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!
Spent 5 weeks in CA in winter, about to cross for hopefully the last time. We crossed via NY. Surprisingly no issues (and I’m trans). The guy in the F150 ahead of us got held up and sent to secondary though.
However, I wouldn’t recommend it if you can avoid it. It’s only getting riskier to cross into the US by the day and they will quickly brand you a terrorist and detain you if they’re having a bad day.
Canadian living in LA: Crossed from LAX -> YVR and back about 6 weeks ago. Zero issues in either direction. Back in February went from LAX -> YYZ and back. I landed exactly 24h before that DC9 flipped on its roof in Toronto. Other than bad weather coming in to YYZ, zero issues. Went from SNA -> YYZ and back for Christmas. Zero issues.
My wife flew from YVR -> LAX and back last week. Zero issues, although she was really nervous from everything she’d read.
IMO there are zero issues crossing the border, at least through airports. I believe most of the goofiness I’ve heard about was at land crossings, although I’ve heard from friends that they’ve had zero issues at land crossings either.
FWIW I’m a 50 year old white guy, and at least half the time I’ve got one or two teenage boys with me, the rest of the time just me. I work with another Canadian “import” but he’s originally from Iran. He said that while he was nervous, he did not notice any increased scrutiny for himself or for his wife, who flew separately recently to Toronto and back.
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 ;-)
It’s been fine. But I’m a decently well off young white dude who has never had trouble with borders anywhere. But I will still avoid it as much as I can.
It wasn’t that bad a few weeks ago, got the full fingerprint treatment which was a first, a few more pointed questions but nothing out of line. Most people in the que were through pretty quick.
I head down again Monday and don’t expect anything different.
