The Minimum Security Prison of America (aka "Fun Times at the Canadian Border!")

For those just tuning in here, I live in the state of Michigan. As such, I am surrounded on two sides (north and east, a little south if you want to get trivia-esque) by Canada. While I haven't gone recently (a few years) due to a lack of funds, earlier on this decade I would go to Canada when I had the chance - especially when I spent a couple of years in northern Michigan in the tiny city of Sault Sainte Marie, MI, which is a stone's throw from its twin city of the same name in Canada. The border crossing process had usually been rather simple for me, with the most that I got asked is "Where'd you go? How long were you there? Bringing back lots of money? Alright have a good one." I suppose it was a bit naive of me to think that things would go south in the couple of years since I've been to Canada, especially in lieu of revelations that Homeland Security can take your laptop at the border if they feel like it.

Like most things in life you stay naive of it, happily nested in a world of "it can't/won't happen to me" until - sure enough - it does.

Follow up:

My purpose to travel to Windsor, Ontario, seemed simple and innocent enough: it was a Saturday, I was bored, and I wanted to take some pictures of the Detroit skyline to satisfy my off and on desire to pretend I'm good at taking pictures. Didn't plan on going much of anywhere, buying much of anything, or even being there that long. It was, quite literally, something to do. You know, getting out of the house and all of that good stuff.

Maybe it was because I was traveling alone. Perhaps it was because I had a camera on me and those are starting to be regarded as a terrorist tool. Maybe I've managed to work myself on to some list of bad people: not the terrorist watch list which now boasts over 1 million names, but maybe some other list that we don't know about yet. Could it have been a list of noted liberal-minded bloggers? People who buy politically-themed music? People who don't love the President and haven't loved the President from day 1? Known Obama supporters? Someone get Senator McCarthy in on this one to help me out. I'd love to know.

Maybe they didn't like the way I looked? Maybe they didn't like my car? Or better yet, maybe they liked my car and wanted to see if there was anything in it they could "detain" for as long as they'd like (reason #1 why I didn't bring my laptop with me and go to hotspots while in Windsor). Maybe someone was a White Sox fan and didn't like my Tigers baseball cap.

Or hell, maybe it was just my time.

It starts with a yellow sticker placed on the windshield and instructions to drive off to the side where the immigration/interrogation center is. The orders from the officer are in a stern matter, a "don't cross me little man, I am judge, jury, and executioner!" type voice.

TURN OFF THE ENGINE.
STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE.
WHERE DID YOU GO?
SPEAK UP

As someone who has been known to fly off the handle, thankfully I kept myself in check through this process. These people seemed like just the kind who wake up every morning just praying for someone to get smart with them so they can make someone's life hell for a few hours. My constant humbled voice and over usage of the word "sir" hopefully appeased someone's broken sense of self-importance and saved me what would have probably been a long night.

My cell phone was taken. The messages were gone through.

WHO DO YOU KNOW IN CANADA?

Thanks to the internet, I happen to have a number of friends dotted across Canada - though none in the immediate vicinity of Michigan. They're scattered from the Maritimes to Toronto to Vancouver and a few places in between. I keep in contact with them, I even write some of them letters and they write me back - pen pals for a digital age, if you will. I had apparently made a big mistake just a little while earlier, when entering Canada, as I texted one of them: For at least the next little while, I am in your country :p This was to a friend who lived in Calgary, as I had to explain - as well as rattle off other places of friends I knew in Canada.

DO YOU KNOW ANYONE IN WINDSOR?
ARE YOU SURE?
WHY DID YOU GO?

Before answering the question I already knew it was going to turn out badly, as I've said before: people who take pictures of things are gradually becoming demonized. If you're not taking pictures of drunken friends in this country, then you may be a terrorist. I sucked it up and explained that I was on the waterfront for a couple of hours, taking some pictures of the Detroit skyline. I expected an inquisitive response, but I was shoveled a pile of insulting gold instead:

COME ON. I DON'T BELIEVE THAT. NOBODY GOES THERE JUST TO TAKE PICTURES. DID YOU VISIT AN ESCORT SERVICE?

I was stupefied. After saying I had only been out of the country for two hours I was being asked if I only went over there to get a prostitute. I had no response and my mouth was probably left a little agape.

IS THAT YOUR CAMERA? GET IT OUT. TURN IT ON. LET ME SEE. CHANGE THE PICTURES. NOW.

Frustrated that my story (or rather, the truth) was checking out, he ordered me inside the immigration/interrogation center while they searched the rest of my car. Good decision on my part to clean my car out before I left.

Sitting in the center's lobby I looked around at the faces of others who looked like they had been waiting there for a while. There were a number of Arabs. Some of them had looks of fright on their face. Some of them had looks of brokenness on them, a look of "here we go again" if you will. An Arab woman and her daughter were standing by a bathroom door wondering if they could go in. As they reached for the door an officer shouted KNOCK ON THE DOOR. KNOCK. to which the woman did not understand. The officer instructed the man she was traveling with (I'm assuming husband) to tell her to knock, and he did. The room was clear so she could go in. The doors had that buzzer system that doors in police establishments have - buzzing loudly when they are opened. The woman jumped back, alarmed by the sound the door made. The officer joked: Hey don't worry, it's not electrified, or at least not that much! as he laughed. At that point I was standing at a counter and I, too, laughed, not because of the joke but more of a I'm-about-to-be-sick-god-help-me sort of laugh. I wasn't quite sure of in what direction the bad taste joke was pointing toward - GitMo or maybe Abu Ghraib. Aww hell, it's just electrocuting Arabs, any parallel will do.

