This week, the famed Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan is making headlines around the world not for his latest role or an off screen romance. He is the latest in a long list of performers who have faced long interrogations at US airports by Customs and Border Protection officers. The story has angered many of his fans, but it also has raised the ire of many who have complained for a long time about the way international travelers are treated by US immigration officials.

Yes, CBP officers (and consular officers at US consulates abroad) have a tough job to do. They are supposed to balance the job of ensuring travelers are complying with US immigration laws and also are not potential threats to the US with the need to ensure that the world can do business with this country and our vital need for tourism is able to be met.

But despite the need to ensure compliance with US laws, officers need to try as much as possible to be courteous and professional. I have been practicing immigration law for nearly two decades and have heard too many stories of rude, cold behavior by officers at airports and about inappropriate questions being asked, threats being issued, and people being held for hours on end needlessly.

Visa applicants can often have the opposite experience with US Consular officers. They are often given only a couple of minutes in front of a window to make their case for a visa. Officers often barely review their applications and seem to have made a decision on an applicant even before reviewing an application or asking a question.

I once posted on my blog an account of a particularly rude encounter by a client with a CBP officer and remember that a different CBP officer posted a hostile reply comment saying that “this isn’t Burger King” and I needed to wake up. But perhaps the comment describes the problem precisely. Professionalism demands acting courteously and not projecting hostility even when an officer has to deliver unpleasant news or feels the need to have a further interview with an entry applicant. It means giving visa applicants at consular posts a smile and a pleasant greeting, actually reviewing an application and asking questions and explaining to applicants why an application is being denied and what they would need to show if they are to try again.

Often, an immigration officer of the US is the only official contact millions of people around the world ever have with this country. And in a time when we need more friends and fewer enemies, immigration officers don’t need to be leaving people with a bitter experience that will make them think negatively of the US. And you never know who you’re treating poorly. The person could be an influential artist, statesman, business professional, etc. Or they might be someone who one day could be an extremely influential person. In any case, it pays to remember some of the lessons we learned in kindergarten about treating people.

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In this issue of the newsletter, we report on a number of arts and sports immigration developments. Our firm regularly handles such matters for large and small clients around the US. If you are interested in hiring Siskind Susser to be your law firm, please feel free to contact us at 901-682-6455 to set up a telephone or in person appointment.

Kind regards, 

Greg Siskind

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