adeewebstr

I don't have any stories to relate, but wanted ya'll to know I was nearly late picking my kids up from school because of you. I was having so much fun reading your posts that I forgot to check the time!

ChristieP

My in-laws live about 3 miles from Cd. Acuna on the Mexican border. One time when we were visiting, my husband and I drove across rather than walking like we usually did. On the way back, the line to get back into the US was pretty long, and traffic was just creeping. The US side of the bridge is uphill from the rest of the bridge, and my husband's older Trooper had a manual transmission. Needless to say, by the time we got up to the inspection station, the clutch was pretty hot from him having to practically stand on it while we creeped forward. The Customs official asked us "Why does your car smell funny?" My husband explained politely that the clutch was hot from creeping uphill for 30 minutes. Unfortunately, the Customs guy didn't believe him, so he made us pull into the inspection stall and the Customs agents practically took our Trooper apart! They dragged my husband's tool box out and took everything out of it, looked under the hood for a long time, took everything out of the glove box, and attempted (unsuccessfully, thank goodness) to remove the back seat from the vehicle. They even brought the sniffer dog over and had it check out the car! We just stood there and watched, helplessly, and once they were done, they walked away and we had to put everything back together ourselves. From then on, we walk across!

ceg

This is not a border crossing story but did involve border patrol in California. The border patrols are very active along the Mexico-US border in the southwest trying to catch undocumented Mexicans trying to get into the US.
On a recent trip on I-5 across the desert we were stopped by border patrol and asked our citzenship. (We don't look even remotely hispanic.) My husband and daughters are US citizens and I am Canadian. The border guard looked puzzled and asked for my passport. Not expecting to be asked about citzenship going across California from Arizona I did not have it on me. I did volunteer my green card which he carefully looked over.
I don't know how many illegal Mexican immigrants are identified at that border crossing, just a stones throw from the border, but no undocumented Canadians are getting by.

Keith

Patrick, LOL about the haircut!

I was bicycling back to the US at Sault Ste Marie and when they asked that question, told them I had my tennis racket restrung in Canada. They had me go into the office for what seemed like forever while searching through their books. They finally charged me a duty, but I thought they made the amount up on the spot.

Another time I was returning in a van from a college field trip in Ontario. One of the students was driving.

When the guard asked his first question, our professor leaned over and said "Cram it, we're in a hurry!" We tried to disappear through the seats.

Then we learned the guard was another professor working a part time job (many worked summers on the border) and it was a joke.

But my favorite was returning with my parents one time. My Dad was born in Canada and when he was questioned about that, my Dad asked if the guard wanted to see his naturalization papers. When the guard was passing them back, my Dad mentioned that in 30 years that was the first time someone had asked to see them. The guard said, "You can sleep safe tonight knowing your border is protected."

Keith

laurieb_nyny

My husband & I were returning from London to US in 1994 so this is actually an airport INS issue not really border patrol:

Hand over the passports then:

Official (to me): "it appears that you & the gentleman live in the same housing complex"

Me (tired from long flight): "yes we do"

Him: "are you related"

Me: "yes we are"

Him: "but you don't have the same last name, are you on your honeymoon?

Me: "no we're not"

Now my husband sees that I'm about to smart mouth this idiot chauvinist so he chimes in that we have been married for several years and we own a private home together. The official repeated the same questions over & over again for about 20 minutes (directed only at me) until I finally told him I either expected to have my passport stamped or to speak to his supervisor, then he gave in.

bennnie

Oaky - Maybe I can answer some questions here. I ( really truly) spent 3 years as a US Customs Inspector. Reading through your stories gave me horrible flashbacks. I hated that job more than anything I have ever done in my life. I can't understand all of the questions you are asked and I'm sure there are material details missing but I'll give it a shot. Keep in mind that US Customs Inspectors enforce the laws of over 125 different government agencies. Every day they are given alerts on various threats etc. They do have databases available to them to check on stolen cars etc even stolen works of art.

If you are asked about relationships with those you are travleing with it most likely is because your duty exemptions vary depending on whether or not you are traveling with family members. For example an individual can bring back $400 worth of good duty free. Family members can combine their exemptions.

If you were asked about currency, it could be for two reasons. 1. If you carry more than $10,000 in cash or negotiable instruments in or out of the US it must be reported. Its not illegal but there are forms that need to be completed. It assists with detecting laundered money. 2. It could be that the inspector wanted to make sure you had sufficient funds to support yourself while in their country.

3. Some food items cannot be imported. But its very depended upon the type of processing that product undergoes and what the country of origin is. I recall Italians in Boston accusing me of being prejudiced because I would let the Irish bring their sausages in but not the Italians. Their ignorance of agriculture law caused them to fall back on "prejudice" as the explanation for my seemlingly unjustified behavior. Silly.

4. Rental cars and questions about ownership - big problem with rental cars being stolen and taken over the border. Or just cars in general being stolen.

