why is the US ESTA Application so complex and slow? It takes more than 72 hours to get a result, costs 21 USD, and requires all kinds of obscure details such as detailed contact information to people in the USA. Has USA closed it's borders for tourists?
For one thing the U.S. seems to have no system from keeping people from overstaying tourist visas (unlike, say, Germany.). That gives them a reason to keep people out initially.