Rude customs and immigrations
 

Recently I came into the country via private aircraft.

We had an 'appointment' with customs and immigration at an uncontrolled airport. They arrived over 40 minutes late.

I was a little upset that they had not apologized for being late, and perhaps this came through my attitude--I needed to get on my way. Nevertheless, the agent typed and typed into his computer.

I thought the customs agent was rude and overly aggressive. He searched everything [found nothing]. What I found silly about this is that we had been alone at this airport for almost an hour...we could have loaded and unloaded the airplane many times over. Furthermore, he stepped in parts of the plane that could damage the plane.

If this was a private company I would complain...but I do not want to get on some bad list...nice way to feel in America.

Can they put 'whatever they want' into the system so I will be overly searched in the future?

Any similar experiences?

Aaah, welcome to pointy end of the class war!

Waiting 40 minutes is not a long time to wait. This depends of course on the location of entry, time of day and how busy they were. Entry from the southern border of the US is identified as high risk for narcotics smuggling and can lead to more extensive searches. If the CBP agent was stepping on "no step" areas of the plane then the pilot should have said something to the agent.

The pilot is responsible to hold the aircraft, passengers and baggage until authorized for release. Failing to due so, the pilot will be subject to civil, criminal penalties and face a chance that their aircraft may be forfeited. A very strong motivation to comply with CBP exists.

Which country did you come into ?

You mean there's more than one? ;):D

Well, let's see. You interacted with government bureaucrats, and they were:

1. Slow
2. Rude
3. Ineffective

That sounds about right! This is why Reagan's "Morning in America" was so popular, because your experience mirrors 99% of the rest of our interactions with anything run by the government.

I know that Canada can flag people for thorough questioning. I used to go in without issue, now every time i get sent to immigration. Usually they just ask me a few questions so I wish I could get unflagged. I just hate waiting in the queue for 1 hour just for 2 questions.

I'm sure the US does the same so best be careful unfortunately. :rolleyes:

Ya mean like the TSA screeners that told me off when I requested he not to damage my rollaboard carry-on bag at BWI?

CBP has been known to tear apart private airplanes on fishing expeditions, leaving the pilot to deal with a pile of parts left on the ramp.

I fail to see what possible similarities exist between a TSA screener being rough with a carry-on bag and a CBP agent damaging an aircraft.

The TSA person is trying to catch things intended to harm people. The CBP agent is trying to catch things that need to be taxed. Obviously the CBP agent needs more power.

What part of what he did was rude? Except for being late, you don't mention anything else that would indicate rude behavior.

That's a joke right? 4 oz of water is not going to harm anyone.

CBP actually does something useful.

I used to go through this routine every three to four months as a child, up until the time that I left home for University. Our family divided the year between residences in Southern Ontario and the Bahamas, travelling in our family "station wagon" (PA-32 Piper Lance), and, as you can imagine, these trips entailed frequent border crossings into and through the US. The OP hasn't described anything remotely out of the ordinary, and certainly nothing that would merit a specific complaint.

I can recall MANY occasions upon which, after transiting MYLS -- FLL, our plane would be COMPLETELY stripped by US Customs looking for contraband. Everything would come out: luggage, seats, panelling, etc., and the entire process could take anywhere upwards of one to two hours. Officers were always very professional (if a little surly, probably at the thought of having to perform a futile search), and we understood that they were all on edge because the nature of their job could be quite dangerous.

I can also recall spending an hour or two on the tarmac of remote airports-of-entry -- Havre and Glasgow, Montana come to mind -- before customs/immigrations officers finally arrived on scene to let us in to the generally deserted airports. We all understood that most officers had to travel from some larger centre, had other duties to attend to, and may even have been off-duty, and were grateful just to have someone be able to clear us through. These delays are unavoidable and just part of general aviation.

Do they attempt to put their destruction back together or just leave you there with a pile of pieces?

Also...I can't believe they are allowed to tear apart an aircraft since their actions could result in making the plane unsafe...it's not exactly a rickshaw.

Aside from both working for DHS, and both damaging or destroying personal property of the citizens they're supposedly protecting?

You're responsible for repacking your craft. You really wouldn't want anyone else to do that, would you?

