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United States makes a fool of itself - arrests UK comedian for "sounding Cuban"
You can't make this crap up - British comedian Paul O'Grady was arrested at Miami international airport because he sounded "Cuban".The award winning comedian has his own TV show, and became famous thanks to his hilarious Lily Savage drag queen character.
Apparently, the fools at Miami airport thought his accent was a tad funny, and accused him of being an illegal Cuban alien.
It took officials two hours to verify his identity and confirm that he is indeed, a British comedian, and not a Cuban immigrant.
I'm not entirely sure why they couldn't just take a close look at him, and come to the conclusion that he doesn't even look Cuban. But that would obviously prevent Miami airport from keeping its title as one of the worst International airports in the country.
With so many tourists visiting the United States entering through Miami, the airport may want to review its policies, and ask their immigration officials to re-read the manual on how to spot an illegal immigrant. The first step is to just read the damn passport.
Mr. O'Grady spoke about the incident on his radio show, and said "I've been to hell, folks - it's called Miami airport.".
Filed under: North America, United States, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Greg Aug 14th 2009 2:34PM
What does it mean to look Cuban? I live in Miami and i know some Cubans whiter than this limey. Are you sure you're not just looking for a way to bash something american my friend? :) I do agree however that Miami's airport is a nightmare....
JOSE Aug 14th 2009 10:59PM
You go, Greg! What does a Cuban look like? There are many who look just like that British comedian, just as there are plenty of black, Chinese, Arab, and Jewish Cubans, and all imaginable mixes of the above. Cuba is a country as diverse as any.
Too many Americans have a provincial mentality that everyone south of the border wears a sarape and eats spicy food, a stereotype perpetuated by bad Hollywood movies, bad schools that don't teach about world cultures, and just plain lack of international travel experience.
Leah Aug 17th 2009 6:26PM
It is, however, probably safe to say that there are very few Cubans who are blond *and* blue-eyed *and* extremely fair-skinned (O'Grady would burn if you said the word "sun" too close to him) *and* have a British passport *and* speak with a Liverpool accent. And that it shouldn't take two hours to work out that the man in front of you is not both (a) a member of that select fraternity and (b) planning to illegally enter the US rather than use his expensive air ticket to get home to the place where he actually lives.
Jay Aug 16th 2009 11:01PM
I thought Cubans automatically get asylum anyways...
Jose Aug 17th 2009 8:09PM
You're totally right, Leah. There are not remotely as many people in Cuba who match O'Grady's physical description as there are in England. But there are some; and the point is to avoid the categorical stereotype. Is there an "American" type? Of course not; both the U.S. and Cuba, like all of the New World, in fact, are immigration-based societies with a broad range of physical types.
As for the confusion at MIA, of course it shouldn't have taken two hours to figure out the guy was a Brit. Incompetence is a true pandemic these days, alas.
It occurs to me that these are the kinds of misunderstandings that can be avoided with more intercultural and international communication, one of the primary goals on our new Web site, www.go-lo.net, a social community that brings travelers and travel industry insiders together to share intelligence and make travel both more meaningful and less expensive. Sorry for the "plug," but this is actually relevant to the topic at hand.
Dazed Tourist Aug 21st 2009 11:47AM
Going through Hell via Miami Airport? Heh, been there, done that!
Lost all my luggage locks by none other than the thieves in uniforms working the TSA frontline at the airport as we passed through this hellish place full of crooks...er, officials straight from our cruise ship. This particular TSA so-called "agent" was "working" with his boss looking over his shoulder even!
Not going back there anytime soon.
Thanks a lot, Bush and Cheney.