Finding that I wasn't a terrorist and noticing that maybe I really was just some kid who wanted to take some pictures on a sunny August evening, I was allowed to proceed into the country, with an interestingly-toned "I'm sorry about all this" from one of the officers at the facility. He was older than the ones who were shouting orders and questions at me. Everyone who shouted at me or talked down to me seemed to be in their upper 20's or lower 30's - people hired in the age since the Transportation Security Agency was absorbed by Homeland Security. The one who said sorry seemed like he was from before that time, back when people like me could take short trips like this and not be "randomly" put through things like this.

As I drove home I felt somehow violated. That's my cell phone. That's my camera. Who has the right to look at them ever, for any reason, aside from me? Well, the answer would of course be Homeland Security - operating in the lawless zone between Canada and the United States, where they could do what they want to whomever they wanted - or at least that's the impression they were giving off. I felt even more sick as I thought: I'm from here. I'm native born. How the hell are actual foreigners treated when they come here? I felt embarrassed for how this country was being represented just by my entry back into it. I was treated almost like a criminal for an hour because I had chosen to leave this country for two hours to take some pictures of this country.

If I were a tourist, I sure as hell wouldn't want to come here and go through that. God help me if I was even the slightest shade of brown or my last name was the slightest of non-Western European sounding. This country is being run like a minimum security prison - you're free to do whatever you want as long as you stay within the borders. If you leave, there simply must be some sort of nefarious reason you did so, and be prepared to answer 20 questions and then some if you have the audacity to leave. Don't answer the questions quick enough and loud enough, get ready for additional rounds.

I had planned on going to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls next month, since the route on the American side is two times as long. A bit shaken after this whole ordeal as I am, I wonder if it's even worth it anymore.

Categories: Personal Stories
Written on 08/03/08 @ 13:00 | 89 feedbacks » • PermalinkPermalink

Trackback address for this post

Trackback URL (right click and copy shortcut/link location)

88 comments, 1 trackback

Comment from: Honus [Visitor]
*****
Now you must go to Niagara Falls, if for no other reason than to demonstrate that you will not be intimidated.
08/03/08 @ 13:59
Comment from: P C Childs [Visitor]
Your article is reminds of stories I would hear from friends of mine that traveled a lot in the 1980's. They used to get the same kind of treatment when they traveled; lots of questions, everything searched and one time one of them had a camera confiscated. Recently one of them went to the US for business and had a rather worse time of it then you did, enter US soil as he was a Canadian. They searched his laptop, blackberry, cell phone and his PDA then wanted to know why he had them all. The fact that he is a computer consultant didn't seem to satisfy them and he spent 3 hours having a background check done. They were suspicious of my friend because he wasn't nervous or at all upset by the extremely poor treatment and thought that since he was so calm he must be some kind of a spy and one even accused him of that. He simply told them that he was used to the kind of treatment he was receiving as he has been traveling on business for 25 years. He said that the look on the faces of the customs agents when he compared their actions to those of the old soviet union was priceless. The sad part is he was right. I am old enough to remember the Soviet Union and the way they treated visitors. The US is now doing the same thing. I no longer travel to teh US for the same reason I never traveled to the Soviet Union. The fear of being guilty until proven innocent is more then enough to keep me away. They also treated everyone with suspicion in the name of national security. The US has become the new USSR. The ironic part is that all the security in the world never protects you from those that are the most dangerous and that is the people in charge.
08/03/08 @ 14:10
Comment from: antoine [Visitor] · http://www.g7.org.za
*****
Welcome to Apartheid South Africa circa 1988, and that was if you were _white_!

I cannot believe this is the same country that was giving us shit because we were 'protecting ourselves from the terrorists'

Deja vu baby.

- antoine
08/03/08 @ 14:11
Comment from: Carrie [Visitor] · http://coffeechica.livejournal.com
*****
(Here via kamara.) I can't agree with you more -- I'm ashamed of how terrible the US border guards have become.

In a recent trip to Canada (crossing at Windsor-Detroit, same as you -- was it the Ambassador Bridge for you too?), my family was briefly detained as I was sort of dumb and answered the "where do you know these Canadians from" question with "we met on the internet". We had our car searched with flashlights by the Canadian border patrol, but through the entire process they remained calm, courteous, and professional, and we found the whole fact that we got detained to be more of a funny inconvenience than anything truly upsetting.

