3 ms·

I remember at some point a few years ago realizing that “hey, I’m more nervous, hassled, scrutinized and having my privacy compromised entering the USA than mai

by 3np 6y ago

I remember at some point a few years ago realizing that “hey, I’m more nervous, hassled, scrutinized and having my privacy compromised entering the USA than mainland China”. That change happened in not that many years. And it is not to say that China improved in any significant manner. It’s been a couple of years pre-COVID that I now avoid (and haven’t been) traveling to or through the USA, a country Ive always otherwise enjoyed my stay in.

Taek 6y ago
I am also significantly more hassled entering the US than any other country. And I'm actually a US citizen. The worst part about going to Canada is coming home. Typically a 40 minute affair where 5 different officers pull all the luggage out of my car, dump the contents on the ground, pull out the seats, inspect the engine and all other major cavities, and leave me with a mess that has ruffled and scratched my vehicle. 4 times in a row now.
- wang_li 6y ago
  I went to Canada once to pay the import duties on a gift and mail it to my friend on the other coast. When I told the Canadian border guards that that is why I was visiting Canada, they told me to pull over and go inside. I went in, they took my iphone, asked for the pass code, charged me the duty on the item I was importing, and then had me sit there for two hours while they went over my car. After letting me go on my way, I drove to Surry, taped the box closed and dropped it at the UPS Store there. Then returned to the US. When the US guards saw my entry time they asked why I visited Canada for only 30 minutes. I told them the exact same thing I told the Canadian guards, they laughed and waved me through. BTW, Canada won't let you in if you have a criminal record or even a DUI citation. When I flew to Rome a couple years ago there are two lines for immigration. One is for Europeans and the other is for everyone else. A guard saw me standing in the everyone else line while holding a blue American RFID enabled passport and pulled me from the line and sent me through the Europeans line. It took me two minutes to get through immigration. My friend arriving from SEA spent an hour and a half and was interrogated about where we were staying, what we were doing, verified a return ticket, and so on. The moral of the story is that every country weighs risks, costs, and benefits every time they let someone in. Borders are a thing and controlling who crosses borders is one of the fundamental and defining characteristics of a country.
- refurb 6y ago
  I had the opposite experience as a Canadian. I got shit on nearly every time I went back to Canada (e.g. accused of smuggling, lying about what I was going to do in Canada). Entering the US? I usually got a "welcome back". I think it has more to do with crapping on your own citizens because "I don't need to roll out the welcome carpet and there isn't anything you can do about it".
ilaksh 6y ago
I am a US citizen living in Tijuana to save money and have really limited my trips walking across the border because the officers or whatever usually give me a hard time. They want to know why I am crossing the border and where I am going but they often act as if they assume I am a criminal low-life. Like a drug mule or something. The last time I got nervous because of the way the guy was staring at me and the guy made me like back up and go back to the counter while he scowled at me. It's gotten to the point where I am wondering if it's because I am ugly or tired or something but anyway I just let my mailbox in San Ysidro expire and just pay extra for Mercado Libre instead of Amazon or whatever if I need something. It's not worth dealing with the agents to go back to the US.

by 3np 6y ago

Taek 6y ago

I am also significantly more hassled entering the US than any other country. And I'm actually a US citizen. The worst part about going to Canada is coming home. Typically a 40 minute affair where 5 different officers pull all the luggage out of my car, dump the contents on the ground, pull out the seats, inspect the engine and all other major cavities, and leave me with a mess that has ruffled and scratched my vehicle. 4 times in a row now.

wang_li 6y ago
I went to Canada once to pay the import duties on a gift and mail it to my friend on the other coast. When I told the Canadian border guards that that is why I was visiting Canada, they told me to pull over and go inside. I went in, they took my iphone, asked for the pass code, charged me the duty on the item I was importing, and then had me sit there for two hours while they went over my car. After letting me go on my way, I drove to Surry, taped the box closed and dropped it at the UPS Store there. Then returned to the US. When the US guards saw my entry time they asked why I visited Canada for only 30 minutes. I told them the exact same thing I told the Canadian guards, they laughed and waved me through. BTW, Canada won't let you in if you have a criminal record or even a DUI citation. When I flew to Rome a couple years ago there are two lines for immigration. One is for Europeans and the other is for everyone else. A guard saw me standing in the everyone else line while holding a blue American RFID enabled passport and pulled me from the line and sent me through the Europeans line. It took me two minutes to get through immigration. My friend arriving from SEA spent an hour and a half and was interrogated about where we were staying, what we were doing, verified a return ticket, and so on. The moral of the story is that every country weighs risks, costs, and benefits every time they let someone in. Borders are a thing and controlling who crosses borders is one of the fundamental and defining characteristics of a country.
refurb 6y ago
I had the opposite experience as a Canadian. I got shit on nearly every time I went back to Canada (e.g. accused of smuggling, lying about what I was going to do in Canada). Entering the US? I usually got a "welcome back". I think it has more to do with crapping on your own citizens because "I don't need to roll out the welcome carpet and there isn't anything you can do about it".

ilaksh 6y ago

I am a US citizen living in Tijuana to save money and have really limited my trips walking across the border because the officers or whatever usually give me a hard time. They want to know why I am crossing the border and where I am going but they often act as if they assume I am a criminal low-life. Like a drug mule or something. The last time I got nervous because of the way the guy was staring at me and the guy made me like back up and go back to the counter while he scowled at me. It's gotten to the point where I am wondering if it's because I am ugly or tired or something but anyway I just let my mailbox in San Ysidro expire and just pay extra for Mercado Libre instead of Amazon or whatever if I need something. It's not worth dealing with the agents to go back to the US.