Problems crossing the border, anyone?

[emers382]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

When my hair was halfway down my back, and my head wrapped in a bandanna, I was always checked out at the border, especially into the US. Now, with no hair, they just wave me on in.

I did get some grief once, when crossing with our tent trailer when the kids were small. I was asked for their birth certificates, which we never even thought to bring. My response was that they were obviously our kids, to which the border guard pointed out that most child abductions were done by relatives of the kids. They did let us go on, but we did carry their birth certificates on subsequent trips.

Now I shall have to tell my two sons who are going bald that it's an advantage if crossing to the U.S., especially the eldest who goes over regularly just to get gas

Re guns - we are always asked when returning to Canada at our home town crossing after telling them we live there whether we have any firearms.

Adrian

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by emers382

Now I shall have to tell my two sons who are going bald that it's an advantage if crossing to the U.S., especially the eldest who goes over regularly just to get gas

Re guns - we are always asked when returning to Canada at our home town crossing after telling them we live there whether we have any firearms.

Adrian

Hi: emers382... Last May we were asked at the border if we were leaving anything for anybody. I said "No". They asked if we had picked up any parcels for anyone. "No"... then proceeded to turn into Emerson and left you the whole trailer!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[sturski]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

So-- was anyone else asked if they keep guns at home?

Guns and fruit, every time. Nevermind the 125# Newfoundland going ballistic in the back of the truck because she's bored.

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I did get some grief once, when crossing with our tent trailer when the kids were small. I was asked for their birth certificates, which we never even thought to bring. My response was that they were obviously our kids, to which the border guard pointed out that most child abductions were done by relatives of the kids. They did let us go on, but we did carry their birth certificates on subsequent trips.

I had the same experience flying out of Calgary from a ski trip. I finally found my my daughters boarding passes. "I can't prove that they are mine; but I can prove that I brought them in" seemed to work.

Last trip, my Colorado plates provoked a question about pot. "No, I'm told you have plenty of your own in BC" seemed an acceptable answer.

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

...
So-- was anyone else asked if they keep guns at home?

Yes, we were asked that specific question - one time out of 3 trips to ETI in early May, this year. We were always asked about bear spray which I did have at home in Colorado - having had a close encounter with a bear while on a solo hike.

I did have to dispose of my Washington State apple, so I ate it at the inspection area and tossed the core.

--
Alan

[maurerl]

The one & only time I've ever had a problem at the border, in 4 decades of visiting and camping to the US, was in Anacortes about twenty years ago. A group of us were headed to Seattle for the STP bike ride, and we took the Sidney-to-Anacortes ferry. On arrival at Anacortes, I made the mistake of leaving my vehicle to talk to my buddies in another vehicle in another queue, and before I knew what was happening I was facing down two border guards ordering me back into my vehicle AT GUNPOINT (actually, rifle-point). Scared the **** out of me -- hell of a way to learn that thou shalt not get out of thy vehicle at a border station unless specifically so directed by the guards.

[emers382]

Originally Posted by maurerl

The one & only time I've ever had a problem at the border, in 4 decades of visiting and camping to the US, was in Anacortes about twenty years ago. A group of us were headed to Seattle for the STP bike ride, and we took the Sidney-to-Anacortes ferry. On arrival at Anacortes, I made the mistake of leaving my vehicle to talk to my buddies in another vehicle in another queue, and before I knew what was happening I was facing down two border guards ordering me back into my vehicle AT GUNPOINT (actually, rifle-point). Scared the **** out of me -- hell of a way to learn that thou shalt not get out of thy vehicle at a border station unless specifically so directed by the guards.

If you are traveling with kids it's good idea to have potty break BEFORE you get in the line up. I can speak from experience, yes, once you are in the line, even though you have crossed the actual border you are not yet cleared to be in the country so must stay in your vehicle.

Adrian

[shrncnddck]

Last spring we went through the Roosville crossing into Montana. The border guard asked where we were going. I answered that we hadn't yet decided whether we were going to Arizona or Oregon, and that it would depend on the weather. This was a BIG mistake. We were then asked to prove that we didn't intend to stay in the US indefinitely (how does one prove a negative?). After a lazy hour in the office we were allowed to proceed.

The moral of the story is to answer questions as simply as possible with as few words as possible. And always have a definite destination for them (even if you may change your mind later!).

[emers382]

Originally Posted by shrncnddck

The moral of the story is to answer questions as simply as possible with as few words as possible. And always have a definite destination for them (even if you may change your mind later!).

YES, I have learned my lesson, I may have told this before but crossing to church one morning I said we were going to church AND a pot luck lunch Well when I answered we had no food had a secondary with car search and was asked who packed the food (there was none as we planned to get something in the U.S.).

Speaking of food just another warning that it's best just not to have food, especially going into the U.S. It's not as bad coming back to Canada but don't bring any poultry products now.