Well. On the way back, we caught a TSA agent straight out of stereotypical boot camp (he actually looked just like the drill sergeant from Renaissance Man, heh). All he did was YELL at me. I got flustered due to total surprise that we were being treated like this (I too remember sailing through with a simple "United States, Chicago suburbs -- four days sightseeing in Toronto -- yep, nope, nope -- you have a nice day too!") and in my flustered-ness I forgot to declare one of the alcohol items we were bringing back with us. I got the wine, but not the impulse "omg this vodka is CHEAP" that we grabbed at the last minute while checking out at the duty-free. Then, after discovering the vodka after looking in our trunk, he proceeded to threaten us with how THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DOESN'T CARE IF "YOU FORGOT", YOU WILL FACE SERIOUS TROUBLE IF YOU FAIL TO DECLARE ITEMS. I know, I know, but I declared everything else, it's not like I'm trying to pull one over on you, it's just that it was a last-minute impulse and I didn't remember it and oh my god I can't believe I'm about to get my whole family arrested over 1 stupid liter of Absolut! I couldn't express any of that because I was shaking and stammering so hard, and y'know, in retrospect it probably wouldn't have been wise to talk back to this guy anyway. :-p

Then, I think because we were the last car in line and maybe he really wanted to get off his shift, he let us through with a GO AHEAD, BE ON YOUR WAY.

I was so upset I had to yell my responses to that guy for ten minutes into Detroit, because I was trying not to break down crying while navigating I-96 construction. :-p I couldn't believe I'd just been spoken to like that. I am a good citizen. I just got flustered because the man in a government uniform started yelling at me for no reason, I was scared for my family, I was worried about my four-year-old in the back seat and what if they started yelling at her the way they were yelling at me?

Really, the Canadians treated us as gracefully as possible when they were looking under our carseats with flashlights and I didn't even feel violated by any of that process -- but the US guard barely touched our car and I still get extremely angry just thinking about it. Just like you said -- if they're treating me and my family like this how much worse is it for people of "profiled" ancestry? Why on earth is this the first impression we want to make on people visiting our country -- that we're bigger and stronger so SIT DOWN SHUT UP PAY ATTENTION BECAUSE THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IS VERY POWERFUL AND WILL NOT HESITATE TO USE THAT POWER AGAINST YOU.

Your story really takes the cake, though. What a parade of ineptitude and wankery. I totally understand your hesitation to visit again, too. My own experience also has me hesitating to return to Canada, even though dear friends of mine live there and I love visiting the country anyway. Who would have thought it would be our own countrymen who'd make it so unpleasant to travel in other countries?
08/03/08 @ 14:21
Comment from: Jad [Member] Email
@Honus:

You're right, I should go, and I really think I will. It'd be against everything that I am to let them "win" like that
08/03/08 @ 14:33
Comment from: Jad [Member] Email
@P C Childs:
I love the parallel. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to watch that reaction, but in many ways I'm sure it's apt - which is downright frightening.
08/03/08 @ 14:34
Comment from: Jad [Member] Email
@antoine:
South Africa in the 80's were long before I followed the news. Was it this bad actually traveling *through* the country?
08/03/08 @ 14:35
Comment from: Jad [Member] Email
@Carrie:
(you work on LJ, eh? nifty!)

Yes, it was the Ambassador Bridge crossing that all this went down at - amazing how all that works out, isn't it?

I wonder how it would have been if I actually bought things there - like CDs. I mean, what kind of unAmerican person listens to things or takes part in anything that isn't within America's great borders, right?

That's the general feeling I was getting from them all.

And congrats for surviving I-96.
08/03/08 @ 14:37
Comment from: SM [Visitor]
I am Iranian born and raised. I moved to Canada 10 years ago. I travel across the US-Canadian border twice a year and despite the rude tone of the security guards, I have never had any problems of this sort.
08/03/08 @ 15:00
Comment from: Jad [Member] Email
You are impressively lucky then.
08/03/08 @ 15:07
Comment from: citizen [Visitor]
*****
when will Americans get it through their head that 9/11 was an inside job and the Dept. of Homeland Security is here to harass you ans that somewhere, somehow, someone is set to destroy your country and use official means to do it.
08/03/08 @ 15:27
Comment from: sfsf [Visitor]
If I worked at the border I'd only pull over conservative looking white guys.. especially if they had any sort of pro-war-on-terror stickers or whatnot.. I'd make their lives hell for a couple hours.
08/03/08 @ 15:35
Comment from: Gregg [Visitor]
*****
I wouldn't skip the trip across Canada to the Falls. I travel to Toronto once a year for vacation (I love the town) and I have not been treated like this at all on my way home (or in Canada, for that matter). The only time it happened was when I decided, instead of heading straight back, I would visit friends in Detroit and Pittsburgh on my way back to NJ. Yes, you guessed it, I crossed at the Windsor/Detroit border, and it happened just like you said, right down to the old guy apologizing while the young guy was yelling at me.
08/03/08 @ 15:46
Comment from: Citizenisanidiot [Visitor]
Well, because he is. Citizen, 9/11 was not an inside job, shut your face and go talk to an engineer.

God damn son, grow a brain.
08/03/08 @ 15:47
Comment from: Marie [Visitor] Email
You wrote: "If I were a tourist, I sure as hell wouldn't want to come here and go through that."

