Originally Posted by
canuck1
I recently flew from Belize City to Toronto, via Houston. In Houston we went through customs, waited in vain for the bags, then figured they had been checked through. They were to my surprise. Went to boarding gate. There was no inspection of bags. Picked them up in Toronto. I past trips from Mexico, when connecting through the US I had to pick up bags before going through customs.
In the last few years in Miami and Houston, certain airlines/flights now have the ability to have bags transfered without picking them up on international to international flights if tagged all the way through. This wouldn't help the OP though as their final destination is in the US. He still has to pick up his bags at the initial entry point to the US.
To the OP, are your tickets from Africa to the US booked as one ticket or is it one ticket from Africa to Europe and then another ticket Europe US? If it's two tickets, that may be why they aren't willing to tag your bags through to the final destination.