4 ms·
some of your points are fair, but I think you're making excuses. The "Even with Canadian flights it is normal to clear US customs and immigration..." is trying
by rconti 8y ago
some of your points are fair, but I think you're making excuses. The "Even with Canadian flights it is normal to clear US customs and immigration..." is trying to justify.. something.. but what it's really describing is a policy by which the US is forcing its immigration enforcement on to foreign countries. This is a new thing.
I haven't travelled enough to say; I've noticed the 'sterile' zones in particular in Heathrow but of course they have a vast array of international flights, and their status as a non-Schengen country means virtually every transit will be an international one (in contrast to your fair point about the US being a large country with primarily domestic flights).
On a recent trip to South America, I was reminded of how few countries have sterile zones. I made the mistake of booking through Mexico, thinking it would save time, but not realizing I'd have to clear customs going through the country each way. I also took a number of flights such as Argentina -> Peru -> Chile requiring I clear customs on my connection, as well as going through exit and entrance immigration in each (another contrast to the US, which has no exit immigration at all).
I think I got something like 16 passport stamps in 3 weeks.
- khuey 8y agoThe motivation for US preclearance at Canadian airports is not "forcing its immigration enforcement on to foreign countries". It's that there are a handful of major airports in Canada, and loads more in the US, many of which did not have immigration facilities in the 1950s and 60s when preclearance started. Even today LGA and DCA don't have immigration facilities.
- rconti 8y agoI learned something new today; you are correct that Canadian preclearance predates 9/11 hysteria, however it is an expanding program that I believe fits my characterization when applied to other countries. https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/preclearance https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/p... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_border_preclearance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_border_precleara...
- sandworm101 8y ago>> policy by which the US is forcing its immigration enforcement on to foreign countries. This is a new thing. Speaking as a Canadian who regularly travels into the US, Canadians much prefer to clear US customs while still in Canada. It simplifies things and means that, should something go wrong, you are still in Canada rather than trapped in the US without a visa.
- HillaryBriss 8y agoInteresting. Before you said that, I was thinking about it from the US government's perspective. And I think that it is basically the flip side of your description. I think with such procedures the US is trying to reduce the number of people who are "trapped in the US without a visa" simply because the US government, by law, becomes responsible for managing, tracking, processing, administering, and, yes, potentially initiating removal proceedings for, such persons.