WASHINGTON – Immigration desk computers at various airports went down forabout two hours on Monday, causing long lines for travellers entering theUnited States after year-end holidays, according to Customs and BorderProtection and posts on social media.
The processing system outage began at about 7:30 p.m. EST (0030 GMT) andwas resolved about 9:30 EST (0230 GMT), the customs agency said in astatement. All airports were back on line after wait times for travellersthat were longer than usual, it said.
“At this time, there is no indication the service disruption was maliciousin nature,” the agency said. It gave no explanation for the disruption andsaid travellers were processed using alternative procedures.
Travellers entering the United States from overseas posted photos on socialmedia of long lines at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New Yorkand at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
“No one has been getting past JFK Airport immigration for the last hour.Line is a few 100 deep. Seems like their system did completely go down.Happy New Year!” said Jessica Yang, a programme manager at Microsoft, in aTwitter post.
Other airports, including Denver International Airport, also said they wereaffected. A similar computer outage occurred a year ago.
“Operations returning to normal as @CustomsBorder computer issue resolved.Issue affected other US airports. Thanks for your patience,” MiamiInternational Airport said in a Twitter post.