Well yes, exactly. We used to travel to the US every year, spending a lot of money on hotels, restaurants, books, travel, etc. We have a lot of American friends and relatives; we used to visit them. We loved seeing your country.

But crossing the border into the US has become hell for Canadians, as you can now imagine. It's just awful. We've been to lots of countries, but have never been treated as rudely as we were when we last entered the US.

We've told our American friends and relatives that we won't be visiting them anymore. They understand - we're not the first ones to tell them that the rude border guards remove one's incentive for visiting the USA.

Now we either stay home or go to Europe. No more USA visits for us.

I can't imagine how discouraging visitors by abusing them is going to help the US economy any.
08/03/08 @ 15:57
Comment from: Petey Wheatstraw [Visitor]
****-
"As I drove home I felt somehow violated. That's my cell phone. That's my camera. Who has the right to look at them ever, for any reason, aside from me?"

You're right, DHS does.
They have this right because for two elections in a row nobody but the evangelical christians felt like going out and voting, pretty much. The people get the government they deserve.
08/03/08 @ 16:05
Comment from: George O'Riley [Visitor]
As a reader of history, I often wondered how perfectly normal citizens could be persuaded to run concentration camps, kill women and children, club innocents. And, now, I am living through the process that I did not understand.
08/03/08 @ 16:35
Comment from: Steve May [Visitor]
Citizenisanidiot [Visitor] said:
Citizen, 9/11 was not an inside job, shut your face and go talk to an engineer.

God damn son, grow a brain.
08/03/08 @ 15:47

That's right, if there's any opinion different than yours, that person is just obviously wrong by default, should "shut his face" and "grow a brain."

You are rude and condescending and I can barely contain my glee thinking of the misery you and your kind will go through for the next 8-years with Bush and the Republicans completely out of power.
08/03/08 @ 17:15
Comment from: DeathOfScythes [Visitor] · http://ohbah.com
Re: George O'Riley

As a reader of sociology, I fully understand. Look at the Milgram electrocution experiment or the stanford prison experiment. It doesn't take a sociopath to commit the worse of crimes, not even money or power, all anyone has to do to convince a group to commit the worse atrocities in the name of anything is a simple power imbalance.
08/03/08 @ 17:15
Comment from: The Anonymous [Visitor]
Is there ACTUALLY a lawless zone that is "between" Canada and the US? Because if they are doing anything there, they don't have any jurisdiction. They are either in American territory, or they are in Canadian territory. There is no "unowned" territory between the countries.

As much as the Bush administration tries to pretend, they ARE subject to the laws of the United States. But it is going to take time in a courtroom for someone to actually PROVE that constitutional rights actually exist on American soil.
08/03/08 @ 17:36
Comment from: DHS are nazis [Visitor]
*****
I crossed the detroit-windsor border last year and I happened to have forgotten my passport that time (left too fast, and I live 700 miles north...doh). I only discovered so at the border and I expected to simply be turned back and have to get it. But no, they proceeded to question me and detain me for 3 hours while they were doing a 'background check' and searching all my stuff, all the while my girlfriend having no news of me and getting worried as hell. I frequently travel to the us for outdoors, but I don't usually get this much of a hassle. They were a bit more courteous when I showed up with my passport (as in didn't yell at me or treat me like I was a goddamned terrorist) but never even apologized (oh and they remembered me, it's not like they didn't know).

The detroit border guards are the rudest and biggest sons of bitches I've encountered so far and I won't be crossing through there ever again, I'd rather do a couple hundred miles around.
08/03/08 @ 17:43
Comment from: Bee Pee [Visitor]
It took a couple of readings of your article to actually figure out where the border "incident" took place -- northbound (into Canada) or southbound (back into the USA).

I assume it was the latter, but it's not totally obvious.
08/03/08 @ 18:00
Comment from: Milliner [Visitor]
*****
I am sickened and wouldn't just stand there and take it. I was livid the other day when an old lady at the fair told me not to touch the flower display. I don't abide bullies in any way, shape, or form and if someone told me to do something and I hadn't committed any crime, I would tell them they'd better change their tone and speak to me in a more civil manner immediately and be damned the consequences. Forget borders and countries, I am a human being and my rights will not be violated by anyone! I will die first. I don't call anyone sir.
08/03/08 @ 18:07
Comment from: Jimmy [Visitor]
I'd like to know under what authority these bullies are asking these questions because as far as I know I have the legal right not to answer any question nor to submit to being searched nor have my possessions searched in any way. Do I give up such rights at the border? Maybe the Canadians could have such rules and I could decide not to visit Canada, but coming back from Canada once I'm back in the USA I'm not answering any of your questions nor authorizing any search unless I am duly suspected of a crime and a judge has issued a warrant.
08/03/08 @ 18:12
Comment from: Tom Human [Visitor] Email
*****
I had something similar happen to me. Here's a tip: either 1) they believe you're a terrorist, in which case there's nothing you can do, or far more likely 2) they are wanting to make you suffer.

