Rebecca Burke’s experience (‘I was a British tourist trying to leave the US. Then I was detained, shackled and sent to an immigration detention centre’, 5 April) is distressing, but fairly typical. I’ve been travelling internationally for decades and have learned to avoid US airports. The curious attitude of desk staff mirrors that at Zimbabwe border crossings, and also extends to the embassies.
The Fortune 500 firm I used to work for shut down all its R&D and training centres in the US and moved them to Kuala Lumpur decades ago – the driving force being the refusal of engineers to apply for US visas, given the level of insult dished out in the buildings flying the stars and stripes.
By the way, Britain is a close second – I have had to placate incandescent Chinese staff going on business trips to the UK. Rebecca advises people not to go to the US, and with that I must concur.
Peter Anderson
Barwick-in-Elmet, West Yorkshire
• John Harris (As a young man, I fell in love with the US. The country’s soul is still there, despite Trump’s best efforts to destroy it, 6 April) may just have written his own visa denial piece. Just stay home and watch Sesame Street with your daughter, John.
Bob Sampson
Newton-le-Willows, North Yorkshire
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