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!
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 ;-)
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.
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.
