This complaint was recently posted on our Blog Page by "carstair". I am copying it here because it belongs in this discussion.
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Sorry, but my wife and I will think very hard before we go anywhere near Kennedy airport again. I had travelled to the US several times ( Boston,Massachusets; New Hampshire; Pennsylvania; Maryland; Las Vegas (twice) before we went to visit our son who had taken up a job in New York City. The first visit to New York (2005) was notable for the brusqueness of the security at JFK but last September was unbelievable! My wife - a retired nurse - had her passport taken away and she was told to go into a side office. Grudgingly, it was accepted that I could accompany her. Monosyllabic, crop headed, hulking people with guns were refusing to explain to people ( not just us) what was happenning and we were told to sit down. No explanation, no chance of telling my son what was happenning, and finally the passport was thrust back without further ado. Of course the cases had been broken open as well.
All this next to a notice "welcoming people"! In spite of a letter to the US Embassy in London, no explanation was ever forthcoming.
Wonder why we don't feel much like visiting again?
Here is my reply to "carstair" as posted on our Blog Page.
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I am sorry that you received such inhospitable treatment from our airport security personnel in New York City.
Just last week, Patti Lupone, a broadway musical star, was detained at an airport in Florida and bodily searched by female TSA screeners. She complained that she felt violated by the search and indignant about the lack of any explanation. She was told by some TSA employees, that they are not permitted to tell anyone the reason for detentions or searches. TheTSA officials feel that such information might help terrorists to understand and circumvent their screening methods.
Unfortunately, some of the TSA tactics used in the name of protecting us, are inconvenient and even rude. I don't know if they are even effective.