Any interesting border crossing/port of entry stories?

[usd2bmd]

We live about 20 minutes from the crossing at Niagara Falls, NY. My daughter's boyfriend took her for an over night trip for her birthday to Niagara Falls, CA. She called at about 8:15pm to tell us that they had broken up and he wouldn't bring her home. So we went to get her. Upon re-entry the CBP Agent asked how long we had been in Canada and we told him 15 minutes. When he asked why our visit was so short we told him. It was then that he looked at our passports and realized the date on my daughters. He nicely said, "well, Happy Birthday?"

AS we were pulling up the crossing my daughter told us that her ex was behind us and wasn't sure how to get home and asked if he could follow us. Needless to say we didn't wait.

 

[leebee]

When I was a kid we were in Canada with friends from the US who own land on PEI. On the way home we were stopped at the border crossing in St. Stephen, NB/Calais, ME. My friend's grandfather had brought back some big blocks of maple sugar- too many, apparently, although I don't remember how many or what was legal at the time. What I DO remember was him pitching a fit, saying "If I can't have it, nobody can," and walking over to the bridge and dumping a block into the river. I was only about 8 at the time, so the actual memory is hazy but I can clearly remember seeing him drop the block into the river!

When I was in grad school at Cornell, several of us went home with a friend from Guelph to see the Red Sox play the Blue Jays in Toronto. It was interesting getting back into the US... the driver and vehicle were Canadian, one passenger was from Massachusetts, one from Florida, one from New Jersey, one from Michigan. The border guard was pretty suspicious, pulled us over and collected licenses to check it all out. Thank goodness this was back in 1983- I can only imagine what we'd have to go through today!

 

[bcla]

When I was a kid we were in Canada with friends from the US who own land on PEI. On the way home we were stopped at the border crossing in St. Stephen, NB/Calais, ME. My friend's grandfather had brought back some big blocks of maple sugar- too many, apparently, although I don't remember how many or what was legal at the time. What I DO remember was him pitching a fit, saying "If I can't have it, nobody can," and walking over to the bridge and dumping a block into the river. I was only about 8 at the time, so the actual memory is hazy but I can clearly remember seeing him drop the block into the river!

It wasn't a border crossing per se, but I had heard about a guy who wasn't allowed to bring liquor on board after the newer liquid restrictions, so he downed a whole bottle of vodka before attempting to go through security. I think he had to spend a week in the hospital as a result.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Crossed the US/Canada border countless times. Occasionally we were pulled over for random search of the car - no big deal.

The one time we had an issue was crossing with a friend of my mom's who thought it would be funny to joke about smuggling things with the agent. Yup -- she's like that. That stop took quite a while... dogs sent though the car, each person interviewed, suitcases all searched, etc. Fun.

 

[Bilberry]

Not me but a story about a great grandma from Sweden was often told. In her later years, she might have been in her 80s, she went to Mexico on vacation. When she tried to enter back into America she was told she was not a citizen! She could not re-enter the country. Now she had live most of her life in the US. Her parents immigrated here through New York when she was a little girl. She had also married an American.

Regardless, she didn't have the right paper work. As a result, one moon less night great grandma was smuggled into America.

 

[dish rag]

When I was a kid we were in Canada with friends from the US who own land on PEI. On the way home we were stopped at the border crossing in St. Stephen, NB/Calais, ME. My friend's grandfather had brought back some big blocks of maple sugar- too many, apparently, although I don't remember how many or what was legal at the time. What I DO remember was him pitching a fit, saying "If I can't have it, nobody can," and walking over to the bridge and dumping a block into the river. I was only about 8 at the time, so the actual memory is hazy but I can clearly remember seeing him drop the block into the river!

When I was in grad school at Cornell, several of us went home with a friend from Guelph to see the Red Sox play the Blue Jays in Toronto. It was interesting getting back into the US... the driver and vehicle were Canadian, one passenger was from Massachusetts, one from Florida, one from New Jersey, one from Michigan. The border guard was pretty suspicious, pulled us over and collected licenses to check it all out. Thank goodness this was back in 1983- I can only imagine what we'd have to go through today!

You would have no problem today. They would scan the passports. See you were there for a short time together. The Canadian citizens would be questioned about how long, why are the going to the USA and where are they staying.

 

[aprilchem]

I have a funny one. Last year we went to Jamaica as a family on vacation (me, DH, and our three kids). When we went through customs to get back into the US, the border officer asked my husband, "what is the significance of (and then he named my birthday)" My husband had NO IDEA - he just kept saying, "I don't know - is it a holiday?," "Could it be Lincoln's birthday?" etc. He seriously had no idea that the agent was asking him my birthday, even though the guy was looking right at our passports when he did it.

