Travelers Stuck Waiting Around After U.S. Customs System Outage

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Travelers at South Florida airports are stuck waiting around after a U.S. Customs and Border Protection system outage Monday night.

A CBP spokesperson confirmed the outage in a statement to CBS News, saying its processing systems at various airports of entry were experiencing a temporary outage, and they were taking immediate action to try and resolve.

"BP officers continue to process international travelers using alternative procedures until systems are back online," the statement read. "Travelers at some ports of entry are experiencing longer than usual wait times and CBP officers are working to process travelers as quickly as possible while maintaining the highest levels of security."

"No one was telling us what was going on, but we overheard people saying it was around the nation," a man, who only identified himself as Allen, said.

It is unclear how widespread the outage was, but issues were reported in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta and Washington Dulles International Airport.

"It was insane. Our global entry passes were denied. Had a big 'X' on it. It was like a line of a thousand people," said traveler Megan Martin.

By midevening, 30 international flights were impacted at Miami International Airport.

And this from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International:

Systems are reportedly coming back online, but it is not yet known what caused it.

"There was no communication. There were babies in line, service dogs – it was awful," Martin said.

At 9 p.m. at MIA, international passengers began to get through the process.

But for non U.S. citizens, one passenger said, "the people who are not citizen… the line go over to that wall at least a quarter mile."

Dozens of social media users took to Twitter to share photos of the long lines and large crowds.

In:
• Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport
• Miami International Airport