Hey Canadians! Do you have a problem with US Border Patrol? 2 2

[JollyComics]

Hello fellow CGC board members who live in Canada.

I know you have crossed US border to pick up the comic books in US Post Office or drive to the shows or conventions. Whatever you have other reasons to cross it.

US Border Patrol seemed aggressive on anyone who tried to cross the border even one runner accidentally ran over the border on the beach and was retained for two weeks until she was released after his mother showing her passport.  Also Canadian fishing boats were harassed by US Coast Guard near Maine. There are blockages on the public places to drive them away.  There are much more incidents lately.

Have you troubled crossing it?

Just give my thoughts.

[ExNihilo]

You can never be too careful about a group of people so slavishly devoted to maple syrup as Canadians are.  One day your maple syrup reserve will be ours. 

[justafan]

34 minutes ago, JollyComics said:

Hello fellow CGC board members who live in Canada.

I know you have crossed US border to pick up the comic books in US Post Office or drive to the shows or conventions. Whatever you have other reasons to cross it.

US Border Patrol seemed aggressive on anyone who tried to cross the border even one runner accidentally ran over the border on the beach and was retained for two weeks until she was released after his mother showing her passport.  Also Canadian fishing boats were harassed by US Coast Guard near Maine. There are blockages on the public places to drive them away.  There are much more incidents lately.

Have you troubled crossing it?

Just give my thoughts.

oh OK good, they are spreading it around.  and here I thought that kind of stuff or worse only happened down on the southern US border. 

use to be that I could come and go without even flashing my ID as long as I could say "yes sir" in perfect Anglo saxon 'mericanese when asked if I was a US citizen by the border patrol. we also used to be able to go buy and bring back 3 liters of alcohol per person. last time I tried that they kept 1/3 of the booze my friends and I tried to bring back and wouldn't let us go back to Mexico to return it.

oh and, yes, running from them even as a joke with nothing to hide is still illegal and you can be detained for up to 24 hrs even with proper ID as a dumb friend once discovered.

[aardvark88]

My group of 4 visible minority Asians in 1 car attempted to cross the border for Seattle's Emerald City comic-con. We were detained on USA side of border for 3 hours while they went through the trunk and all our suspicious knapsacks. We were turned back at USA border, as we did not have official Border Brokerage documents to bring over $2,500 US worth of comics into the USA. USA border patrol recommended we drive back to Canada side, line up for Canadian Border Brokerage and pay the document fee, then line up again to attempt to cross into WA, USA. I was mistaken in that I thought each of us could bring up to $10,000 US of value into USA, as the USA Border Patrol usually asks "Are you carrying over $10,000?" that must be declared.

[Shawnismaximus]

I have long hair and my girlfriend is British but living in Canada which really seems to confuse them, so we get pulled in every time. I've had my vehicle searched a couple times.
If you declare everything you won't get in trouble. Though I guess that's tough to do if you bought a bunch of comics at a convention as you wont have a receipt. Maybe just say you got them for really cheap at a garage sale?

p.s. I hear it's just going to get worse once Marijuana is legalized in Canada. I was with a friend who was asked if she smoked and she answered truthfully: "Yeah I used to but I haven't in years" and suddenly our vehicle was getting searched. It's going to be tough in a couple months not to say "Weed? You mean that drug that's legal in Canada, a bunch of States and more then 50% of the population has tried?  Nope never touched the stuff"

[letsgrumble]

I frequently cross the border into the United States. I rarely experience a problem with US Border Patrol.

Over the last twenty years or so, only twice I've been detained at the border. And both times it was when I was travelling with my friend who was born in Kingston, Jamaica.

[valiantman]

My wife and I crossed back into the U.S. at Niagara Falls about this time last year with a longbox of comics and some other (somewhat heavy) souvenirs from Mapleleafland.  The U.S. border patrol agent didn't even ask me to roll down the windows so he could see into the van.  We could have easily been smuggling people... it was hundreds of pounds of useless junk, but hundreds of pounds nonetheless. 

