Letters to the Editor
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Really?
"When I took a bus to see the Tigers, we just breezed through. Now, they stop the bus and board it."
Wow. I've taken a bus through Detroit (from Canada) twice in the past few years, and both times, they've stopped the bus, pulled everyone off, checked for passports (yes, passports), interviewed us, and x-rayed or gone through our baggage. Both times, it took more than 2 hours to get through customs.
These guys wear combat boots and kevlar and carry nightsticks. It's not customs anymore. It's homeland security. And the border is every bit as tight as an airport.
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One Foot on Both Sides
Well, I have two passports, being a dual citizen. I generally use the Canadian one going through the US border, as it merits slightly nicer treatment, usually, and if something goes wrong I can haul out the American one and demand my rights as a citizen.
Going the other way, I generally use my Canadian one too. I'm a bit more nervous, with no fallback if something goes wrong, but generally the Canadian border types have less of an instinct to try and stick it to a fellow citizen than a Yank.
Because there is a bit of a Canadian instinct to want to stick it to Americans, after all this stupid bullshit being inflicted. The busts for ancient criminal convictions are an example of this, and far predate 9/11; back at the height of the drug wars, under Reagan I think, the US imposed very strict rules about never ever admitting any Canadian who had been busted for a drug violation, no matter how ancient or trivial. After a number of years of pleading this, the Canadians essentially said, fine, sauce for the gander, and mirrored the stupidity back.
Forget security concerns, just let a US immigration officer find out about that joint you got busted with back in 1976, and you can kiss your chances of getting in good-bye. Just like the Canadian officer will do about your teenage DUI in 1979.
And security concerns about Muslims are nonsensical: simple math can tell you that for every wahabi fundamentalist maniac in Canada, the US by simple arithmatic must have six seven or eight of its own. Besides which, Canadian immigration controls on people from say Iran or Algeria are in fact considerably more strict that the US counterparts. Just ask all the immigrant families driving down to the US to meet grandmothers that Canada won't give visitor visas to.
There is plenty of stupidity to go around; it is costing tons of bux, and a fair amount of human misery. And so very ridiculous, anybody seriously wanting to get across that many thousand miles of undefended border can do so pretty easily (look at the BC bud going South, and the Iroquois tobacco traders moving product North) without coming to the attention of pettifogging bureaucratic bullies and stupid rules; the only people all this nonsense is affecting are the honest ones. But given the current political realities in both countries, I can see no chance of change in the foreseeable future.
Me, every few years I think about relocating back to the US, my other country, but then I think again, and well, no thankyou.
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What does this say about America's future?
I've crossed hundreds of borders on various continents over the years, 1st, 2nd and 3rd world countries. While the US border police behaviors are still far from what the East Germans used to practice, they have become the worst I've seen anywhere outside the old Communist bloc. My biggest complain previously was slowness and occasional rudeness -- but the US border guards have gotten an overdose of authoritarianism. Even the TSA, as ridiculous as they are, have at least been given some politeness pills lately.
One concern I have is that there appears to be a connection between how authoritarian the border guards are and to what degree that country is a police state. In the US the border guards are apparently not governed by the bill of rights (not sure why, but no one ever seems to assert their 1st or 4th amendment rights when being told to strip search), so they act in any way their management allows. Although US police haven't adopted such extreme behaviors yet, I suspect that the Bush administration (as well as a potential McCain administration) wouldn't mind if they did. And that is scary.
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thank you for writing this article
the border with canada is ridiculous to cross. our dept of homeland security is THE RUDEST "security" force i have encountered in travelling through any civilized nation. it is completely unreal how much unchecked power they have and they wield with impunity.
the only thing i didnt like about this article is how it made me seethe with memories of those fucking assholes.
we live in a police state - just take a drive to canada and back and you will experience it.
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Fenced in
This nonsense with half baked security on the Canadian border is going to rival the Mexican fence for most risible action of the U.S. government.
The inanity of slapping up check point Charley here and there while leaving remote outposts unmanned entirely is difficult to get a grip on.
Now, let's see...is a terrorist going to attempt a crossing at a bustling, congested entry, or would he/she choose from the myriad of "holes" we have?
AND, the 911 terrorists HAD PAPERS for entry anyway.
Who is surprised, though? Our current administration is helmed by a guy who can't manage to speak in complete sentences.
Heaven help us.
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Don't you get it?
We HAVE to treat our northern and Southern borders equally. Otherwise it's RACIST. NPR said so.
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The Idiot
The Idiot we call President will not be president forever. While the insanity will persist after he is out of office, it may fade over time, and we will again be able to travel back from Canada without a blood sample or fingerprinting.
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Authoritarian dickwads
I live in Bellingham, Washington-- about fifteen minutes from the B.C. border, and everyone I know has the same fear of getting one of the asshole border guards angry during a crossing.
In a country where the rule of law is respected, law-abiding citizens have no need to fear the police, or any other security apparatus of the state, because we haven't fucking done anything wrong.
But that's not the case in the country I live in today. Everyone knows you'd better not make any jokes, or look at the bastards funny, or be in too good a mood, or whatever else might make them decide to pull you out of line and subject you to several hours of harrassment.
What makes this particularly stupid is the fact that while I am out hiking and backpacking, I cross the border a couple of times each summer on well-established trails about thirty miles outside of town. In other words, our jackass border guards at the crossings aren't doing anything useful, so there's not even any benefit we're getting in exchange for being treated like second-class citizens.