Immigration Control: Another reason for Chicago's loss
- From: Nestor <nestor@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 04 Oct 2009 09:46:56 -0500
Barry Ritholz says that our harsh immigration control for entry to this country was a major factor in the IOC rejecting Chicago for the Olympics Site.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/did-customs-immigration-cost-us-2016-olympics/
(Ritholz speaking)
Embarrassing reflection of our administrative incompetency as a nation being discussed at the NYT’s In Transit blog: Chicago’s Loss: Is Passport Control to Blame?:
“Among the toughest questions posed to the Chicago bid team this week in Copenhagen was one that raised the issue of what kind of welcome foreigners would get from airport officials when they arrived in this country to attend the Games. Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, in the question-and-answer session following Chicago’s official presentation, pointed out that entering the United States can be “a rather harrowing experience.”
Note that these are concerns I raised 5 years ago.
As someone who regularly travels both domestically and abroad, I have no doubt that this is a very serious issue of anyone wanting to visit the USA. We have the least user-friendly entry of any country I have ever been to. Cory Doctorow noted the insane fingerprints-and-photos regime at the US Border.
I do not know why Chicago lost, but I have no doubt that Customs & Immigration is at least part of the answer.
Ahhh, the Bush administration: The gift that keeps on giving . . .
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