In case 2), the way to get out is to let them you suffer! Bursting into tears - or looking like you're bursting into tears - is the perfect strategy. Keep your head bent over, and look up at them. Rub the back of your neck, (body language meaning, "I fucked up.") Apologize a lot. Never talk back or justify anything, even if it's perfectly justifiable.

Awful but true, it's the same thing you'd do with the Gestapo.
08/03/08 @ 18:16
Comment from: Tom Human [Visitor]
"I'd like to know under what authority these bullies are asking these questions because as far as I know I have the legal right not to answer any question nor to submit to being searched nor have my possessions searched in any way."

You've never had that many rights in practice crossing the border: now you have none. Whatever you do, do NOT mention the Constitution - doing that is now considered evidence of being a possible terrorist (no, really) and since they repealed half of the Bill of Rights with the PATRIOT (/me spits) act you don't really have these rights any more.
08/03/08 @ 18:19
Comment from: Jodes [Visitor]
Frightening experience, but I say, stop crossing the border. If we keep doing it, we are allowing it to continue and if we stop going through we stop the flow of money going into that country. More importantly, we do not become desensitised to the experience because that is what I suspect 'they' want.
08/03/08 @ 18:20
Comment from: Tom Human [Visitor]
And I can tell you exactly what will happen if you try "I'm not answering any of your questions nor authorizing any search unless I am duly suspected of a crime and a judge has issued a warrant": they'll detain you for a couple of days based on nothing and then put you on the "no-fly" list so you'll never be able to take a plane again.

The way to fix this is to IMPEACH FUCKING GEORGE W. BUSH AND THEN TRY HIM FOR WAR CRIMES. You can't win by beating your head against the wall.
08/03/08 @ 18:21
Comment from: sparhawk [Visitor]
****-
the US wonders why the rest of the world is slowly closing its doors to them and no longer calls it "the land of the free". now you know why. you have a few years yet to save yourselves. use them wisely. that goes for all of you - from your leaders down to the common people. so many of you claim its not your fault what your leaders have done, but if you want that to change its up to you. that, or the rest of the world will make that decision for you. eventually even the tiniest of kids stands up to the big big bully.
08/03/08 @ 18:25
Comment from: Jad [Member] Email
@Jodes:

If it were Canadian authorities being like that, that's one thing. It was the Americans, and I am an American. I can't exactly stop the flow of my money coming here, nor would I want to. I just want things to go back to "the way they used to be(tm)"
08/03/08 @ 18:27
Comment from: Jad [Member] Email
@Tom Human:

That's pretty much what I was trying to convey to the officers there - that I had somehow screwed up and was the bad guy. Played to their ego, but it probably got me out of there faster.
08/03/08 @ 18:28
Comment from: Jad [Member] Email
@The Anonymous:

There isn't an official lawless zone but there is a defacto one. At the border they can pretty much do what they want to who they want. Who exactly has authority over DHS? State police? Don't think so. They're pretty much unchecked.
08/03/08 @ 18:29
Comment from: Hooty [Visitor]
*****
A couple of years I went to visit a friend in Detroit so that we could watch the World Cup final with him and some other people. To my surprise, the American border agents pulled me over and searched my car. WTF, based on what suspicion do they have the right to waste my time. Change your foreign policy instead, and people will not hate you and you will not need all of this security. Need less to say, I was late for the match - which was the World Cup FINAL.
08/03/08 @ 18:51
Comment from: TJ [Visitor]
***--
Wow! Thanks for the story. I grew up in a small border town -- and so frequently dropped into Canada frequently 'just to have a look around'. But it's been a long while.

From the sound of it, it'll stay that way, at least until the US isn't being run by rubes any more. Cuz (like the guy you mentioned) they USED to be professional but courteous. And human.

It has always been helpful to take nothing along with you. Nothing ... except maybe some consumables, and money. They like that. If you go shopping, for mundane stuff like groceries, dishware, products you can't get in the US, they like that.

Border searches have always had the potential to be *extremely* invasive. Think about stereotypes, and don't look like one ... just local. The less you've got to go through, the less time it takes.



08/03/08 @ 19:14
Comment from: Valerie [Visitor] · http://descriptiontoronto.com
*****
As a dual citizen who grew up in Ohio, I've crossed the border at Fort Erie/Buffalo hundreds of times. Before 2001, about 70% of the U.S. border guards ranged from grumpy to smart-assy, and that went up to 90% after 2001.

While I've gotten plenty of stupid and arrogant questions, I've been pretty lucky, probably because I'm female, white, speak English well and can name a specific town where my mom and dad live. What you went through was totally needless; I'll guess it was a combo of dumb luck and the fact you were a man travelling alone with a camera. While my benign-looking parents sail through easily together, my dad has faced extra questioning when he's gone on his own, even when my mom and I have been right behind him in another car. And that's without a camera.

I suspect the prostitute crack was an instant judgement on you, but probably also one of the things they say to piss you off. It's my experience they say things like that to try to get a person out of his possible rehearsed answers and say something out of offense that'll get them in more trouble. So you'd do well to let it pass.

