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Journal SPAM: US is unfriendly to visitors: survey 20

Journal by Jeremiah Cornelius

November 21, 2006 - 10:29AM

The United States is the world's most unfriendly country for international travellers, a survey suggests.

The global survey showed the US was ranked "the worst" because of rude immigration officials and long delays in processing visas.

More than half of the travellers surveyed said US immigration officials were rude and two-thirds said they feared they would be detained on arriving in the US for a simple mistake in their paper work or for saying the wrong thing to an immigration official.

Twice the percentage of travellers nominated the US as unfriendly, compared with the Middle East and the Asian subcontinent.

The survey, of 2,011 international travellers in 16 countries, was conducted by the polling firm RT Strategies for the Discover America Partnership, a business-backed group launched in September to promote travel to the US and improve the country's image abroad.

"The entry process has created a climate of fear and frustration that is keeping foreign visitors away," said Geoff Freeman, executive director of the Discover America Partnership.

"The survey shows there is more fear of our immigration officials than of terrorism or crime."

© 2006 Reuters, Click for Restrictions

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US is unfriendly to visitors: survey More

US is unfriendly to visitors: survey

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  • It seems to imply Americans are unfriendly to vistors, but the article is more about the government officials processing non-citizens as they come into the country. The title should say "US border officials unfriendly to visitors."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by turg ( 19864 ) *
      To attribute the actions of a government (or its officials) to the nation is standard. Look at the headlines in any newspaper. You'll see them say that the USA does this and the UK does that and France does this when what they mean is the government of the named country is doing it.
    • Most of the non-Americans I know who have visited the US have, for the most part, nothing but praises for the people they meet... and say that the border officials are a bunch of Epsillon semi-morn assholes on a power trip...
  • But it doesn't go nearly far enough. We need to be more than just rude- we need to start sending a message: The United States is Full. There ain't no room at the inn. Try to take what we have by force, and we will respond with force. Don't even THINK about vacationing here- we've got too many people already, we're overcrowded.
    • That's funny. Most of what I see while driving across the country is vast amounts of empty space. Maybe you ought to take a little trip outside of the city. All these shortages that everybody whines about are as phoney as a three dollar bill. I know you and most others will never believe it, but there's more than enough for everybody to live like a king. Any and all problems arise from from our lousy, wasteful, greedy methods of distribution. If even 10 percent of the earth's surface was as crowded as Tokio
      • Most of what I see while driving across the country is vast amounts of empty space.

        There's good reason for that empty space- it's missing something. Water, food, shelter, there's some reason why somebody hasn't claimed it and built on it in the last 230 years. Very little of America is actually suitible for human habitation.
        • If we can pipe oil and sulfuric acid(or just name your poison) around the world anywhere we please, we can do the same for water. We can terraform any part of the planet if there's enough money in it. And that's what it always boils down to...profit potential. Technology is no longer an issue. If you don't believe me, look at places like Phoenix or Tucson, or any "uninhabitable" part of the middle east. The water is easy to transport, but there's very little money in it. Otherwise the entire surface of the
          • And that, in short, is why nobody lives there. Are you seriously saying that we need to import illegal immigrants to live where it is unprofitable to live?
            • Are you seriously saying that we need to import illegal immigrants to live where it is unprofitable to live?

              I don't understand the term "illegal immigrants". It's an absurd concept. All people must be allowed to live where they please. To deny them is racist. It's no different than the water fountain that says "whites only". It's the same as "red lining" in the real estate business. And that's one of the reasons we limit the dispersion of resources. So we can exclude people and tell them there's not enough
              • Bingo.

                And what's with the 'scarcity' in higher education? Only so many places in Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford and the like.

                False competition for false scarcity. Then graduates of such a system have a vested identity interest in maintaining their 'elite' status, and perpetrating the false system.

                The US has the resources in excellent academic personel and resource to put a dozen 'Harvards' in California, alone. But you don't maintain a Huxley-style stratification of society that way.
              • I don't understand the term "illegal immigrants".

                Immigrants who come in while ignoring immigration control laws.

                It's an absurd concept.

                No it isn't- it's a LEGAL concept. Unless of course you're now going to argue that rule of law is absurd.

                All people must be allowed to live where they please.

                I'm not- but then again, I follow the LAW, and believe in rule of law.

