EDIT: Consensus has been achieved, original post below. General consensus is that people haven’t had issues with US customs, as long as all the paperwork is in order.

Thanks to everyone who commented, I greatly appreciate your input!

Hey everyone!

For those that have crossed the US / Canadian border recently: what was your experience when going through US customs? Were you harassed / detained? Any tips to prepare for crossing?

My SO and I were talking earlier about having some family come up from the US to Canada to visit us. I suggested maybe they should wait a bit due to the apparent unhinged behaviour of US Customs; However, while my SO doesn’t deny the stories, she believes they might be rare cases & blown out of proportion by the media. She found out that the Vancouver woman that was detained for ~2 weeks also had improper paperwork - which is often left out by the media. While the detainment duration is still totally unjustified, the initial detainment was caused by the improper paperwork.

So I’m reaching out to those that actually cross the border to see what’s actually going on; as the media can be fanatical sometimes.

Thanks in advance!

  • Onno (VK6FLAB)@lemmy.radio
    351·
    2 days ago

    You should consider that snafus with paperwork have undoubtedly happened for as long as there has been a border between the two countries.

    It’s not the paperwork that’s the issue.

    It’s the harrassment and incarceration that’s the problem.

    Consider this: If family coming to Canada isn’t a concern, why not go and see them instead?

    • CocaineShrimp@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      10·
      2 days ago

      I’m concerned about going to the US for the same reasons why I’m concerned about family coming to Canada: dealing with US customs.

      However, they’re US citizens so I can’t imagine that they’d have paperwork to go back to the US. Then without paperwork to make mistakes on, they should be less likely to get incarcerated, right?