You most probably hold a British passport which is a very valuable document. Let me tell you as a holder of a not as valuable passport, who needed a visa to get anywhere, how I have seen the world.
I now live in the US. Before coming to US I visited many European countries. At the border of all those European countries I was treated as a criminal. I waited very long hours while people in front of me holding same kind of passports as me and then myself were interrogated like in a police interrogation. I missed connections because of those interrogations. In one case when I did make the connection, I heard the pilot of the plane speaking to passengers about how the delay was caused because of waiting for people of my nationality. Even people associated with people of my nationality were considered suspicious. A friend of mine was married to a Canadian man who had the same name as a famous American actor. When they tried to go together to one European country, that man was also interrogated for 2 hours by the border police because they thought his passport was fake. I was once traveling via train from European country A to European country B. I happened to be in a cabin with a man from country B. The border police of country B (this was before Schengen) took him outside the train and interrogated him for 30 minutes because they thought his passport was fake. He had a pocketful of documents, bank cards, credit cards, phone numbers of his family members etc. and the border police still were suspicious. I was so used to the long lines and humiliation that I thought they were normal for any border crossing.
Then I traveled to US. Imagine my surprise when I got off the plane, walked a long corridor, passed by a drug detection dog, got into a huge room with many passport control booths, in 5 minutes found myself in one of them, the immigration officer asked me where I was going and what was the goal of my trip then stamped my passport and I-94 and I was done. Even if I didn't go anywhere from there, the trip was already a success. It made me feel like a human. In the time since then I have seen the checks in many European countries improve and in the meantime US has added the annoying process of fingerprinting, but in my view US border control still offers better human experience compared to European countries. I was once crossing the border from Canada to US and there was this old woman trying to get into US with an expired (like 30 years old) British passport. The border agents still found a way to let her in. Since Schengen she probably would be let into other European countries but I am sure before Schengen she wouldn't be able to go anywhere.
I know that there are people who have negative experiences while trying to get into US as there are negative experiences for people trying to go anywhere, but I think most of the noise associated with them is unjustified and if US border control need improvements other countries need them even more.
Belgian here, I've registered just to reply to your comment.
> Let me tell you as a holder of a not as valuable passport [...]
> Even people associated with people of my nationality [...]
What's so secret about your nationality ?
Your comment doesn't make any sens, you're are comparing a pre-Schengen era (which means prior 1985 - more than 25 years ago!) to a post-9/11 era.
As a Belgian, I've been traveling for 20 years around many countries in Europe and North Africa without ever being bothered by the customs.
On the other hand, while - as a kid - visiting the USA was a dream, it is now something that wouldn't even come to my mind when I see how much freedom and privacy (more broadly human rights) you've got to give up to come to the USA (the situation being even worst for foreigners [non-American]).
pre-Schengen really means prior to 1995 because that's when the border controls between Schengen members were relaxed. The train trip I mentioned above happened in May 1995 but even though country A and country B were Schengen members border controls still existed between them. I don't know why that was still the case.
I believe you 100% that as a Belgian you have never been bothered by border controls. I also know that to travel to most countries you don't even need a visa. I don't know if you know what a visa is, but believe me, if you need one, it is very hard to get.
I didn't even mention how many troubles I had to get the visas for my trips since the subject of the thread is border controls. I was giving my and my friends experience as non-Belgian, non-British, non-Schengen member while traveling through Europe and then US. All I said is true and I could add plenty more. I have traveled many times and almost every time I traveled to Europe or within European countries I had humiliating experiences. Things have improved a lot now, but still there can be issues. I was transiting through Rome 5 years ago and there were so many people in line that I had to wait 1 hour to reach the border controls. Half of that waiting was outside! Yes the line extended outside the building. It was 9AM but it was already very hot. If you were there you probably wouldn't have noticed since there was a separate entrance for EU-member citizens where there was no line at all.
You should follow your childhood dreams and visit US. Do not believe everything you read. The american people are usually very nice and that includes most of the border control agents. Yes, some border control agents can be very cranky but I would be too after a long day talking to a lot of people who already believe I am their adversary and give me wisecrack answers. I am willing to bet that you wouldn't have any problem with any of them though.
Thank you for sharing your story. It's easy to find negative stories of crossing the US border; it's generally easier to find negative stories about anything. Positive stories like yours can help give perspective that can otherwise be lacking.
I now live in the US. Before coming to US I visited many European countries. At the border of all those European countries I was treated as a criminal. I waited very long hours while people in front of me holding same kind of passports as me and then myself were interrogated like in a police interrogation. I missed connections because of those interrogations. In one case when I did make the connection, I heard the pilot of the plane speaking to passengers about how the delay was caused because of waiting for people of my nationality. Even people associated with people of my nationality were considered suspicious. A friend of mine was married to a Canadian man who had the same name as a famous American actor. When they tried to go together to one European country, that man was also interrogated for 2 hours by the border police because they thought his passport was fake. I was once traveling via train from European country A to European country B. I happened to be in a cabin with a man from country B. The border police of country B (this was before Schengen) took him outside the train and interrogated him for 30 minutes because they thought his passport was fake. He had a pocketful of documents, bank cards, credit cards, phone numbers of his family members etc. and the border police still were suspicious. I was so used to the long lines and humiliation that I thought they were normal for any border crossing.
Then I traveled to US. Imagine my surprise when I got off the plane, walked a long corridor, passed by a drug detection dog, got into a huge room with many passport control booths, in 5 minutes found myself in one of them, the immigration officer asked me where I was going and what was the goal of my trip then stamped my passport and I-94 and I was done. Even if I didn't go anywhere from there, the trip was already a success. It made me feel like a human. In the time since then I have seen the checks in many European countries improve and in the meantime US has added the annoying process of fingerprinting, but in my view US border control still offers better human experience compared to European countries. I was once crossing the border from Canada to US and there was this old woman trying to get into US with an expired (like 30 years old) British passport. The border agents still found a way to let her in. Since Schengen she probably would be let into other European countries but I am sure before Schengen she wouldn't be able to go anywhere.
I know that there are people who have negative experiences while trying to get into US as there are negative experiences for people trying to go anywhere, but I think most of the noise associated with them is unjustified and if US border control need improvements other countries need them even more.