The processing system outage began at about 7:30 pm EST (0030 GMT) and was resolved about 9:30 pm EST (0230 GMT), the customs agency said in a statement. All airports were back on line after wait times for travelers that were longer than usual, it said.
Can’t catch Metro ride to new airport until March 2018
"At this time, there is no indication the service disruption was malicious in nature," the agency said. It gave no explanation for the disruption and said travelers were processed using alternative procedures.
Travelers entering the United States from overseas posted photos on social media of long lines at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York and at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. "No one has been getting past JFK Airport immigration for the last hour. Line is a few 100 deep. Seems like their system did completely go down. Happy New Year!" said Jessica Yang, a program manager at Microsoft, in a Twitter post.
Suspected Da'ish member arrested with pistols, ammunition at Karachi airport
Other airports, including Denver International Airport, also said they were affected. A similar computer outage occurred a year ago.
"Operations returning to normal as @CustomsBorder computer issue resolved. Issue affected other US airports. Thanks for your patience," Miami International Airport said in a Twitter post.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