They do not interfere with the structural integrity of aircraft, as they're customs officials, not mechanics. All items removed (e.g. interior panelling; carpets; seats) are either cosmetic features or fairly mobile, so it's more of a hassle (and a time-consuming one at that) than anything else. My apologies, though -- I didn't mean to imply that the cabin was gutted, with avionics hanging out and all over the place, or anything like that.

Did CBP do anything that would require some sort of FAA approval/license to do to an aircraft? Would the aircraft be legal to fly as they left it?

Possible, but rules & regs would have changed since '91, which is the last time that *I* went through this process. I understand from my Dad that this is still the de facto procedure coming from the Bahamas, but another pilot will have to chime in to confirm current CBP practice.

Difficult to answer; many potential violations would be rectified by the pilot before flight, ie. having enough seats and proper safety equipment for all pax. If a pilot took off immediately after being cleared, with interior still stripped (seats out) and safety eqiupment out, then no, I don't suppose that it would be lawful to fly under those circumstances. It's the pilot's responsibility to maintain their craft, though, and I don't think that any intermediate actions by CBP negate his or her obligations and responsibilities.

It's possible that an agent or officer could damage some of the avionics in their searches, but I never saw this occur.
I *have* seen a number of planes at FLL that were completely gutted, *allegedly* in the process of being searched for drugs, but they had alreadly likely been groomed as exhibits for legal proceedings by the time that I saw them.

In at least one case I'm aware of, CBP did leave the aircraft in such a shambles that it took an FAA licensed mechanic 3+ days to get the aircraft back into condition where it could be flown without being in violation of FAA rules. That cost the pilot almost $3000, plus hotel room and incidentals. His comment was that they were being horsey with him for some reason.

Like the TSA, there is simply no recourse if CBP does something like this.

YMMV.

Into Canada
 

I'd believe you on the US Customs, but you can't blame them. Most are uncaring trained-monkey bureaucrats.

Did a private charter into YWG a couple months back and had no issues with Canadian customs. Nice, pleasant and helpful.

I do complain everytime I enter the US via commercial airlines--it always seems the foreign nationals have more agents waiting to screen them than US Citizens. This is simply not the case when entering other countries, where typically the foreigners are forced to wait in line and the nationals get to breeze right through. What gives?

Thanks David...I suspected it was just paneling and such but the way the FAA/CAA is it wouldn't be hard for an untrained person to tear apart something requiring an A&P...and I am not just talking due to regs...I am talking damaging something that could cause problems...cable connector...bushing....avionics or other electrics buses....man the possibilities are vast.

And as in GLobal's post...that is when it is absolutely insane that they can destroy your stuff...and require you to pay to fix it...name any other service that can do that other than "security/customs" type services.

I'd have gone to court over that one.....

They normally give you a civil claim form for any damage. I don't know if it covers re-assembly, though.

I haven't noticed this to be the case. Regardless of the number of screeners available for those who do not hold US passports or green cards, those lines always move a lot slower.

- Michael

Oh of course there is - if you're rich.

You simply need to decide you're willing to spend the money necessary to make the CBP agent's life a living hell. :D

But, even then you could get on the bad list for the next agent.

Fingerprinting and retna scans do take a bit longer.

Even before such procedures were in place, the lines for foreigners moved much slower. I think it has more to do with the overall level of scrutiny applied to foreigners than to nationals.

The same is true elsewhere. When we enter the EU, my wife breezes through and I'm stuck in the slow line.

- Michael

The two wouldn't need to be related.

I mean if someone really pisses you off then you can, quite legally, hire a private detective to tail this person, Cheaters style, and see what skeletons are in his/her closet. You might get lucky. You just have to be angry enough and rich enough. :)

Where where where where?? Because you can't possibly be talking about BOS, EWR, ORD, SFO, LAX, DFW, IAH, IAD, MIA, ATL, PHL, CLT, BWI, HNL, PHX, YYZ or YUL.

Various Airports...
 

All I know is I've waited in long lines at JFK, CLT, and CLE multiple times returning from London. There was 8-10 foreign national officers working and 4-5 US citizens. Now when you go to LHR the other way, there are usually loads of agents screening UK nationals and long lines for foreigners. Why don't we treat our own this way?

It's not this way all the time, of course, I just think the US immigration officials are not very flexible in their scheduling and planning.