# Crowds waiting up to 7 hours to get through customs and immigration. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 15, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crowds-waiting-up-to-7-hours-to-get-through-customs-and-immigration/849520 "2020-03-15T05:20:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crowds-waiting-up-to-7-hours-to-get-through-customs-and-immigration/849520/1 "2020-03-15T05:20:51Z")
[Here is a picture](https://twitter.com/Autarkh/status/1239023334173507584) from the international terminal of O’Hare Airport in Chicago of the throngs lined up to be processed through customs and immigration. Between the panic caused by the impending shutdown of flights from Europe and the enhanced screening of incoming travelers, some people are reporting waits of up to 7 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crowds-waiting-up-to-7-hours-to-get-through-customs-and-immigration/849520/2 "2020-03-15T07:34:15Z")
Yeah, we are scheduled to fly home from Mexico in a few hours and just rebooked with a stopover at IAH just to avoid that clusterfuck. My asthmatic self doesn’t feel like being packed in like sardines with some likely asymptomatic COVID carriers for hours on end. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crowds-waiting-up-to-7-hours-to-get-through-customs-and-immigration/849520/3 "2020-03-16T00:34:46Z")
Yeah, it scared the fat bastard governor into closing dining room restaurants, but he hasn’t done a thing to make the lines at the airports move faster. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crowds-waiting-up-to-7-hours-to-get-through-customs-and-immigration/849520/4 "2020-03-16T02:33:26Z")
What is the Governor suppose to do? Can he just materialize out of nowhere the required trained screeners and security people? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crowds-waiting-up-to-7-hours-to-get-through-customs-and-immigration/849520/5 "2020-03-16T02:55:47Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > What is the Governor suppose to do? Can he just materialize out of nowhere the required trained screeners and security people? Even if he sent the state police to the airport the Feds wouldn’t let them process the unscreened foreign travelers. Until they pass thru immigration, they are all under federal control. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crowds-waiting-up-to-7-hours-to-get-through-customs-and-immigration/849520/6 "2020-03-16T08:18:18Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > Yeah, it scared the fat bastard governor into closing dining room restaurants, but he hasn’t done a thing to make the lines at the airports move faster. You’re talking about the TSA, Customs, and Immigration lines, right? The governor has no control over those; they’re federal. Want to guess who the top guy in charge of federal stuff is? ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crowds-waiting-up-to-7-hours-to-get-through-customs-and-immigration/849520/7 "2020-03-16T08:26:17Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > You’re talking about the TSA, Customs, and Immigration lines, right? The governor has no control over those; they’re federal. Want to guess who the top guy in charge of federal stuff is? Knew this was coming… ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crowds-waiting-up-to-7-hours-to-get-through-customs-and-immigration/849520/8 "2020-03-16T09:22:08Z")
It’s totally bizarre - I don’t know how things went at O’Hare international arrivals yesterday, but a friend who came home from France yesterday (she lives in Michigan and landed in Detroit) reported that CBP boarded the plane to inspect people. Seems like a much more sensible way to handle it. She plans to self-quarantine for the next 2 weeks. (She is a self-employed IT consultant, so it’s not difficult for her, and her daughter’s school is closed anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crowds-waiting-up-to-7-hours-to-get-through-customs-and-immigration/849520/9 "2020-03-16T14:03:59Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > What is the Governor suppose to do? Can he just materialize out of nowhere the required trained screeners and security people? Yeah, let’s put the blame where it belongs: on Obama. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crowds-waiting-up-to-7-hours-to-get-through-customs-and-immigration/849520/10 "2020-03-16T16:15:29Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yeah, let’s put the blame where it belongs: on Obama. 😃