(코리아타운뉴스) LAX Panics over Trump

Inspection process becoming increasingly strict
Arriving earlier at the airport is now imperative

Travelers entering Los Angeles via its international airport LAX is struggling through inconvenience more so than ever before as immigration procedure and inspection for those who are entering the country have become immensely strict in recent weeks.

Much of the clampdown at the airport checkpoint is primarily due to President Donald Trump’s policy to tighten up the United States’ admission to non-American citizens.

Travelers who are set to fly into or out of LAX are now encouraged to arrive three to four hours before their actual flight time to ensure that they have secured enough time.

Police and inspection officers have been instructed to raise the level of their security and to widen their inspection area, which has now also contributed to heavier traffic for those driving into their airport.

“It took me 30 years to get to the airport entrance to its parking lot when I had to travel to Mexico for work last weekend,” said 35-year-old L.A.-resident Ji-eun Yoo. “There were more armed police officers than before and they were asking me more questions when checking my luggage. The process overall was stricter.”

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently released a report, which showed that an average wait time for people traveling through LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal on Dec. 4 was only 45 minutes. However, the wait time on Feb. 5 was extended to 51 minutes.

“The Trump administration has strengthened the inspection of people leaving and entering the country,” said an employee at LAX. “It has become more time consuming to complete the inspection. People who come to the airport to pick up travelers are obviously spending more time there, so the airport has gotten busier for sure.”

Although those at TSA and CBP said that the purpose of the recent clampdown is for security, they did not deny that the Trump administration has made an impact.

“Our task has returned to being what it used to be as the president’s executive order has been suspended by the court,” said CBP agent James지번. “It’s still true that inspection at the airport has become stricter since the new administration took charge. We’d like to ask for everyone’s understanding as we’re doing all of this for the travelers’ safety.”

An employee of an airline who works at LAX added, “It’s better for travelers to simply arrive at the airport earlier as both tighter inspection and construction at LAX has slowed things down here. I expect this to continue for quite some time into the future.”


By Yeol Jang