[Black_Adam]

4 hours ago, aardvark88 said:

My group of 4 visible minority Asians in 1 car attempted to cross the border for Seattle's Emerald City comic-con. We were detained on USA side of border for 3 hours while they went through the trunk and all our suspicious knapsacks. We were turned back at USA border, as we did not have official Border Brokerage documents to bring over $2,500 US worth of comics into the USA. USA border patrol recommended we drive back to Canada side, line up for Canadian Border Brokerage and pay the document fee, then line up again to attempt to cross into WA, USA. I was mistaken in that I thought each of us could bring up to $10,000 US of value into USA, as the USA Border Patrol usually asks "Are you carrying over $10,000?" that must be declared.

I think the $10,000 refers to hard cash (in case you are laundering money). When you are bringing down that many comics I guess they assume you're selling them (especially if you tell them you're going to a comic con) and want to collect some duties.

I never have a problem at the border going down, it's usually returning as I try to convince Canada Customs how much the comics I'm bringing back are worth and that I honestly do collect them (they always automatically ask if they are for resale). My favorite was one border guard who was completely bewildered by the invoice I handed him and asked as he scanned it, "This Richie Rich who sold you these comics...he's a friend of yours?"

 

[greggy]

I just declared over $10K cash going down to the US for SDCC and all I had to do was sign a form declaring the amount.

Easy peasy.

[Robot Man]

Shouldn't be a problem for long. I hear we are going to "build a wall"...

[comicdonna]

I find the US customs to be more strict than the Canadian customs.  

[thirdgreenham]

3 hours ago, Black_Adam said:

I think the $10,000 refers to hard cash (in case you are laundering money). When you are bringing down that many comics I guess they assume you're selling them (especially if you tell them you're going to a comic con) and want to collect some duties.

I never have a problem at the border going down, it's usually returning as I try to convince Canada Customs how much the comics I'm bringing back are worth and that I honestly do collect them (they always automatically ask if they are for resale). My favorite was one border guard who was completely bewildered by the invoice I handed him and asked as he scanned it, "This Richie Rich who sold you these comics...he's a friend of yours?"

 

$10000 or more in monetary instruments. 

[Black_Adam]

22 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Shouldn't be a problem for long. I hear we are going to "build a wall"...

I believe we've already completed ours.

[Robot Man]

I almost don't even think of Canada as a foreign country...

[Black_Adam]

27 minutes ago, comicdonna said:

I find the US customs to be more strict than the Canadian customs.  

I imagine it depends on whether the respective agents are having to deal with visitors or citizens returning home. I find crossing back into Canada to be far more of a pain than heading into the US. One agent asked me if I'd been away from my vehicle at any time while visiting the US. Naturally, I had. She then asked me how I could be sure no one had hidden drugs underneath and was following me home, ready to retrieve their hidden stash as soon as I crossed the border. Alarmed, I told her she was right - I didn't have any way of knowing and asked her if I should get out so the two of us could check underneath my car. She said, "Naw, don't worry about it," and waved me through. 

Edited July 26, 2018 by Black_Adam

[thehumantorch]

4 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

I almost don't even think of Canada as a foreign country...

Me either.

[Black_Adam]

3 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

I almost don't even think of Canada as a foreign country...

I was in California once and a cute salesgirl, surprised to find out I was Canadian, smiled and said, "Wow...you hide it so well." 

[comicdonna]

I live less than 10 miles from the border.  Sometimes, there's more Canadians in the grocery store than Americans.  I check my change.  If you don't you might as well throw the Canadian change away.  You can't roll it up with American.  The banks frown on that.  

[thirdgreenham]

What’s the Canadian city on the other side of the border?

[comicdonna]

7 minutes ago, thirdgreenham said:

What’s the Canadian city on the other side of the border?

Well, Vermont don't have too many cities but, they seem to sneak along the edges of Lake Champlain and hit any town with a store.