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Topic: Bush's bullies at the border
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DrConway
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 490
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posted 07 January 2004 03:00 PM
The Customs people at the US border are raised up and trained on a steady diet of first being assigned to the southern borders, then later, when they get some seniority, being allowed to work the northern border.As a result, they carry the attitude problem that a lot of white Americans have about "immigrants" northward with them, and as a result the ludicrous spectacle of treating visitors from a neighboring industrialized nation as though they were all potentially illegal immigrants is often seen. Now, I hasten to point out that I don't think that it is fair that customs officials of any country be excessively, boorishly rude and unprofessional in conducting their jobs. But nonetheless, the attitude of the officials On High in the USA validates the prevailing suspicion of all outsiders that seems to prevail at US Customs.
From: You shall not side with the great against the powerless. | Registered: May 2001
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Rufus Polson
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3308
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posted 07 January 2004 03:14 PM
quote: Originally posted by rosweed: I think attitude has a lot do with it. If you think you're going to have a problem, you probably will.
I think skin colour has a lot to do with it. And hair length. If you are, or are travelling with, someone whose complexion isn't peaches-and-cream or who does not look clean-cut, you're way more likely to have trouble. So in this case, travelling with an Italian was the trigger. An Italian is in the worst possible shape--on one hand, they look vaguely dark, which is good enough for a good ol' boy. But on the other, they're from a first world democracy and aren't used to being treated like criminals, so they're not likely to suffer ill-treatment submissively. That may change if Berlusconi has his way, mind you.
From: Caithnard College | Registered: Nov 2002
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praenomen3
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4758
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posted 07 January 2004 03:56 PM
We did the Woodstock NB/Houlton ME (about an hour north of the Calais crossing in this article) this summer at about 3:00 am back in August; no problem. We got pulled into the office in Buffalo once and were about to be turned back due to insufficient ID - couldn't prove we were Canadian. The only thing that got us through was being able to identify the number and name of our Territories. It was truly a defining Canuck moment for me.As for the unpleasantness described in this article, it brings to mind that grand old slight that the imperial British used on the subject of their neighbours: "The wogs begin at Calais." [ 07 January 2004: Message edited by: praenomen3 ]
From: x | Registered: Dec 2003
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Mandos
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 888
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posted 07 January 2004 07:44 PM
I sneezed on a US border guard. He asked me to cover my mouth, and handed me a SARS pamphlet with a pained expression.I went in the summer for a couple of weeks to the US. Aside from being only a Canadian citizen, I am well within the War on Terra Target Demographic. I had a letter from my hosts in the US, and this may have eliminated problems. On my way back, they did a cursory search of my luggage behind the scenes and left me a nice apology note--I am told that this has happened to people outside my Demographic, so I wasn't too worried about it. But I am going to have to make some decisions soon. I am planning to get a doctorate, and if I'm going to pursue research in my area, I have to apply to US universities, really. There are very few places in Canada where I can do what I want to do. If I don't get into the Canadian places, then I really will have to contemplate living in the US for a few years.
From: There, there. | Registered: Jun 2001
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Tommy Shanks
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3076
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posted 08 January 2004 03:10 PM
A slight quibble. "Joe Businessman" (or Jane for that matter) probably encounters more hassles from US Customs than your average folks. Issues over if you'll get paid in the US, by whom, who you work for, who is paying for your trip, have waylaid more then a few of my aquaintences. Try getting into LA from Vancouver for 1 day when you're from Toronto. Or driving to Plattsburg from Montreal.Daytrippers and tourists out for a little vacation don't seem to have much of a problem, either driving, flying, or whatever. Edit: spelling [ 08 January 2004: Message edited by: Tommy Shanks ]
From: Toronto | Registered: Sep 2002
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flotsom
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2832
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posted 09 January 2004 03:10 PM
quote: So, I guess crossing in a VW bus with Jerry Garcia airbrushed on the side in say, September, from the Kootenays, would be a bad idea?
