non-friendly and non-rude to most passengers, but the exceptions are numerous enough and memorable enough and tolerated enough by CBP management that the CBP gets a worse reputation -- probably in large part due to the slower processing times and the more frequent questioning of passengers than is the case in many other countries.
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 7:20 am
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There is a fine line between non-friendly and rude. It's also one where the less interaction the better.

Given the nature of the system, I would think long and hard about filing a complaint about anything short of actual mistreatment. Databases have long memories and I do not believe for a minute that there is not bleed over between complaints and standard record-keeping.
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 7:45 am
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 8:49 am
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I have never encountered a rude agent, usually they are pretty neutral in their demeanor. But they would probably say the same about me. Some may consider that neutral rude but not to me. I present my passport and answer their questions saying as little as possible. Rarely are there any pleasantries other than a simple hello. Some will say welcome home and I thank them for that and go on my way.
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 9:02 am
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Miami airport is getting a reputation for the rudest customs guys.
Even for a mere connecting flight through MIA they treat
you like you are immigrating from the East Bloc.
I don't get how such abuse can go on. 911 was 13 years ago, time to move
on and get modern.
Read for yourself. The word "nightmare" keeps coming up in the reviews.
http://www.airlinequality.com/Airpor..._forum/mia.htm
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 9:02 am
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Originally Posted by FlyingUnderTheRadar
I have never encountered a rude agent, usually they are pretty neutral in their demeanor. But they would probably say the same about me. Some may consider that neutral rude but not to me. I present my passport and answer their questions saying as little as possible. Rarely are there any pleasantries other than a simple hello. Some will say welcome home and I thank them for that and go on my way.
+1 - CBP are not marketers or sales people. They simply have a job to do. Same thing for the individual presenting themselves. Keep it short & professional. If you want someone to fawn over you, go to a luxury store.
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 9:22 am
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I just want them to stamp my passport and let me go. No pleasantries required.
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 9:23 am
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"They simply have a job to do."

Part of that job is treating people with a little respect. Remember, we learned from Nuremberg, "just taking orders" or "just doing a job" isn't a sufficient excuse for people with badges to treat others (in this case cash paying customers) like garbage. And believe me, in airports like Miami, the customs
officers do treat people like garbage.
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 10:20 am
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Originally Posted by goforgold99
He immediately gives you the feeling as if you were not welcome here.
That's because you're not welcome here. But don't feel bad, citizens get the same treatment as you, and are obviously not welcome here either.
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 10:41 am
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I find this so frustrating. Tourism is so important to the United States. We want every visitor to feel welcome from the minute they arrive. Fourteen million Americans work in tourism, and it has a USD1.8 trillion impact.

We cannot afford to treat our guests this way.

Sadly, the US is not alone. There are snippy, difficult customs and immigration staff in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, and Israel, among other countries with massive tourism economies. But that's not an excuse.

Although I use Global Entry, I've largely been treated well by US CBP at land and air crossings. I can only think of only three incidents with power-tripping or difficult CBP officers. All three cases were at Washington/Dulles. And one weird guy at Newark. I've encountered friendly, sincere "welcome homes" at Newark, JFK, and Houston. And I've also been treated well at Dulles. In other words, it's neither universal nor predictable.

My view is that you "catch more flies with honey." A friendlier, more conversational customs and immigration officer is far more likely to identify someone whose story "doesn't check out." The indifferent or hostile official is too busy thinking about himself or herself to notice a problem.

Since Customs and Border Protection seems uncontrollable, it seems like it's up to the rest of us to ensure that visitors are treated well. Maybe we can compensate a little for the disrespect they receive at the airport.
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 10:41 am
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Originally Posted by Airbridge
If you are LIVING and WORKING in California as a VISITOR he has every right to be rude as what you are doing is illegal.

Which is it? Are you a visitor or are you working and living in CA illegally? It is a little difficult to form an opinion with the conflicting information given by you.
Without a greencard or citizenship you have to use the visitor line. There are numerous visas (e.g H1B) that allow you to work and live in the states for years.
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 10:52 am
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Originally Posted by mre5765
The CBP officer is in command, so he can be commanding.

Rudeness need not be tolerated; you should request a supervisor if you encounter rudeness, but that might (illegally) prevent you from getting GE and force you to go the ombudsman route.

You haven't specific about what incidents of rudeness. With more information, you might get some better advice; some people here might disagree with your opinion that the CBP officer was rude.

In lieu of a follow up post, my suggestion is to grin and bear it until you get GE. Which will be good training, because then you really do have to grin and bear it once you have GE.
regarding the last encounter, I just asked him a question, because he made me fill out the wrong form (I-94W Visa Waiver instead of I-94 for visa holders which I am). He just responded with "fill out the form!" in an annoyed tone

Maybe I am to sensitive. Anyways, I will just continue to stay firendly and let it go.
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Old Mar 30, 2014, 10:52 am
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Originally Posted by Airbridge
If you are LIVING and WORKING in California as a VISITOR he has every right to be rude as what you are doing is illegal.

Which is it? Are you a visitor or are you working and living in CA illegally? It is a little difficult to form an opinion with the conflicting information given by you.
People in the visitors line at US airports quite frequently have a legal right to live and work in the US -- it depends on the visa type usually.
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