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!
If coming up to Canada from the US, you won’t even deal with US customs, only the Canadian CBSA. You will be fine coming INTO Canada.
You will still have to deal with CBP when returning to the US, just as I had to deal with CBSA when returning to Canada.
“Canadian border guards sent the family back to the U.S., where they entered a shadowy limbo — jailed in holding cells at the U.S. port of entry in Niagara Falls, N.Y., without a breath of outside air for nearly two weeks.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/us-family-cbsa-1.7516978
Well, they are trying to immigrate into Canada, not just visit.
Canada has its own fair share of asshole border agents.
I’m just pointing out that if you get turned around for any reason, you will have to deal with CBP