The trip to hell

If you are considering a trip to Mexico this fall better think twice about whether you should transit through an American airport. If you are from the South, we are directly labeled with a special tag and will have to go through a ritual of intense investigation/humiliation. WHY? Well simply because you have the wrong the passport. If you are doomed enough to have an Arab passport then you get it double.

When I booked my flight from Europe to Mexico via Miami, my travel agent warned me that new regulations in the US required that I have a visa if I do not have an EU passport. I replied with a smile "I do have a US Visa valid for 5 years, so no problem"

But when I arrive at the immigration check point in Miami, well it surely sounded that there is a problem, despite that I have a visa and I am only transiting, two security man were brought in and escorted me to another room that was full of other southern-looking passengers. Since I am used for further investigation wherever I go being "lucky" enough with a Lebanese passport, I said to myself well few more minutes won't kill me, I can wait and they will clear it up, beside my flight is two hrs away so I have time.

After one hour in that room, you realize that it is not OK. You see southern people waiting to have their passports checked (double/triple) while the officers are going around chatting with each other or even celebrating somebody's birthday and the "doomed" passengers are missing their flights.

The scenery was SURREAL, with several officers going in and out sometime to get a coke from the vending machine in the corner of the room, airline officers coming in and out asking people WHO have missed his flight. A man sitting next to me who already missed his flight was shaking his leg so hard that I almost felt like an earth quake. A young woman across the room started crying when the airline woman came telling her that no way for them to meet her flight but they might make other arrangements.

Seeing all that and after one an a half hrs of wait, I went out to the officers and told him that I do not want to miss my flight and I have been waiting and I need to know what is the plans here?

He said "Oh, you passport need a special approval, somebody will call you soon, and you might have to miss your flight!!"

I really really felt like crying/shouting and all those various "anger" feeling that I can not describe. So I decided to make a phone call to my colleague waiting for me in Mexico. So the officer said you can not use the mobile in here but my eyes apparently spoke for me and I added that "listen, I just missed my flight because of this delay and I need to tell people waiting fro me that" so he replied “Ok, make it quick".

Few minutes later, he called my name ask me what iam going to do in Mexico and then simply stamped all those papers that I had to fill as well as my passport. it was quick but it was too late my flight has already left...

So the next challenge was to secure a place for me on the next flight to Mexico and make sure where are my luggage.

The ground police where very kind in helping me out around and I starting jumping from one airline to another to make sure I can fix my mess. When I made it the air Mexican, the one that I was supposed to go with the Mexico, they were closed already but by pure chance the head of the team was passing by and he took me to his office. The Bad news started arriving, my flight was the last one that day and the early one tomorrow is already overbooked, they had no clue where my luggage are and after checking with the airline I arrived to Miami with we realized that my luggage are still in Europe as there was mistake there loading them on time.

After many hassles and going around the airline companies, I managed to catch a flight early morning to Mexcio and by the end of that day my luggage as well arrived in one piece (actually two as I had two pieces).

Arriving to Mexico was relieved to be honest and having my luggage there as well as they had some GP equipments. I am not looking forward the trip back, but I will leave that worries for then, I have enough to worry about in the coming weeks.

As for the motto of the trip: DO NOT FLY VIA THE US UNLESS YOU HAVE TO. (I have never given up on my problematic Lebanese passport YET)

PS: While wondering around the Miami airport, I witnessed an impressive Big add of an (Asian) American soldier promoting the Air force reserved unit with the message "The Air Force Reserve is there to defend freedom around the world"!

- This report was written by Zeina, a Lebanese member of the Greenpeace delegation in Cancun. It was left mostly uneditted, because it gives you the feel for Zeina's flair for storytelling, even in a second (or third!) language.