5. Kids - children go missing all the time. Customs wants to make sure the kids in your car belong with you.

6. occupation - probably asked to ensure that you were not intending on working illegally in a country. But also could be a lead in to other quesitons - like are you carrying back commercial samples or tools that could be subject to duty. As complicated as a tourist inspection is, it gets far more complicated once you know someone is on a business trip. It opens up a whole other area of possible laws to be enforced.

I recently crossed the border at the Lewiston Bridge. I was with my boss on our way to a meeting in Toronto. We are both attorneys. I had to tell him to terminate his cell phone conversation as he approached the Customs booth. It was really surprising to me that he wouldn't have known better but his response was that it was just a "toll booth" so why should he. I'm know Custom inspectors get that kind of response every day. People who carry on conversations while the inspector is trying to do their complete their work, people who eat or blow smoke in their faces.

I know I was treated with shocking amounts of distain, rudeness, and condescenscion. Most people are polite and respectful. But others definately flunk the attitude test and sometimes it tough to resist the temptation to retaliate. I left because it was all too stressful - the 5th bomb threat was the icing on the cake.

So my advise to anyone clearing through Customs is the following:

Pay attention to the questions being asked and anwer the question appropriately. If asked how long you'll be in the country the correct answer is x # of days. Not well it all depends on my great aunts surgery and if they can remove her gallbladder blah blah blah...

Be ready ... don't go fumbling around for your passport, license, airline tickets or whatever.

Keep in mind that the inspector has absolutely no idea who you are and what you are up to. You know you are an honest hardworking member of society just taking a nice trip but the inspector may not be able to see that immediately.

It a tough job, it doesn't pay particulurly well, everyone dislikes you (at best) and there are some really really scary people out there who try real hard to blend in with the rest of the world.

bennnie

Oh one more story - the funniest thing I ever asked when working as an inspector was "what is the capitol of New South Wales?". I asked the question of an older Australian gentleman. He gave me the answer and then asked "Was that a test to see if I was really Australian?". I could tell he was really intrigued and kind of excited about successfully passing the "test". I was tempted to say yes and leave it at that but I told the truth... I was working on a crossword puzzle and that was the next clue. Like I said there are two sides to every story.

Diana

Bless your heart bennnie.

And I thought my stint as a convenience store clerk in a high crime area was a bad job. (Makes you appreciate the old' college education huh?)

I always try to be polite, but I will be extra-nice from now on.

baker

Thanks again; these are a laugh, in fact, there's an idea for a book here. A few years back my husband and I were going on a cruise; at the last minute the flight was switched from Toronto to Buffalo. So...we thought we'd go over the night before, have a leisurely dinner then get up early across from the airport to catch our flight. We were in my husband's car, dressed nicely, when the immigration inspector did a number on us. He asked us at least 6 times, in different ways, "who owns this car?" In between was the usual, plus "why are you flying from here, not TO?" "why did you cross today, not tomorrow?" Then we were ordered to go inside and surrender our passports. We got grilled again, very abruptly as to our travel plans and the fact that we travelled to the Caribbean a lot. We were asked our occupations (teacher/pricipal) then told to sit and wait. We could see them checking things on a computer and they'd stare at us for intimidation's sake. Now we are both Cnd born, caucasian, with no record of any kind. Then we were told to be on our way as abruptly as could be. To this day we have no idea who or what they thought we were.

indytravel

Not funny "ha-ha" but funny odd. I went through passport control in Cincinnati last Sunday. I happened to notice the lady had a very nice flat-screen monitor that I mentioned. She held up her hand in front of it and said I wasn't supposed to be looking at it. Even though it was angled so I couldn't see data on the screen, if it's that important why is it even there?

Then a bit further along she asked why my passport was stamped by US immigration back in May. "We don't stamp incoming passports." Gee, you get cranky if you think I'm looking at your monitor, but you expect me to have quizzed Newark passport control about why they stamped my passport?

Marilyn

Very interesting, bennnie. When I traveled on business I never stated that on my immigration or landing form. I always said "pleasure." It saved a lot of hassle.

Once, just after crossing the Mexican border from Texas, four of us were pulled over by the Mexican "highway patrol." They checked a lot of the stuff in the car (which had just been gone over with a fine tooth comb by the border police). Then one of the guys asked my friend Linda if she smoked marijuana. She just looked at him, wide-eyed, and said "You have GOT to be kidding!" What did he expect her to say? "Yeah, we've got a carful of drugs here?" Gotta be one of the dumbest questions ever asked!

juinmi

My in-laws were visiting and decided to cross the US/CA border to go gambling in Windsor. The border patrol guy had some sort of accent and asked what my f-i-l thought was "do you have any farms"? My WI dairy farmer slightly hard of hearing f-i-l replied "just the one". The border patroler looked at him very funny so my f-i-l asked him to repeat the question. He finally understood the question "do you have any firearms"? A good laugh was had by all and my in-laws continued on their merry way.

ncgrrl

Stopped by the customs/immigration people at BWI returning from Mexico (well, not really Mexico, I went to Cancun) and the guy asked if I brought in any cigars. I responded with a puzzled look on my face and replied "No. I live in North Carolina, I could probably buy them cheaper there." He agreed that I could probably buy them cheaper at home.

