Brits visiting Canada detained after accidentally driving into USA

[ronandannette]

US customs is the worst I've experienced and I'm American (the US customs in the Dublin airport is probably the best of the US ones I've been through). All the European ones have been much better (and faster!) experiences where you don't feel like you're being interrogated.

There is a US customs agency here in the Calgary airport too and we have to clear on outbound flights to the States. I've always wondered if the agents are Americans or Canadians hired locally? Gotta say, they are less warm-and-fuzzy than the agents on our return to Canada.

 

[iZon]

What kind of animal would make them take a whole detour???? That doesn’t even make sense.

Bigfoot?

 

[ronandannette]

Bigfoot?

They call him Sasquatch in BC and they take it pretty seriously.
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/2018/09/05/sasquatch-lawsuit-bc/

 

[Wakey]

The old swerved to miss an animal story- you won't believe how often that is used in the UK in insurance fraud. Not that I'm suggesting this is anything but a genuine excuse.

These people appear to be from the travelling community in the UK. They seem to have travelled a little too far on this occasion.

 

[ronandannette]

The old swerved to miss an animal story- you won't believe how often that is used in the UK in insurance fraud. Not that I'm suggesting this is anything but a genuine excuse.

These people appear to be from the travelling community in the UK. They seem to have travelled a little too far on this occasion.

This is very interesting insight.

 

[iZon]

Yup. “The old swerved to miss an animal and ended up in a foreign country with a three-month-old not immunized baby sleeping on a concrete floor trick. What do you think 99?”

 

[Wakey]

This is very interesting insight.

Not that they should be locked up though really, seems harsh.

Her Instagram account has film of someone in a car driving near the Canadian / US border on the wrong side of the road at 100mph + according to UK press.

 

[bcla]

There is a US customs agency here in the Calgary airport too and we have to clear on outbound flights to the States. I've always wondered if the agents are Americans or Canadians hired locally? Gotta say, they are less warm-and-fuzzy than the agents on our return to Canada.

That's CPB preclearance. They're full US CPB officers authorized (including carrying firearms) to operate on Canadian soil.

https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/preclearance
They also have several rail and sea preclearance locations. We took the Sidney, BC to Anacortes, WA ferry back in 2015, and we got checked by an American officer first. We did have some fresh fruit with us, and the officer said it either had to have some identification (like a sticker or bag) indicating it was US produce or we had to finish and/or dispose of it on board. When we got to Washington they waved us through.

 

[Kitty 34]

To keep the anecdotes going - I've crossed into Canada multiple times. I have also traveled to many other countires, some nice, some not so nice. Arriving at US ports has always been a pleasant experience for me.

Anther anecdote "border crossing" story.......My middle DS and wife flew back from Barcelona, Spain to Toronto a couple of weeks ago to find someone had stolen their license plate off their car. It was late at night but they called the police to make a report just in case they would need something like that to get back into the US. A few hours later they get to the Pork Huron/Saranac Bridge to enter into the US. My son said that border crossing guard was the friendliest guy he had ever encountered in all his crossings.

 

[ronandannette]

That's CPB preclearance. They're full US CPB officers authorized (including carrying firearms) to operate on Canadian soil.

https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ports-entry/operations/preclearance
They also have several rail and sea preclearance locations. We took the Sidney, BC to Anacortes, WA ferry back in 2015, and we got checked by an American officer first. We did have some fresh fruit with us, and the officer said it either had to have some identification (like a sticker or bag) indicating it was US produce or we had to finish and/or dispose of it on board. When we got to Washington they waved us through.

Thanks but that doesn't answer the question I asked at all. My question was whether the officers themselves are American citizens or Canadian citizens.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thanks but that doesn't answer the question I asked at all. My question was whether the officers themselves are American citizens or Canadian citizens.

Canadian Border officers are Canadian citizens. US border officers are US citizens.

 

[bcla]

Thanks but that doesn't answer the question I asked at all. My question was whether the officers themselves are American citizens or Canadian citizens.

Being a US citizen is a prerequisite to apply to be a CPB officer. These are Americans posted to a Canadian assignment. There are other preclearance locations, including in the Caribbean, UAE, and Ireland.

