Far from Colombia, Trump’s measures caused chaos at airports

A brief, fiery showdown between the president of the United States and the president of Colombia ended by Sunday night — when the Colombian government agreed to accept all deportation flights sent by the Trump administration, including military flights. But the effects lingered in American airports until Wednesday. In a statement on Sunday night, the White House press secretary said that some of Trump’s penalties on Colombia — including so-called enhanced inspections at American ports of entry — would remain in effect “until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.” But even after that planeload arrived at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, the Colombian capital, on Tuesday, passengers were caught up in long and tedious inspections at airports in Florida. As late as Tuesday night, passengers who arrived on direct flights from Colombian cities such as Medellín reported spending up to four hours waiting in customs lines at Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The passengers said they were placed in a separate line — regardless of their citizenship — and subjected to bag checks and screenings in which they were questioned about the motives for their travel and their connection to the Colombian government. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it had received orders on Wednesday to stop conducting these extra inspections on people, flights and cargo arriving from Colombia. A spokeswoman for the agency, Patricia Driscoll, declined to comment on the delays or on the apparent lag in halting so-called secondary inspections.<br/>