I hope you go to The Falls. They like you having a set, common destination. (Yes, I know terrorists could use it too - feel protected yet?) Have whatever documentation you can have. In case you're ditching your usual cursed crossing, and going around through Ohio/NY, the Peace Bridge is usually less waiting time than the Rainbow or Queenston. Say I met you there, maybe did some gambling at Fallsview, have nice happy anecdotal details. Dot your i's and cross your t's.

And if you don't want to bother with any of that, I wouldn't blame you one bit. Cross your fingers for January.
08/03/08 @ 19:30
Comment from: Dawn [Visitor]
*****
It's not just land crossings where DHS employees are jackasses, but at airport crossings, too.

I live about an hour west of Toronto. My roommate accepted a job in Mobile, Alabama, and needed to get a work visa. The company in the states hired an immigration lawyer, who advised it would be simplest to apply for the visa at the Toronto airport as he left for Alabama.

His flight was to leave at 7am, so he arrived at the airport around 2am to get through the visa application in time to catch his flight. The DHS employee interviewing him wanted to verify that what he was saying was true, and wanted to call the owner of the company in Alabama. It was 3am by this point, and the phone call to Alabama woke the owner up. Half asleep, he mumbled something about payroll, which the DHS employee took to mean that my roommate was _already_ on payroll before applying for the visa. He decided that my roommate was lying about the whole thing, arrested him, detained him, and charged him with attempting to defraud the US.

Eventually he was let go, but warned that if he ever attempted to enter the US again, he would be arrested and deported immediately.

Eventually, with the help of an immigration lawyer, the charges were dropped and my roommate got his work visa. That was a year and a half ago, and even now when he tries to enter the US - either for work with his work visa, or for pleasure - he is detained and questioned for hours.
08/03/08 @ 20:31
Comment from: asdf [Visitor]
*----
I am never coming to the United States.
08/03/08 @ 20:50
Comment from: Cdnguy [Visitor]
*****
As a Canadian I used to cross the border regularly and spend money there.
The border guards used to be courteous and professional. Over the last few years they have been getting ruder, condescending and more suspicious.

Now I avoid the USA at all costs. I carefully plan my trips to exclude even setting foot in the USA.
I know many others who are doing the same.

The land of the free and the home of the brave?
In the past, yes. But now it is a JOKE!

The USA is slipping very, very badly in a lot of areas and it is accelerating.
08/03/08 @ 21:14
Comment from: The_Wolf [Visitor] Email
*****
Actually, according to the 4th Amendment, you can't be searched unless there is a warrant. There is no special needs clause to it. But, the government doesn't seem to let that stop them.
08/03/08 @ 21:19
Comment from: Eben Brooks [Visitor] Email · http://music.ebenbrooks.com
*****
I am appalled. This is just too much. May I post a link to this on my own blog? I want to call attention to this, because it is just wrong.
08/03/08 @ 21:43
Comment from: Jad [Member] Email
@Eben:

By all means, feel free.
08/03/08 @ 21:44
Comment from: Francis Esmonde-White [Visitor] Email · http://www.esmonde-white.com
*****
Your post parallels several experiences I have had with the not-always-so-kind folks at the Ambassador Bridge.

I'm Canadian. I met my wife at a conference (I was living in Montreal), and after a year of long-distance, cross-border dating, we decided to get married. It took over a year after to get my US permanent residency. In the meantime, I came to visit my wife for several weeks each month (I was writing my PhD thesis, and could write from Ann Arbor).

If it hadn't been for my wife, I'd have headed to Europe instead of the US. The state of this nation is quite demoralizing. The economic powerhouse of the US has just been rated as junk bonds (the major car companies stocks being devalued).

I had one very negative experience at the ambassador bridge border crossing December (22nd-ish) 2006. Basically, the guy started yelling at me, telling me that I had 'NO RIGHTS HERE!' I had my passport, and was with my wife. However I got on their bad side by crossing the border in a short period of time- like you (if you cross within a few hours, they immediately suspect you of smuggling). I had surprised my wife by coming to see her for christmas, and had needed to rent a car in Windsor to get from the train station there to Ann Arbor where my wife was (she didn't know I was coming, so I didn't want to ruin the surprise).

Another time, I was riding my motorcycle across at 1 am (it's a 12 hour ride from Montreal on a good day). The guards decided to give me a hard time, so they sent me inside to show my passport to the guys inside. They, of course, had me wait for the 30-60 minutes standing in line, while occasionally tensely yelling at people, and finally sent me on my way.

Finally, when I received my permanent residency, they sent me inside. They SCREAMED at me because I had one hand in my pants pocket (they were dress pants). It was a "we might shoot you" type yell, like you see SWAT teams do in the movies. I'm a slim guy, and my pants were well tailored- I can't think of anything really dangerous I could have possibly had in my pocket. (I was also holding a 5 pound paper envelope that had my 300+ page immigration case inside. I'd put all my earthly belongings into a truck, and driven 12 hours, so I was very low on energy by that point.)

I can understand the need the border guards have to search people- arguably to prevent contraband, avoidance of import duties, and so on. What I don't understand is the "Unnecessary Unpleasantness" service level that US customs now defaults to.