I seriously thought they were going to flag us as potential drug smugglers, but the customs looked over at me and said, "Sir, I can tell you two are really married by how mad your wife is right now!" and let us through! You can imagine that my DH got an earful after that one!

 

[Squirlz]

What do duck tongues taste like?

They taste like quackers.

 

[bcla]

You would have no problem today. They would scan the passports. See you were there for a short time together. The Canadian citizens would be questioned about how long, why are the going to the USA and where are they staying.

Are the US and Canadian agencies linked? I'm not sure they would share that kind of information unless there was a pressing need. I've also looked into the various ways people get in, since Canada still allows adult US citizens to cross into Canada with a US birth certificate and a photo ID (but the US theoretically doesn't allow), so it wouldn't necessarily be tied to any particular ID as a reference. I've also had both my passport and passport card, so theoretically I could have switched documents depending on my mood. I'm thinking someone with an enhanced driver license/ID or NEXUS card could do the same.

Both times a few weeks ago we were in BC for less than 24 hours each time, and we got grilled by US Customs more than the time we spent three nights. However, that time was by ferry and everything was done in preclearance in BC with the agent in Washington just waving us through.

I'm just wondering if what I remember from 1986 was correct. The officer certainly looked like he was wearing a red serge RCMP uniform. I wasn't aware that the RCMP would ever serve as a border crossing agent, and I don't think that they would allow other agencies to wear that uniform.

 

[jliehr]

Are the US and Canadian agencies linked? I'm not sure they would share that kind of information unless there was a pressing need. I've also looked into the various ways people get in, since Canada still allows adult US citizens to cross into Canada with a US birth certificate and a photo ID (but the US theoretically doesn't allow), so it wouldn't necessarily be tied to any particular ID as a reference. I've also had both my passport and passport card, so theoretically I could have switched documents depending on my mood. I'm thinking someone with an enhanced driver license/ID or NEXUS card could do the same.

Both times a few weeks ago we were in BC for less than 24 hours each time, and we got grilled by US Customs more than the time we spent three nights. However, that time was by ferry and everything was done in preclearance in BC with the agent in Washington just waving us through.

I'm just wondering if what I remember from 1986 was correct. The officer certainly looked like he was wearing a red serge RCMP uniform. I wasn't aware that the RCMP would ever serve as a border crossing agent, and I don't think that they would allow other agencies to wear that uniform.

There is a ton of info that they share and have access to.

http://www.ezbordercrossing.com/the-inspection-experience/what-they-know-about-you/

 

[bcla]

There is a ton of info that they share and have access to.

http://www.ezbordercrossing.com/the-inspection-experience/what-they-know-about-you/

I found this:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/btb-pdf/ebsiip-asfipi-eng.html

Canada says that they currently share data with the US on "3rd country nationals" and permanent residents of the US or Canada, with the exception of US permanent residents who are Canadian citizens. I guess they're working on the sharing of data of US nationals. They say that they do not share data on Canadian citizens with the US.

 

[bcla]

I guess the other odd thing was we spent a couple of nights in BC with little sleep, so my wife was looking to sleep in the car. Once we got to the crossing back into the US, my wife was still asleep, but I was told to wake her up so the agent could get a good look at her face. Also - I wasn't sure exactly how the little thing was supposed to work where ID is supposed to be pointed at a camera. All I saw there was a numerical display that seemed to count up after an ID was presented. There was nothing else like a display or any instructions for what to do.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

The house where I grew up was probably 3 miles (as the crow flies) from the border. Boating was big in my hometown, so half the days in the summer involved crossing the border one or more times. You only bothered to call in to customs if if you were going to be tying off somewhere for any significant amount of time. That's not very interesting, though, except from the perspective of nostalgia (I miss those days and the free convenience of an open and friendly border), so I'll tell you the story of one of my parents' friends:

He was an obstetrician. One day he was on call, but decided to meet a bunch of his friends at a local eatery. This restraurant was well known in 2 countries because it had docks out back and boaters from both the US and Canada would pull up there for a meal. Well, the doctor arrived with his friends. Soon, the restaurant received a call letting him know one of his patients was in labor. So, he excused himself from the table, jumped in his boat, boated back to his home dock, drove to the hospital, delivered the baby, drove back to his boat, putted on over to the Canadian side, and managed to finish out the meal with his friends.