The ferry location on Vancouver Island is called a "pre-inspection" location.

 

[bcla]

Canadian Border officers are Canadian citizens. US border officers are US citizens.

I'm not sure what the confusion is. The US is not going to be hiring Canadians (with perhaps the exception of dual-nationals) for these positions.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm not sure what the confusion is. The US is not going to be hiring Canadians (with perhaps the exception of dual-nationals) for these positions.

I'm thinking that the confusion is in whether there is just one border crossing stop, or two.

Sometimes, when we've crossed from US into/out of Canada, there is only one. Typically for the country you are entering. But we've been through a couple of US/Canada crossings where there were two, one on each side of the border (one US, one Canadian).

 

[wgeo]

Ohh are we sharing anecdotes? Sounds fun. I once crossed backand forth between the US and Canada repeatedly during the day,on water even without ever once going through customs.



There is this incredible area in Northern Minnesota called the Boundary Waters. Get it Boundary? lol we honeymooned there and canoed all around and would paddle back and forth across the border constantly. It was delightful. It was also 20 years ago - but hey, an anecdote is an anedcote. AND we even think we maybe saw a moose, or it could have been a bear - not really sure cuz we paddled as fast as we could in the opposite direction - which may or may not have been into Canada - it was simply the "away from the moose" direction.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

I think it is because of the harsh, ill-applied makeup.

Eileen and David Connors have multiple social media accounts. All public. In each and every one of these accounts, they (and their friends) appear to be pulled directly from the cast of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.

The hair. The makeup (also applied to children). The clothes. The crass and vulgar way they post. It's all so intriguing.

I saw an article about this incident on one of the trashy UK tabloid sites and their photos were posted. Yep, a bit eyebrow raising.

Many of the comments following the article were vicious. I learned a few new-to-me British insults and derogatory adjectives.


From reading various articles my impression is that a group of "Irish Travelers," two of whom were previously denied entry into the US, discovered what they thought would be an easy and clever way to sneak across the border.

 

[ronandannette]

Ohh are we sharing anecdotes? Sounds fun. I once crossed backand forth between the US and Canada repeatedly during the day,on water even without ever once going through customs.

View attachment 444787

There is this incredible area in Northern Minnesota called the Boundary Waters. Get it Boundary? lol we honeymooned there and canoed all around and would paddle back and forth across the border constantly. It was delightful. It was also 20 years ago - but hey, an anecdote is an anedcote. AND we even think we maybe saw a moose, or it could have been a bear - not really sure cuz we paddled as fast as we could in the opposite direction - which may or may not have been into Canada - it was simply the "away from the moose" direction.

Y'all come up and see us sometime, y'hear!

 

[Julie's Haircut]

My border crossing anecdote. Back in 1991, soon after "Operation Desert Storm," I was stopped and questioned by US Customs at the Manitoba-North Dakota border. Somehow they didn't seem to believe my story about why I was crossing there.

Flying to Grand Forks, ND, then driving to Winnipeg, Manitoba to see a Winnipeg Jets hockey game and then returning to Grand Forks sounds entirely credible, doesn't it? Flying to Grand Forks and driving to Winnipeg was much cheaper than flying directly into Winnipeg.

A supervisor came in, asked a few details about the game, and then let me go.

 

[ronandannette]

My border crossing anecdote. Back in 1991, soon after "Operation Desert Storm," I was stopped and questioned by US Customs at the Manitoba-North Dakota border. Somehow they didn't seem to believe my story about why I was crossing there.

Flying to Grand Forks, ND, then driving to Winnipeg, Manitoba to see a Winnipeg Jets hockey game and then returning to Grand Forks sounds entirely credible, doesn't it? Flying to Grand Forks and driving to Winnipeg was much cheaper than flying directly into Winnipeg.

A supervisor came in, asked a few details about the game, and then let me go.

How incredibly impolite of us - sorry. You were 25 years too early. "Irregular Migrants" flood that border now and are welcomed with open arms.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

How incredibly impolite of us - sorry. You were 25 years too early. "Irregular Migrants" flood that border now and are welcomed with open arms.

No, you misunderstand. Or maybe I wasn't clear. I said US Customs gave me a hard time. Canadian customs cheerfully welcomed me to Manitoba.