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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 3 weeks ago by CocaineShrimp@lemm.ee to c/canada@hexbear.net

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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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[–] GaveUp@hexbear.net 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Only cross into the US through a "preclearance" checkpoint from now on. I.e. an airport/train station/etc. where US CBP officers are working deep in the foreign country and processing your visa BEFORE you even step onto the airplane/train. If you get denied, you'll probably just get denied boarding on the plane since you're not even in the US at all, and you can just go straight home

Much less risk of getting detained by US CBP like that Vancouver woman who got denied at the Vancouver airport, then flew to Mexico and then got denied entry into the USA after that and detained

I entered the US recently at a preclearance airport and I had no issues. Face piercings, tattoos, work visa expiring in a few months, POC and had no issues

I'd never try to enter the US from now on where I have to get my visa approved either at a land border or inside the actual country after landing

[–] iie@hexbear.net 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

What about leaving the US? Do they detain people on the way out?

[–] GaveUp@hexbear.net 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I've never had to deal with any customs officers when leaving the country, even as a non citizen

[–] hotcouchguy@hexbear.net 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I've once once or twice seen US officials stopping people at a US -> Canada land crossing, to check IDs. Maybe checking for outstanding warrants or something, it wasn't clear. That was I think under Obama, definitely not recent, and I've only seen it a couple times. Just pointing out that it is technically possible.

I would be more concerned about tracking by license plates and cell phones, anywhere near a border.

[–] GaveUp@hexbear.net 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Ah true I should've mentioned I only ever leave/enter the US by airplane. On purpose because I've heard all sorts of terrible things about the land border both international and interstate

TSA seems way better than the land border officers from what I've heard about them

[–] sexywheat@hexbear.net 11 points 3 weeks ago

Riddle me this: there is a door with a 1/1000th chance that if you enter through you will end up in an El Salvador gulag. Do you open it?

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 13 points 3 weeks ago

Improper paperwork could be "I did what one border guard said but then the next time I crossed a different border guard said the rules were different". Maybe that woman fucked up but given that she was dealing with those fucking idiots at the border, I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt

[–] hexaflexagonbear@hexbear.net 9 points 3 weeks ago

I recently crossed at Pearson, and it was very much not out of the ordinary. I said why I was visiting, where I was staying and when I was flying back, they didn’t ask for documentation, didn’t check my phone. May be different when crossing a land border tho, I assume the border agents who are based out of Toronto/Vancouver/Montreal are more chill than the ones based out of a US city.