"How dare you treat an American officer with disrespect?" he shouted back, indignantly. "Believe me, we have treated you with much more respect than other people. You should go to places like Iran, you'd see a big difference." The irony is that it is only "countries like Iran" (for example, Cuba, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe) that have a visa requirement for journalists. It is unheard of in open societies... a disregard for the humanity of those deemed "in the wrong".

LAX is the only U.S. border entry point where I've ever been randomly selected for search. This article indicates that 12 of the 13 journalists ejected from the U.S. for visa reasons last year were ejected by LAX. Maybe it simply makes sense to avoid using that airport for international travel, when possible.

Welcome to America | www.guardian.co.uk