Originally Posted by
EWR ATC Hold
I think you just hit a bad day. EWR's inbound customs and immigration is usually one of the quickest one's I've been through. 15-20 minutes to get through immigration, pick up my bag (if I'm carrying one) and to walk out the front door. I've never (in over 15 inbound international flights last year) had it take more than 30 minutes.
I've never had any excessive waits at EWR Immigrations and Customs.. It seems to run rather smoothly, both in the C concourse and the FIS facility over in B likewise. I've entered plenty of times from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia at EWR.
There is always the chance one could hit it on a bad day, but I wouldn't schedule an excessive wait time because it is possible. If one misses their connection - which can happen anywhere - just get re-scheduled for the next flight.