[Grunt] “Welcome to America, stand in line.”

At his excellent travel blog, Mark Ashley answers a question about the best way to connect to flights to Europe. His suggestions are good: avoid Heathrow, make no connections after arriving on an overnight flight, and avoid making connections in the United States on the return trip. This, he says, is because of more stringent U.S. homeland security requirements. With flights at record capacities, luggage to be claimed after immigration and rechecked after customs, and foreign nationals required to be fingerprinted and photographed, passengers can wait for hours in line at major international hubs and miss their connecting flights.

This is only one aspect of U.S. immigration procedures that does not serve the country well. Just as surly TSA officers and long lines start journeys off on the wrong foot, so long lines and gruff ICE officers do not give foreign visitors a good first impression. I saw this on a recent flight from London to Raleigh-Durham, from which I was to connect to Washington. Raleigh’s airport is not designed for international arrivals; only three ICE officers were available to process at Boeing 777. Two handled U.S. citizens, but the majority on the flight were foreign nationals. Passengers were lined up on the jetway from the plane; it took an hour to process the entire flight. There was no friendly welcome to America, just a long line in a windowless basement.

Our policy on immigration and customs enforcement should be to process people quickly and professionally with a pleasant greeting. This can coexist with keeping a careful eye out for those who cannot enter or do not belong. Nothing less should be expected of one of the world’s most welcoming countries. For too long, we have unnecessarily alienated our foreign visitors (and returning Americans!). Front-line immigration officers play a crucial role in U.S. public diplomacy.

Reader mail: Where should I make international connections? [Upgrade: Travel Better]