Not an airport story but a Jamaica related one (I think)...every year we make the trip from CT to MI to our families lake cottage...To cut time off the trip we pass through Canada...The border guards in Canada have always been courteous and professional...The U.S., not so much...Last year it got nasty...we had driven through Canada and were re-entering the good old USA...the guard took our passports and gave me a funny look...she then told me not to be nervous but she was going to ask me to do a few things...keep your hands on the wheel where I can see them! Don't look at me! Look straight forward! I ask what is happening, she says be quiet, don't look at me! Take your right hand and open the car door from the outside...this proves to be nearly impossible without removing my left hand from the wheel and causes the guard to have some kind of fit...I'm still not allowed to look anywhere but straight ahead...finally exit the car I am instructed to walk backwards until I'm behind my vehicle, legs spread, arms in the air, handcuffed, and escorted into a building, still with no explanation at all...as I am walking into the building I can see why I wasn't allowed to look back...all traffic had been diverted from the border crossing and there were no fewer than 10 agents behind me, several with assault weapons or handguns pointed at me...the same treatment for my adult son too, the wife was spared from the trauma...after much questioning they decided to let us be on our way (they claimed to be looking for someone with a similar name and I got flagged on their system) I feel they may have singled us out due to only having Jamaican stamps in our passports. Our luggage was all opened and rifled through, it was left open and scattered in the back with dog hair all over it from the mangy cop dog they let walk all over it...
As a side note... Due to the patriot act this can happen to anyone at any time with no explanation...and we have no recourse...hmmmmm. Land of the free, home of the brave?
We'll see what happens this year...