                To deny them is racist.

                No it isn't- at least a quarter of the illegal aliens in the United States are from Eastern Europe.

                It's no di
                • Unless of course you're now going to argue that rule of law is absurd.

                  Like many laws on the books, immigration law is absurd. And having absurd laws diminishes respect for the other laws that we actually need for the time being. It's made even worse by its selective enforcement. I have little respect for those who follow a dictate simply because "it's the law".

                  No it isn't- at least a quarter of the illegal aliens in the United States are from Eastern Europe.

                  Fine. then it's discrimination that's every bit as

                  • Unless of course you're now going to argue that rule of law is absurd.

                    Like many laws on the books, immigration law is absurd. And having absurd laws diminishes respect for the other laws that we actually need for the time being. It's made even worse by its selective enforcement. I have little respect for those who follow a dictate simply because "it's the law".

                    So you do not respect rule of law. You know what we call people who don't respect rule of law? Criminals.

                    The entire concept of a democracy is that we replace rule of the gun with rule of law. Enforcement should not be neccessary for you to follow a law- it's only an anti-social mindset that requires enforcement. The mere fact that a law was passed by legally elected officials SHOULD be enough for all to follow that law, regardless of enforcement.

                    No it isn't- at least a quarter of the illegal aliens in the United States are from Eastern Europe.

                    Fine. then it's discrimination that's every bit as evil as racism. Excluding people by location of birth is the same as excluding them for the color of their skin. Spend a little less energy on keeping people out, and you'll have more for actually important things...like transporting water to wherever it's needed. Build pipes, not fences.

                    Why don't you say, suggest that to the Romanian, Latv

                    • It has been the duty of free people to resist unjust and inhumane law.

                      The American Revolution is th egreat historcal precedent in the US.

                      Resistance to slavery was another. Women's sufferage was only achieved in the US 85 years ago! This was the result of massive law-breaking from the 1880's into the 1920's.

                      When laws are inequitable and unjust, it is a duty to break them. The alternative is tyranny - and anarchy is preferable to that.
                    • It has been the duty of free people to resist unjust and inhumane law.

                      I disagree that the immigration laws are unjust and inhumane. In fact, I'd say it's MORE inhumane to ask a settled population to adjust to an influx of criminals than it is to keep the immigrants out in the first place.

                      The American Revolution is th egreat historcal precedent in the US.

                      Yes- and that's what I'm suggesting Mexico and other countries do. Instead of sending their people here, why not have a Revolution and fix Mexico?
                    • Yes- and that's what I'm suggesting Mexico and other countries do. Instead of sending their people here, why not have a Revolution and fix Mexico?

                      I don't suppose you see the hilarity of that statement. The smallest check of any history will show you the futility of seeking independance from US influence. A relatively famous incident was in Chile in 1973. In fact events throughout latin america over the last century should give you a pretty good hint of what happens when people try what you suggest. Then the
                    • Aside from this - it is abundantly clear by now that the "law" is a way for the Plutocratic Oligarchy to maintain control of the peons.

                      The laws they choose to ignore - you know the US Constitution, inetrenational treaties, etc. - are just unpunishable.
                    • I don't suppose you see the hilarity of that statement. The smallest check of any history will show you the futility of seeking independance from US influence. A relatively famous incident was in Chile in 1973.

                      And a very successfull one happened in Venezula in the last 6 years or so.

                      In fact events throughout latin america over the last century should give you a pretty good hint of what happens when people try what you suggest.

                      Not in the last 10 years. The US is preoccupied with Iraq- it's the perfect
                    • ...what we need is rule of law.

                      What you need is respectable law. What you want is an iron fist. That will buy some time, I suppose, not much else.

                      ...because you don't believe in civil rights for others.

                      To do what? To rule over me as they please? If that's a civil right, then you would be correct. I don't respect that. The law must earn my respect. Simply demanding it won't work.
                    • What you need is respectable law. What you want is an iron fist. That will buy some time, I suppose, not much else.

                      Time is all we need it appears- have you seen what's going on in Oxcaca lately?

                      To do what?

                      How about the civil right of American citizens to have a government that promotes the general welfare? That is harmed quite a lot by letting in large numbers of immigrants.

                      If that's a civil right, then you would be correct. I don't respect that.

                      In that case, why should we respect YOUR civil righ

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