October. Heh heh. There was a well-worn trail that crosses into Washington. Now there are sensors on it on both sides of the border-clearing. But seriously, most of that traffic works the other way: multi-million dollar yachts from down south have a certain unspoken immunity to search from yankee gunboats. Must be a 'class' thing. I'm sure that lot's of folks still recklessly cross the border by kayak and small runabout. In the mid-nineties a shy fellow I knew got caught in a kayak during an illegal contraband-smuggling effort one night when his girlfriend had a panic attack as they approached the beach on the American side. Some guy was sitting out on his porch with binoculars at 4:00 a.m! called the authorities. He was sentenced to seven years but fortunately got deported to serve his time in Canada.
From: the flop | Registered: Jul 2002
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beluga2
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3838
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posted 10 January 2004 02:16 AM
Check out this border-related nightmare: click quote: FREDERICTON - Residents of New Brunswick's Campobello Island have become virtual castaways in a sea of new cross-border trade restrictions.Just doing a bit of grocery shopping has become a retail waltz of one step forward and two steps back, with border officials walking on their toes at every turn. Frustration is breaking out across the island off southwest New Brunswick - which can only be reached most of the year through the state of Maine - now that the mad cow scare has produced barriers to the movement of meat and meat products on both sides of the border. ... earlier this week, a friend of his tried to bring home a couple of cans of chicken dog food, purchased on the U.S. side of the border in Lubec, Maine. "He went across, got the dog food and when he got to Canadian customs, they wouldn't let him bring it in," Hooper said. "He went back to U.S. customs and they wouldn't let him bring it across there, so he went back across to the Canadian side and they still said 'no."' The man had to return to U.S. customs and was told to call the store in Lubec where he bought it to confirm his purchase. He was then allowed to take it back.
This stuff is gettin' outta hand.
From: vancouvergrad, BCSSR | Registered: Mar 2003
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Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560
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posted 28 August 2008 04:02 AM
"My American border story" - Keith tells his story about crossing the border from Canada to the US quote: As Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post recently reported, a small, unnoticed regulation slipped into the Federal Register now gives the U.S. government the right to collect information on American citizens coming back over land crossings. And they can hold and share that information with whomever they please for 15 years. The Department of Homeland Security notice blandly states public comments are being taken until Monday, when the "new system of records will be effective." Doubtless those that comment negatively on the new regulation will find themselves put into the greater security database. So last year having been asked, and I stress asked, by the friendly border guard to sign my passport, this is the treatment I got on August 19 crossing back from Niagara Falls.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001
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mimeguy
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 10004
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posted 30 August 2008 07:50 AM
Well I'm sure everyone has a border story somewhere and some things have changed since 9/11. But routine hassles isn't one of them. So here are a couple of my examples.Canadian side - A colleague of mine crossed from the U.S. to Canada with his son. He had foolishly left an old pair of stilts in his trunk. The car was searched, he and his 8 year old son were questioned for two hours. The offensive thing was that his son was interrogated separately without supervision. He told his dad that they spent two hours trying to get him to say his dad was performing in Canada. A friend of mine from Mexico when she first arrived was questioned about whether she lived with her roommate romantically. They told her it was illegal to live with your boyfriend in Canada. You think you have it tough? Almost all Mexicans travelling through US airports are kept under armed guard while waiting for connecting flights. The only time the friend of mine mentioned above had an exception made was after she married a Canadian. Rather than being sent to the room under guard separately she was allowed to leave because she was married to a Canadian who was with her at the time. They went to the beach instead. Returning from Jamaica one year I was taken out of line to have my bags searched. I watched the line up and the vast majority of people taken out of line were either black or young white kids who had their hair in braids. Of the black persons there appeared to be no distinct image other than skin colour. Young people, well dressed moms with kids, older people etc. It even didn't seem to matter whether it was a Canadian or Jamaican passport in their hands. Returning from Haiti one of our volunteers who travels on his Pakistan passport (he has lived here since he was 10 and was then in university) was taken unceremoniously from the immigration line at Miami and placed in