Oh- and no, you don't have any choice other than to submit to their searches. There are a plethora of small laws that allow them a ridiculous range of actions against people passing through.

I'm seriously worried about it- because I bet they're breeding home-grown terrorists. There are enough Americans in Detroit/Michigan who are armed to the teeth that I'd not be surprised if one day an American would go nuts on them. The DHS grievously offends a lot of people who pass through there. It would make me really sad to see, because they would probably respond by putting everyone through airport security at land-crossings afterwards.

Don't let it deter you from crossing- most of the other crossings have better-trained, and better-mannered officers. I have had only positive crossing experiences at the Detroit-Windsor tunnel (but I can't cross there when I'm on motorcycle- no bikes are allowed in the tunnel), and at most of the smaller crossings, the US agents are even nicer.

Best of luck in the future, and if you're around Ann Arbor sometime in the future, drop me a line.

Francis
08/03/08 @ 22:05
Comment from: Dmitry Orlov [Visitor] · http://cluborlov.blogspot.com
Hmm... Well, what if the US military came and BOMBED you out of existence for no apparent reason, as is their habit, would that make you feel any worse? Oh, wait, you feel violated already, for having your electronic trinkets tinkered with at the border, and being spoken to impolitely. Sorry about that.
08/03/08 @ 22:18
Comment from: PW [Visitor]
*****
Hey, don't be afraid of leaving for Canada. In fact, you should leave while you still can!
08/03/08 @ 22:35
Comment from: Jim Jones [Visitor]
*****
Stupid commie US morons. Dictator Bush and his new Regime at its best. Sickening indeed.

JT
www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com
08/03/08 @ 22:53
Comment from: Patrick Stickler [Visitor]
*****
Perhaps a form of peaceful, lawful protest by concerned Americans living near the borders, with hundreds or even thousands of people driving just across the border and back the same day, just to express what is common, and growing, outrage at the treatment folks are recieving when re-entering (among other issues).

Do that once or twice a week for a few months, and it may have some positive impact on the (lack of) efficiency and fairness, at least to citizens, re-entering the country.

At the very least, it should draw further attention to the issues and let those responsible know how pissed off folks are getting.

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin

08/03/08 @ 22:55
Comment from: sys [Visitor]
*****
Perhaps somewhere in their tiny little brains lurks the idea that travel should be discouraged.

Reminds me of my time in the Gardermoen airport in Oslo, Norway. I was there to see my girlfriend off, and took a lot of pictures. A security officer noticed that I was too close to the checkin area, and that I had snapped some of the secure areas beyond. He asked me to go through the pictures and delete the last 3 or 4 that included the secure area, and that was it.

I'll never step into the USA with so much as a wristwatch as long as these goons are in charge.
08/03/08 @ 23:22
Comment from: Conrad [Visitor]
No, there is not actually a lawless zone "between" Canada and the U.S. In theory, the Constitution still applies as you're in U.S. Territory.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled long ago that when you're entering the country, the government has the right to search just about anything. We can all sleep well at night knowing that the Supreme Court explicitly excluded body cavity searches unless there's probable cause. So short of a probe up your butt, the Supreme Court lets them do whatever they want.

I've never had any problems at immigration on roads or in airports, though it may help that I'm a white adult male generally dressed in business attire. It is possible to be both thorough and civil, but it would appear that DHS just doesn't give a hoot about civility any more.
08/03/08 @ 23:23
Comment from: Mr. Nobody [Visitor]
@ P C Childs - It's not even "guilty until proven innocent" anymore. It's "everyone is a criminal. Period." It's quite possible that one day, very very soon, the US will completely seal its borders. Cross-border trade, international business? East Germany used to send Stasi officers (their version of the KGB) along with people travelling to other countries. They used to send their own ships to get goods they'd bought overseas - no foreign ships allowed in the ports. If you travel to North Korea now you have a government escort 24 hours a day and you're not allowed to communicate with the outside world. Scoff as much as you like but it is possible.
08/03/08 @ 23:24
Comment from: Tom [Visitor]
****-
I commented on a news blog about this new revelation about what the DHS is doing or can do to people.

I work in the computer industry and if had to recommend one thing to a business that is buying or currently using laptops it's to use and get drive encryption. Luckily some computers come with such encryption, allowing you to lock specific folders on your computer and sometimes you can lock the entire OS and drive. By lock I mean encrypted. These programs are very simple to use and can save your companies butt if the laptop is stolen or lost.

These new disclosures about DHS policies seem to be too wide sweeping, missing important oversight and not explained to citizens before they cross the borders.

Some very important questions have not been answered. If you use drive encryption to keep your laptop secure - do you have to give your encryption passphrase/key to DHS when asked to do so? Can you be detained until you do? Can you be detained indefinitely if you refuse to give them access to your data? Can you be considered an enemy combatant? Can the government use torture on it's own citizens (and people from our list of friendly countries) if they refuse to give the government the passphrases/keys to access the data?

The fact is that they can stop anyone for ANY reason. They can look at anything electronic you have with you. They can keep such devices for as long as they want. They can destroy your computer or electronic device without recourse - in any attempt to read the data on these devices. They can farm out the drives to private companies that have very loose agreements with the Government.