Adrian

[alanmalk]

Originally Posted by shrncnddck

...
And always have a definite destination for them (even if you may change your mind later!).

I gave them a definite destination once - that I later regretted!

We were heading back to the US fairly late in the evening, hungry, and passing billboards for MacDonalds. By time I got to the border crossing food was the only thing on my mind. So, the usual question - "where are you going"? MacDonalds!
Response - "Joe, Sam, check these folks out, they're heading to MacDonalds!" It wasn't a pleasant half hour...

--
Alan

[Sandra L]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

Well there is finally an advantage to a name like "Vermilye!"

Mike, you have made me even more appreciative of my last name, which is usually mangled!

[emers382]

Originally Posted by Sandra L

Mike, you have made me even more appreciative of my last name, which is usually mangled!

Mangled is an unusual last name!

[Sandra L]

It's a convenient alias.

[Mike Lewis]

Having a common name has its advantages, as in it doesn't give away a lot, so I can use my name as a user name on a web forum, for instance. I think of it as "security through obscurity".

However, once a friend forwarded to me a mug shot of another Michael Lewis who also shared my middle name, which is not common. That guy looked like trouble. I think he was in another state though, not Florida.

If I were going to cross the border on a frequent basis I'd try to get some kind of "good guy" card from the Canadian border folks to expedite the process. I wonder if that's possible.

[Dave Walter]

Whatever you do, do not wear an Athletics hat when crossing into the USA to attend a Mariners game. That is begging for trouble, as my fifteen year old son found out a few years ago.

[NW Cat Owner]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

If I were going to cross the border on a frequent basis I'd try to get some kind of "good guy" card from the Canadian border folks to expedite the process. I wonder if that's possible.

Washington State residents can get something like that. Forget what it's called since I knew I wasn't going to get one. I might if we plan to camp in Canada a lot (and visit ETI a bunch of times). Basically, the feds check you out, you submit your fingerprints and if they approve, you get this card that lets you in. There might be a separate lane for that when crossing, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

I'm sure other Washingtonians on the list will know more than I do. Such as what it's called so I can do some research on it.

Knock wood, the only time I had a problem was appx 30 years ago when I was coming back from Chilliwack, visiting a friend. I was driving a beat up Datsun B210 (lime green!) and we had to pull over. Go into the office and dump our purses out. I think they even put a dog around the car, but we weren't allowed to see what they were doing. I just handed them my keys. We got asked up one side and down the other other what we were doing in Canada, for how long, they wanted the address of who we stayed with and all sorts of other stuff. It was rather scary, to say the least. Oh yeah, they even called my friend to verify who we were!

I'm just glad I wasn't bringing back any 222's that trip!

(A really strong, over the counter (in Canada) pain drug that you need a prescription for in the US as it has codeine in it.)

[gbaglo]

It's called a Nexus card.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by gocamp

https://www.eff.org/press/releases/p...ches-us-border

https://www.eff.org/wp/defending-pri...igital-devices

https://www.eff.org/pages/border-search-quiz

Originally Posted by LeonW

These talk about one's rights at the US Border under US law. But I don't know if they apply going in to Canada. If I understand Mike's post correctly, he was questioned by the Canadian authorities, and they are the ones who searched his laptop. So the issue is "what rights does a US citizen have in Canada?"

Right, those links are specific to rights under the US Constitution and so irrelevant to entering Canada... and the answer is: "nothing special, since it is not the US" (although there are rights that everyone has in Canada of course). There is some special treatment: US residents (and those of some other countries) don't need a visa to enter Canada as tourists (also true of Canadians entering the US).

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

One of the questions I was asked by the guard at the booth was if I had any guns. I said no, expecting this, then he asked if I owned any guns in Florida. That was odd, I thought; why would he care? Then I began to wonder if Canada is sharing this answer with the U.S. government, which I think it prohibited from keeping a database of gun owners (I'm not up to speed on this)...

My guess is that it's nothing so insidiuous. Apparently to some US residents who are accustomed to state gun-carry laws and seem to forget that they are trying to enter another country "I don't have a gun with me" really means "I don't have a gun I'm going to tell you about", so the ownership question may help the border agent decide if there is a reason to go looking for a deliberately undeclared gun. As usual with border agents (at least in Canada, the U.S., etc), answering whatever is truthful works fine, as a search would not reveal a gun.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

My guess is that it's nothing so insidiuous. Apparently to some US residents who are accustomed to state gun-carry laws and seem to forget that they are trying to enter another country "I don't have a gun with me" really means "I don't have a gun I'm going to tell you about", so the ownership question may help the border agent decide if there is a reason to go looking for a deliberately undeclared gun. As usual with border agents (at least in Canada, the U.S., etc), answering whatever is truthful works fine, as a search would not reveal a gun.

The easy answer was the one we gave, which was the truth: "yes, we do keep guns at home, like most people there do- but we left them at home." Agent said ok and that was it.

[gbaglo]

Much better answer than "go ahead, make my day".