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For those that have crossed the US / Canadian border recently: What was your experience like when dealing with US customs? (lemm.ee)

submitted 22 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

5 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/62991105

Hey everyone!

For those that have crossed the US / Canadian border recently: what was your experience when going through US customs? Were you harassed / detained? Any tips to prepare for crossing?

My SO and I were talking earlier about having some family come up from the US to Canada to visit us. I suggested maybe they should wait a bit due to the apparent unhinged behaviour of US Customs; However, while my SO doesn't deny the stories, she believes they might be rare cases & blown out of proportion by the media. She found out that the Vancouver woman that was detained for ~2 weeks also had improper paperwork - which is often left out by the media. While the detainment duration is still totally unjustified, the initial detainment was caused by the improper paperwork.

So I'm reaching out to those that actually cross the border to see what's actually going on; as the media can be fanatical sometimes.

Thanks in advance!

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

First, it is different experience if land crossing or through an airport.

Your intuition is right, the impression through the media is not accurate. I´d land crossed the border a few times this year and did not notice any changes... if anything is the Canadian side that is a bit more scrupulous with the questioning but nothing concerning. Now, for sure, some border officers may feel more embolden to do harm than before, but it is not much of a noticeable shift from previous years.

Remember, that border officers have a unusual broad authority that leave us, mortals, without much recourse, so be courteous and the numbers say you will be fine. In the past, I had said a wrong word like "I had to do a training" and zap... I was retained for 8h for "intention to work" and had to contact HR in both countries.. avoid sensitive with words that can be triggers for them... for starters... do NOT mention your username ;-)