A system outage of the Customs and Border Protection of the United States created a ripple effect of stranding thousands of passengers at airports nationwide from New York to Los Angeles — forcing passengers who are entering the country to be processed manually.
Customs and Border Protection System Outage Strands Thousands of Passengers at Airports Nationwide
The outage was first reported earlier this afternoon on Friday, August 16, 2019, according to this message posted at the official Twitter account of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York:
Just to let you know Customs is experiencing a system shutdown nationwide. They are processing passengers manually until the system comes back online. Thanks for your patience. *NV
— Kennedy Airport. Wear a Face Covering. (@JFKairport) August 16, 2019
Just to let you know Customs is experiencing a system shutdown nationwide. They are processing passengers manually until the system comes back online. Thanks for your patience. *NV
CBP is experiencing a temporary outage with its processing systems at various air ports of entry & is taking immediate action to address the technology disruption. CBP officers continue to process international travelers using alternative procedures until systems are back online.
CBP is experiencing a temporary outage with its processing systems at various air ports of entry & is taking immediate action to address the technology disruption. CBP officers continue to process international travelers using alternative procedures until systems are back online.
— CBP (@CBP) August 16, 2019
Another message was posted shortly thereafter…
CBP officers are working to process travelers as quickly as possible while maintaining the highest levels of security.
— CBP (@CBP) August 16, 2019
CBP officers are working to process travelers as quickly as possible while maintaining the highest levels of security.
…but the systems are reportedly returning to operation, according to this message posted at the official Twitter account of the government agency:
The affected systems are coming back online and travelers are being processed. CBP will continue to monitor the incident. There is no indication the disruption was malicious in nature at this time.
The affected systems are coming back online and travelers are being processed. CBP will continue to monitor the incident. There is no indication the disruption was malicious in nature at this time.
— CBP (@CBP) August 16, 2019
No indication has been given at the time this article was written that the disruption was malicious in nature — the cause of the outage is not yet known — and no airlines have issued any travel waivers or alerts.
Reactions from passengers — both with and without Global Entry, as well as people attempting to cross the borders at Canada and Mexico into the United States — include:
This was not our experience at Logan airport today – CPB officers made no effort to explain what was going on. They sat in their workstations while the line of frustrated passengers got longer and longer. As an American taxpayer I was extremely unimpressed
— SarahJCraven (@SarahJCraven) August 16, 2019
Yep! My mom has been stuck in Philadelphia and missed her connecting flight to LAX. She said the line was at least 3 miles long.
— whereisheather (@whereisheather) August 16, 2019
Sitting on a plane in SFO at the gate for 45 minutes with no eta
— dmacia (@dmacia) August 16, 2019
Bullshit! I saw the CBP officers standing around for 90 minutes at LAX without processing a SINGLE person.
Slackers were happy getting paid to do nothing.— Doug in Oregon – follow at your own risk (@dotcomhashtag65) August 16, 2019
Hi. Global Entry is also affected. Passengers are experiencing delays while @CBP is working on this nationwide outage.
— Miami Int'l Airport (@iflymia) August 16, 2019
@cbp ground travel seems to be affected as well, currently at Pacific Crossing, Canada side, waiting to enter
— Ambre Gillis (@ambre_majorel) August 16, 2019
Summary
It would be nice if someone would walk around and let the PAX know what’s going on- absolutely no communication is absurd (YYZ)
— Mike Diaz (@diaz_mike) August 16, 2019
If you are at an airport which is crowded with passengers and were wondering why as no information was given, now you know.
This problem will hopefully be resolved as soon as possible so that travelers can get to their destinations as quickly as possible — but right now, many flights are delayed.
Photograph ©2014 by Brian Cohen.
