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Immigration and Customs = evil all powerful tyrants.
On this point, when I was working for a law firm in Tokyo, I did some work trying to help Japanes executives get working permits and visas to the United States. I remember they treated me like dirt at the US embassy and there was nothing I could do about it. They could turn down my applications at any time and didn't have to give any reason. I had no recourse.
When I was living in Japan, I threw a lot of partys, and at these partys the Japanese attendees would always bring me expensive bottles of alcohol as gifts. At the end of each party I would end up with much more alcohol than I started with. In addition, I always put away the expesive stuff and served well drinks. As you can imagine, by the time I left Japan I had one hell of a collection.
When I transported the bar to the United States it was seized by US customs. There was so much of it and it was so valuable that they concluded I must be intending to sell it. In addition, some of the items in the collection were banned in the US etc. I never got any of it back. :brick:
The upshot of my experience was that Immigration and Customs officials are Gods until you clear them. Until you get past them you have no rights.
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