by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:34 AM ET, Wed June 26, 2019
Several passengers arriving in New Jersey from France were able to bypass customs last week after walking through the wrong door.
According to CBS New York, traveler James Harris and other passengers arriving at Newark International Airport after a flight from Paris last Monday experienced mass chaos at the New Jersey facility when the incident occurred.
The passengers from the X-L Airways flight walked off the plane and did not know which exit to use due to a lack of instructions from Transportation Security Administration officers. As a result, the travelers exited through a door that bypassed the customs inspection station.
Harris did not realize the mistake until he went to pick up his checked luggage and a TSA agent noticed that his international flyer slip hadn't been signed. The officer said to Harris, "This is a big mix-up."
"For the simple fact that I could walk off an international flight, straight into the streets of the U.S., is very worrisome to me," Harris told CBS New York.
A spokesperson for U.S. Border and Customs Protection released a statement to Fox News:
"On June 17, passengers arriving on XL Airways flight 10 from Paris to Newark International Airport were mistakenly led to a wrong door leading outside the CBP inspection station after deplaning the aircraft. CBP took immediate action to redirect the passengers for inspection and the situation was corrected without consequence."
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said no security breach occurred and that all passengers were redirected to customs for inspection. In addition, X-L Airways has been fined for the incident.
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