 

[bcla]

The house where I grew up was probably 3 miles (as the crow flies) from the border. Boating was big in my hometown, so half the days in the summer involved crossing the border one or more times. You only bothered to call in to customs if if you were going to be tying off somewhere for any significant amount of time. That's not very interesting, though, except from the perspective of nostalgia (I miss those days and the free convenience of an open and friendly border), so I'll tell you the story of one of my parents' friends:

He was an obstetrician. One day he was on call, but decided to meet a bunch of his friends at a local eatery. This restraurant was well known in 2 countries because it had docks out back and boaters from both the US and Canada would pull up there for a meal. Well, the doctor arrived with his friends. Soon, the restaurant received a call letting him know one of his patients was in labor. So, he excused himself from the table, jumped in his boat, boated back to his home dock, drove to the hospital, delivered the baby, drove back to his boat, putted on over to the Canadian side, and managed to finish out the meal with his friends.

I've heard of some obscure border crossings, especially Goat Haunt between Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park. It's some rule that only US or Canadian citizens are allowed to make the crossing into the US. I don't believe Canada has a border station there. I thought that maybe US Customs doesn't even have any staff there, but empowers park rangers to act on their behalf and uses satellite communications to check credentials.

 

[kimblebee]

Not really and we do it several times each month. Recently the camera was unable to pick up the number on the the plate, when we got back to Ontariowe had to get new plates. The questions are getting more interesting though and that started about a month or so ago we notices. An example would be them wanting to know where we keep our car. She carries a Canadian passport and me a USA one. Just this past week we were asked how and where did we meet. I shouldn't have, but told him it was really none of his concern. He looked at us, handed the passports and said to have a good day. Sometimes we have bicycles on the back and they will check how the are mounted, when we have the dog they ask for her shot records. Sometimes now they look into the records and bring the license plate thing up, I'm not sure why.

I've been told that they've started asking 'odd' questions to see how you react. They're more likely to pull you over if you seem really shifty when you answer. My dad has been asked if he's a professional golfer lol

 

[punkin]

Japanese customs/immigration got huffy with my underage child travelling alone her when she couldn't tell him the exact address she was staying, which was written on paper and in her phone and her host family was at the airport waiting for her.

 

[potterfanatic]

When I was 20 I flew by myself to meet my parents in Europe for vacation. When I got the agent asked me why I was there and how much money I had on me. I told him "Like $200" and he started getting on to me about how I didn't have enough money. Then asking me how I was going to pay for food and hotels. I told him, "I have credit cards! Why do I need cash?" I guess I passed the quiz cause they let me in.

 

[Fire14]

I had interesting encounter. We were visiting N. Falls Cdn side and crazy me wanted something from US side so we walked over. Coming back WE walked thru plywood border shack and Agent was playing solitate on his computer. He asked us purpose, What we'd bought and waved us thru all while pretty much contuning his game.

 

[rastahomie]

Back in 1996, I was coming into Miami after a Carnival cruise, having been to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and (this part is particularly important) Jamaica. On the last night of the cruise we had this little seminar about going through Customs, and the instructor made two particularly strong points. 1) If you had any illegal souvenirs, such as Cuban cigars* and/or Jamaican ganja, now would be the time to go up to the cigar-smoking deck and get rid of them (for the record, I had neither). He warned us that there would be drug dogs. 2) Miami Customs agents have a foolproof system of deciding who looks suspicious: the instructor said to look at the person to your right, then look at the person to your left. If neither of them look suspicious, you do. Now if you've ever met me, you would know that I take this sort of thing not as a warning, but as a challenge.

So the next morning, I decided to test this theory by looking as suspicious as possible. I put a do-rag on my head, wore sunglasses, and wore a souvenir shirt I'd bought from Jamaica. So here I am in a long line of passengers waiting to be sniffed by the drug dogs, and I go through this little room where there about five passengers, an agent, and a dog. I hear the word "STOP!" Immediately I realized I'd made a yuuuuuuuuuge mistake - that is, until I looked at the agent and he said, "Not you. I was talking to the dog."

*I think that nowadays you can bring one or two Cuban cigars into the U.S. You sure as heck couldn't in 1996.

 

[MrJT]

Mine is a little different. Nothing crazy.
A couple of years ago, I had to go to an event in Brownsville TX. I live 4 hours away in San Antonio, and I didn't want to drive alone, so I rode with somebody I had just met.
We're coming home some time after midnight, and we're about an hour north of Brownsville, which is where the border patrol has a checkpoint. I'm the only Caucasian in the car, and there are 2 Hispanics (both legal). Before we get to the checkpoint, the guy I was riding with pulled over, and had me drive, because even though he was legal, we would get a lot less harassment if I was behind the wheel. To be sure, when they asked for IDs, I presented my military ID, and we got through very easily.