Originally Posted by
brenc3
This may have to do with the fact that the US doesn't perform exit emigration like most countries, and much of the time international flights depart from terminals also used for domestic flights. Since all or nearly all terminals in US airports allow pax to freely depart from the boarding area inside security where international flights depart, it's not possible to put them outside US Customs control.
Yes, immigration is literally just immigration in the US. I suppose they may have an emigration department some day.