If the government confiscates your computer they are required to destroy any copies they make when they are finished. But if they farm your drive to some private company, the private company doesn't have to agree to destroy the data once it has been looked at.

Thanks for writing about this. You're the first person I have seen talk about their experience with these new policies.

Welcome to 1984! Please remove your human rights and place them in the bonfire to your right. After that step on up for the implanting of the Government's Department of Safety, Security and Morality anti-terrorism monitoring chip and bar code identification tattoo. Your rations card will also be assigned once you are processed. And remember - Freedom through Monitoring, Safety through Control! God Bless America!
08/03/08 @ 23:56
Comment from: Agent Smith [Visitor] Email · http://journal.skuzz.com
*****
Great piece, and a sadly believable story.

I recently went on a business trip with some coworkers and that really was an eye-opener to how inept the alleged homeland security knuckleheads really are.

A coworker in front of me had 2 laptops and a backpack. I had 2 laptops and a backpack. Same makes and model.

The TSA monkey saw that and scratched his head and went "we need to inspect you."

So they start rifling through my bag, I had a ton of cell phones in it, as I tend to for testing.

He pulls out one phone, sets it aside, pulls out another phone, sets it aside, finds a gob of charger and data cables. Keeps digging.

He finally said, "oh, must have been all the phones that set the machine off, sorry about that, have a nice day."

Now on the plus side, that's where the incident ended. They didn't make me turn anything on or present any of my information.

I got home and opened this bag as I haven't cleaned it out for a while after 6 recent trips through various airlines to various destinations around the US.

Imagine my surprise when I found my old knife with 2x 3" blades on it in the bottom of one of the pouches, from back when I was living in Michigan months ago.

So I managed to go through the TSA checkpoints at least 6 times without them ever stopping me with a "lethal weapon" and the one time they DID stop me, they never even found it!

Why even bother with this illusion of security?

Meanwhile people like you get harassed for owning a device capable of storing pictures and/or driving alone or other horribly suspicious activity.

When did our country decide to screw up and become so backwards? I feel like America is slowly becoming East Germany or Communist Russia in the 60s.
08/04/08 @ 00:01
Comment from: John [Visitor]
*****
Very nice post. This situation is not new however. I grew up along the border and while in grade school in the early 90s, had parents come in to talk about their work. One parent was a border agent. He told us that we didn't have the same rights at the border as in the country, that they could take a car and tear it apart to search for items, etc.

This has been happening for almost 20 years...people just didn't really know or just didn't make it known.
08/04/08 @ 00:58
Comment from: Akshay [Visitor] Email · http://akshayv.blogspot.com
****-
I think you got lucky.. they allowed you to take your camera back with you. Check this article.. basically the DHS can now seize laptops, portable hard drives, ipods etc for indefinite amount of time.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/149303/2008/08/.html?tk=rss_news

08/04/08 @ 01:55
Comment from: mewantnomoreusa [Visitor]
*****
Thanks for your testimony. Being done by a native american give it a peculiar weight.

I feel the same as "Marie" and didn't go to the US since 2000 because I do not feel secure flying over there any more. And now that I would like to travel with my family, I'm too afraid to cross this border guards with my kids.

Concerning the reason for this fascism, I could not advise enough the incredible book of Naomi Klein called "the shock doctrine": it has all of this explained and foreseen.

I wish you well and I wish you Obama.
08/04/08 @ 02:30
Comment from: Andrew White [Visitor]
*****
As a European who flies fairly regularly to the states, I have to say I DREAD US Border Control. They are normally unfriendly, threatening and treat you like you are automatically guilty.
I therefore have recently tried to minimise my trips to the states. It's a pity as I like the place, but it is becoming a police state, no doubt about it.
08/04/08 @ 07:43
Comment from: Jad [Member] Email
@mewantnomoreusa:

Funny you should mention that book as I've just began to read it. So far, so good.
08/04/08 @ 07:54
Comment from: Foster Foskin [Visitor]
Why do you let them do this? Never mind the stupid laws Bushco has passed, remind them quietly and politely that you are an American citizen and expect to be treated like one under the constitution and the bill of rights. Keep your temper in check and treat them like you expect to be treated. You can refuse to show your photos or open your notebook. They have to show just cause to search you and infringe on your privacy. If you let them get away with it they will continue to do it.

Stop whining. DO SOMETHING WIMPS! Sheesh!

As for THE LOUDMOUTH, read my advice above. Ask him to speak normally. Tell him you are not deaf. Nor are you a criminal. He has no right to act like that. He is just an officious little prick so bring him down by showing you are better than him without giving him any reason to react badly.

If you don't stop this crap they will continue to do it.

There is absolutely no way I would go to the USA now. Not until you reign in these idiots and make your country fear free and a nice place again. Sorry folks, but you have yourselves to blame.
08/04/08 @ 08:45
Comment from: Craig [Visitor]
As a UK citizen born and bred, I came across Ambassador Bridge with my wife and parents on a holiday in July 2000. Note, *before* 9/11.

They were as rude a