[ALIGN=LEFT][ALIGN=JUSTIFY]Hi everyone, it's been so long since my last appearance in this forum but, anyway, I'm glad to be with you again.
I'm writing this topic from Tempe, Arizona in the USA, I reached this country on May 10, 2004.
I found it a good opportunity for me to share with you the annoyance that I have in my trip until I reached the place where I'm at the moment.
When I reached Houston airport, the immigration officer inspected my passport to insure the legality of my visa, after then he asked me some questions one of the was the following: I'm seeing in my computer screen that you've been to many countries in the middle east could you tell me what are these countries and what was the purpose of your visit to each one of them? I said fine then I started mentioning these countries and the purpose of my visit to each one of them until I was done of all of them.
Then he said, I'm still seeing in my computer screen more countries that you've been to and you didn't mention, then I said no, I mentioned all of them and he said you've been to Iraq and Sudan and you didn't say those two countries! I said What!!! Iraq and Sudan No Sir…I never been to any of these two countries in my entire life….
Then I realized that he was not connected to any system that shows him the names of the countries that I've been to, but he was doing that just to investigation and verification purposes.
After that he guided to an office in the airport which is called the INS office for interview and registration before entering the country which every non-American citizen should go through upon his arrival to the country and before his departure of the country.
In that office I've been kept for more than 3 hours before I was called for interview, when I missed my connecting flight to my final destination in the USA.
When they started interviewing me, they asked me several personal questions, they scanned my index fingers prints and they took a photograph for me.
Then the officer who interviewed me asked to have a seat and he took my passport to his supervisor, unlike to what they do with other passengers, who are released to enter the country when they are done with the interview.
The supervisor, instructed them to seize me to do further investigation, after a couple of hours, they guided me to another room and they kept me there with other two passenger from south America, after another two hours hey came back to me and told me that they tried to contact the Saudi Arabian counselor in Houston to have me talk to him and inform him that I'm seized for investigation but because it was a late time the counselor was not available and they left him a message to call them in the morning. Then the supervisor of the INS office told me the I will be in their custody until the next morning, I aid why are you seizing me until the next morning and what is the accusation you are putting control over me for? Then he said we need to investigate you further and tomorrow you will be informed of your accusation. Then I asked him: what you mean when you said I'll be under your custody until tomorrow morning? Does that mean sending me to jail? Well….you well be in our custody and that's it, he replied and I asked will you provide me a convenient place to sleep in? There will be a place for you to sleep in, he answered.
Then I waited for another couple of hours until a policeman arrived and asked me to stand up and to face the wall with putting my hands up on the wall, he inspected my clothes then he tied my both hands with his chain then he lead me with the other two south Americans to a van and drove us to jail located in about 15 minute driving from the airport.
When we reached that place we've been admitted to a cell of 7mX 3.5m size and there were 4 more prisoners inside it, there were no beds in it and was not carpeted we were standing on a solid concrete and the worst thing in that cell beside of what I said, is that in one of its corners there was the rest room bowl where each one can discharge urine or food remains of his stomach in front of the rest of the group "Just imagine the ill feeling that such a behavior causes to the people in the room.
Before sunrise 3 of the prisoners who were in the room before we came were moved to another place in the same jail and they brought in 18 prisoners form different place inside the jail as these were ready for discharge of the jail. "I forget to mention that all the prisoners that I saw in that jail were foreigners who were trying to cross the borders of the country illegally.
By eight in the morning we were taken back to the airport and kept waiting until 12 noon when two gentlemen of the FBI came in and interviewed me for a half an hour and I kept waiting after that for about another hour when the supervisor of the INS office came again and interviewed me one more time with hundreds of questions of all type 'personal, job related, social, political and asked me many questions about my family members, friends, coworkers, my father's friend my mother's friends and many other questions."
By 7 PM they gave me my passport and allowed me inter the country without telling me sorry for the annoyance that we caused you or even telling me what was the accusation for which they did all that to me.
Before departing the airport, I got a call on my mobile from the Saudi Arabian counselor informing me that they tried their best to get me released and he was apologizing for not knowing about the story until the next day of my arrival.
The message that I want to make to all of you now, is that getting a visa form the US embassy in any country, doesn't mean getting a convenient entry to USA, the process of allowing the person enters the country starts in the port of entry not in the embassy.
Good luck to you all..[/ALIGN][/ALIGN]