a holding room. We tried to assess how long he would be there because we had the connecting flight back to Toronto. No one would say anything until one official looked at the room, shrugged and said, "He may be five minutes or he may never come out." He was released just in time to catch the flight with a few minutes to spare. He told us that they opened a file on him and was asked to sign a document that when scanned had references to being viewed in future as a threat to the US and possibly barred from re-entry. He refused to sign. (The official told him to just sign it and read it later on the flight to Toronto) A supervisor came over looked at him, looked at the info collected and told him he could leave. As to the poster above who said he/she doesn't like US border guards at Canadian airports I have to disagree. Putting US customs on the Canadian side of Pearson was one of the best, smartest moves possible. I would rather go through customs for a brief moment on the Pearson side than try and get through customs at any US airport. Miami has convinced me of that. Coming back from Haiti can be a nightmare if you have tight connecting flights. Two or three metal detectors in Haiti to get to the plane and two very long separate security/immigration checks in Miami. In contrast going to Haiti it is a relatively brief line up at Pearson and no lineups in Miami which allows you to get off the plane and go have lunch, a drink and calmly wait for the connecting flight to Haiti. As to the poster above who rants about US tourism, get a grip on the rhetoric. If US citizens decided to stay home even for a year rather than visit Canada our tourism industry would collapse. I'm sure some Americans resent Canadian actions for one reason or the other but we really have to stop lumping all Americans into the Bush column. I traveled by car with my roommate and his daughter to Disney World in Florida a couple of months after the Iraq invasion and not once did anyone ever hassle us. In fact the further south we went the nicer people were in our case. I think racism plays a part at all border crossings around the world. So claiming some new changed environment due strictly to the Republicans is futile nonsense. All this would be happening under Al Gore/Kerry/Clinton whoever after 9/11. And it will continue under Obama. "Bush's bullies at the border" is really a ridiculous assessment.
From: Ontario | Registered: Jul 2005
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Fidel
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 5594
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posted 01 September 2008 06:19 PM
quote: Originally posted by Bacchus: Really isnt a lot of barbed wire Fidel, cross at Wolfe island and you'll just see one booth with one guy on the dock. It varies from corssing to crossing but given that Ive seen much worse (including machine guns, flamethrowers and minefields with the barbwire) the eastern bloc crossings were the worst (those the racism and brutality at the ceuta crossing from morocco to spain was truly over the top)
Ya I read the Germans shot a few Nazi war criminals trying to escape into the waiting arms of the democratizers. The OSS/CIA basically re-created Himmler's SS to run the spy ops out of West Germany. And today the USSA owns the largest gulag population in the world - is the largest exporter of torture and terror - and spying on Americans(Canadians too?) The Lives of Others in the USsA. In the USsA, the fasces symbol is a bundle of fiber optic data communication pipelines re-routed to NSA servers where techno-fascists examine millions of peoples' personal communications with an evil electronic eye. Other than a few small issues concerning privacy and freedom in general, the U.S. is not a bad country when not waging war on democracy around the world before and after 1991. [ 01 September 2008: Message edited by: Fidel ]
From: Viva La Revolución | Registered: Apr 2004
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Fidel
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 5594
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posted 01 September 2008 07:47 PM
quote: Originally posted by Bacchus:
Really? the men women and children shot by East German border guards were all Nazi War Criminals. Well then they deserved it!! Should have shot more women and children then
They were Germans shooting Germans, and they didn't miss often.Gladio: NATO's stay behind terrorists Our friends the Nazis And they showed little mercy in pushing and prodding children and old people to the slave labour camps and gas chambers-crematoria. And good old Canada welcomed over 2000 waffen SS and many more creme de la creme/scum of the earth on the lamb running away from the communists and Israelis. Many lived out the rest of their natural lives in North America, were provided good jobs, and collected Canadian and American pensions while living under their real names. quote:
"The Americans had gone beyond the infiltration and monitoring of extremist groups to instigating acts of violence." - GENERAL GIANADELIO MALETTI, head of Italian counter-intelligence 1971-1975
Meanwhile, U.S.-backed death squad regimes were slaughtering hundreds of thousands of indigenous people throughout the Central Latin American holocaust. Nothing says freedom more than a malnourished Guatemalan boy begging for handouts next to a McDonald's Restaurant. [ 01 September 2008: Message edited by: Fidel ]
From: Viva La Revolución | Registered: Apr 2004
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