Looking back, I guess they were concerned I was smuggling in Cuban cigars.


One thing on the form you fill out listing all the stuff you bought in foreign countries -- if you get the form asking for the state you were born in, there isn't enough room to put "North Carolina" or South Carolina. I now know to put "N Carolina" but the first time I was writting in the margins wondering if I would get arrested for not properly filling out the form.

dixon

Bennie, I understand what you are saying. But please explain how in the world it enforces anything or protects American citizens when the man in the booth at the border looks at my passport and then asks me my name. What possibly could that detect except a blithering idiot?

Moreover, if I am driving a car and hand him a rental contract, how does it enforce anything to ask me where I got the car? One detects forged contracts that way? People steal cars, forge rental contracts, and then don't know what any of it says? The Canadian authorites are not competent to intercept a stolen vehicle at the border, or do not alert American authorities with a description of the vehicle??

If the infiltration problem is that severe, then we need more agents and stricter controls.

Among the western European Union nations, (except Switzerland) one passes from country to country with out a passport check of any kind. For example, the border between Austria and Germany is unmarked. I crossed it without knowing exactly where it was more than once.

And entry at an airport into any western European country with a valid passport does not result in a barrage of idiotic questions like "What is your name?"

Moreover, I have never found European border control agents to be as surly or as rude as those in the United States.
Surely, they deal with some tough customers as well. If the American border control officers are isolated on an island, then the system needs reforming from the ground up.

I might add that returning to the USA from Germany after 9/11 subjected me to the most detailed and thorough inspection I have ever experienced. Our luggage was inspected with high resolution x-ray equipment, our hand luggage was searched by hand, my camera was inspected, all of us were pat searched for weapons, our shoes were x-rayed separately, and we were in some cases interrogated. Yet all of it was done with professional coolness, icy politeness, and aplomb by agents of the German Grenzpolizei. Despite the presence of automatic rifle toting guards lurking in the background, I did not get the feeling of being threatened because they were low key about it.
I am sure that the low key posture would have become a lot higher had the need arisen, and it was obvious that those guys meant business, but I was not upset or alarmed by their presence.

Even the armored car that followed the aircraft down the taxi way with a cannon trained on the aircraft did not strike me as excessive; it was just professional thoroughness.

In all, despite the intensity of the security effort, I was not left with the feeling that I was being harassed by a bunch of surly thugs, which is the feeling I have gotten when crossing into the USA from Canada in recent years.

In my 50 years of international travel, crossing the border into the US was always the worst experience of the trip, except for confronting guards at the gates of East Germany or an Iron Curtain country.

Nobody struck discomfort and even fear into the heart as much as the VOPOS at the entrance points to East Germany, particularly when they came through the train at night pointing automatic rifles at passengers asleep in their bunks. Those guys were trained to kill!

But the US officials easily fall into second place. I see no reason for it, and I do not believe that their methods or their attitudes stops anyone from entering the country who is potentialy dangerous to the American citizens.

True a few possible terrorists were stopped at the Canadian-US border. But in those cases the border officials were acting on a tip.

So I am not convinced. I think from your comments that someone puts the agents out there in isolation, and then does not support them or reinforce them adequately. The individual then does the best he or she can.

But why are the Canadians always polite?
Surely the same people both come and go.
Can you explain the difference in behavior?

Keith

"But please explain how in the world it enforces anything or protects American citizens when the man in the booth at the border looks at my passport and then asks me my name. What possibly could that detect except a blithering idiot? "

I wouldn't be surprised to learn they had caught many people just that way.

Keith

bennnie

"So I am not convinced. I think from your comments that someone puts the agents out there in isolation, and then does not support them or reinforce them adequately. The individual then does the best he or she can."

You hit the nail on the head. Hence my very short lived career.

crys

Two stories from the US/CA border: On reentering the U.S. via bus near Vancouver, the customs/immigration inspector, who had been all gruff and business-like with all ahead of me, suddenly became friendly when I handed him my passport and started to "chat". Where do you live? Atlanta? Gee, you don't sound like you're from there. Where were you born (glancing at my passport as I answered). Where are you going again? Atlanta. What are you going to do there? Well, live! Finally, I catch on: Officer, that passport photo is 6 years old. I've lost lots of weight since then, changed my hair, and started wearing glasses. The lady behind me is my mother--she'll vouch it's really me!

Second story: arriving in Toronto from U.S. Explaining I'm there for a conference, pulled into secondary inspection. Turns out that the officer was familiar with my conference and wanted to tell me his opinion on the Safe Third Country Agreement, which was a topic of the conference. Took me an hour to clear immigration because the officer wanted to vent. That's ok, he has a tough job and he was right about the agreement!