I have not crossed the border into the U.S. for many years, and I doubt that I’ll do it anytime soon.
I like (most) Americans and count many of them as friends and relatives, but the new administration in Washington has sent a chill down the spines of many Canadians who want to travel into the U.S., either for business or for pleasure.
In the name of increasing security and cracking down on Illegal immigrants and fentanyl(?) crossing the border from Canada, American authorities have cracked down on cross-border travel to the point that Global Affairs Canada and the federal government have issued warnings and travel advisories for Canadians looking to head to the U.S. through the border.
The authorities are warning that Canadians crossing the U.S. border should expect thorough and extensive questioning and potential searches of their electronic devices, which include phones, laptops, and other electronic devices, by U.S. border officials. If the American border officials find anything that they consider disparaging about their country or government on your electronic devices, or if they just don’t like the look of you, not only could you be denied entry to the U.S., but actually detained.
One Canadian, Jasmine Mooney, was detained for almost two weeks in scary conditions in American prisons while applying for a work visa at the U.S./Mexico border.
It’s all disconcerting and even scary, and the number of Canadians travelling into the U.S. has dropped considerably over the last few months as a result. It’s a real shame and I’m beginning to miss the days (which was really just last year) when we were proud to say that Canada and the U.S. share the longest undefended border in the world. No passports were required to cross the land border for most of the time that I was young(er), and just a driver’s licence and another form of ID would do.
In fact, even less was needed sometimes when you came across a friendly and sympathetic border guard, as I did in the late 1980s as I was moving to Toronto.
I was driving my well-used and aging Toyota Tercel through Quebec and I was trying to drive around Montreal to avoid getting caught up in the city’s traffic, but with all the road signs in French and my limited ability to understand the language, I ended up going well off course. I ended up right at the border, so I pulled over before I reached the border facility, got out a map and began trying to figure out how I had gotten off course.
Suddenly, a Canadian border guard tapped on my window asking what I was doing there. I explained what had happened and asked if he could give me directions from there to Ottawa, where I intended to spend the night. The guard looked me (I was in my mid-20s at the time) over as well as my car, which had peace symbols on four of its tires that were spray painted in neon green the night before I left home by some friends as a “going-away present” without my knowledge. The back seat and rear of my Toyota were also packed with everything I owned at the time, including a large travelling trunk.
Despite all that, the kindly border guard said lots of motorists get lost in Montreal and end up at the border. He said to wait where I was a minute and he called over to the guards on the American side of the border to talk about my situation. The guard then told me that the best and quickest way to get to Ottawa from there was to cross the border, head east for about 100 miles, and then come back into Canada just south of Ottawa. So I was allowed to pass through the Canadian and American border gates without anyone taking a look at what I had in the car, or even asking me for an ID like a driver’s licence.
Then, when I got to the border crossing south of Ottawa, the guards there were told I was coming and they waved me through as well without me even having to stop.
Those happy days seem to be, unfortunately, gone forever as we all hunker down for safety as the world becomes increasingly unfriendly. I find it sad that I have to look back at that border incident with nostalgia.
