Of all the days for this topic to come up, it has to be when I'm catching a flight in a few hours! Not across the border mind you, but I'm still rushing about trying to get things packed and cleaned!
The thing you have to remember about going through Customs is that you really are in no-man's-land. Customs has absolute authority there. Yes, they do have more authority than the police. And although I'm sure there's some line (probably physical abuse) you basically have no rights when dealing with Customs, either Canadian or US. Which is an important thing to remember, and adjust your behaviour accordingly. (I've put a related story at the end)
minnie56, I know you already know this so I'm not harping on it, but for other people who might be reading and wondering why this kind of thing happens here's the lowdown. Once Customs decides that you've made a false declaration then basically all bets are off. You are a criminal suspect to them, period. Not that they're going to write up a police report on you, but you get treated like one. There's no respect (they don't need to respect you), there's no politeness. There's very little leniency. Everything you have on, everything you have with you becomes suspect. And they treat US citizens no different than Canadians.
And for those who think that well, what harm could a mother & daugher do let me tell you - as a travel student I got taken on a lovely tour of the customs area and showed the kinds of things that are used to smuggle things into the country, including fake lipstick cases. On the outside it looks like lipstick. Open it up and it looks like lipstick. But you can open it up further and there's a hollow for smuggling drugs. Or diamonds!
Just because YOU would never think to do such a thing doesn't mean (quite obviously) that someone else wouldn't. And the problem is that Customs has absolutely no idea what you're thinking. Some of the things I've seen (or have first-hand knowledge of):
- rubbing things like toothpaste on new jewelry to make it look older so Customs won't notice it
- wearing new items across the line so Customs won't think they're new (I know someone who went across the line for a day and bought a new pair of expensive boots and didn't declare them. He decided to wear them back. Something must have made Customs suspicious because they asked him to get out of the car and check something in the back of the trunk. He had his knee on the bumper and Customs could see that a) the boots had almost no wear on the soles and were therefore new and b) still had the pricetag on them! He had a pay a LOT.)
- Stuffing new clothing into the laundry bag so that Customs will confuse it with old stuff.
Believe me, they've seen it all. So just because you're a good law-abiding citizen that would never dream of doing anything like that, the moment you step over the line with Customs you get treated as if you were a criminal.
Oh, and minnie56 the best thing your daughter could possibly have said when Customs was questioning her being so quiet is "because I'm frightened, you're scaring me". There's a difference between being scared that Customs will find something, and scared because you're frightened. They know the difference, but it sometimes helps to remind them that quiet doesn't always equate to attitude.
As I mentioned before, Customs is like it's own little country. It has it's own rules. You basically have no rights. They can haul you into a private room and strip search you if they believe they have cause, and the only cause they need is that you've lied to them. We are SO USED to the freedom we have (on both sides od the border) to move more or less freely across with little problem that some people have started treating it like it's going through the checkout at the grocery store. Hi there, here's my stuff, do I get airmiles with that?
Just be polite, attempt to smile (even if you're dead tired). Have your forms filled out entirely and accurately. Have your ID, list and receipts ready. Be honest with them. DO NOT JOKE WITH THEM. I tell my passengers that Customs officers have no sense of humour, and while they're working that's certainly true. If the officer makes a bit of a joke with you then smile and be relieved that s/he's in a good mood. Do not pull any kind of attitude with them, they don't care who you are, how long you've been up, who has just died, what company you own or how frequently you travel. Whatever you give to them you will receive back, and if you think that they're rude when you're being nice to them then just wait and see what happens if you give them lip!
Now here's the related story: In addition to being a
travel agency we run bus tours to the US. Almost all our passengers are seniors. We go across the border frequently so I've had a fair amount of exposure to US and Canadian customs, and the differences between roadway ports of entry and airport ones.
Several years ago one customs apparently had a tip that one of the buses was running drugs. We can only assume this is that happened anyway. It certainly wasn't OUR bus. But on the way into the US we were pulled aside, the bus was given a quick check and I was pulled off it and hauled into customs with my luggage which was thoroughly searched. I mean everything, including every tube of lipstick (see above note in the uses of fake lipstick containers). I was told basically to sit down and shut up. We were declared clean, and off we went. A few days later we returned home and went through the same thing with Canada Customs, except that they hauled EVERYONE off the bus and went through every piece of luggage. They had the dogs search the bus. They would not allow anyone to sit down, despite the fact that this was taking over an hour and I had 40+ senior citizens with me. When they got to me they went through every item (again) and even went as far as to take my date/address book and photocopy the pages of it. When they were finished with us I overheard one officer say to the other "I think we got the wrong one". Another company's bus was scheduled through on the same dates as ours, and had already crossed. They didn't search it.
Afterwards we spent several weeks trying to get answers from both US and Canada customs regarding what had happened, why they had done a thorough search of the bus and why we (specifically me) was treated that way, this was the answer we eventually got: They don't release any information on their investigations. It's not open for the public, they don't have to tell anyone and they're not going to, thanks for writing. Have a nice day. On the treatment issue it was made clear to us that Customs can treat people however they want to - as long as they don't overstep human rights issues as far as ethical treatment then they're within their rights to do whatever they want. You have no rights.
So the advice I'm giving people is from the "been there, done that, don't even want the t-shirt" file.
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