My own experience with (and as a) border jumper

Growing up in Detroitish meant regular border crossing in to Canada on weekends for drinks as age of majority was 19 in Canada while you needed to be 21 to drink legally in Michigan.   Lots of good times in Windsor in the '80's.  We regularly had three or four cars filled with friends and crossings were met with the cursory questions "citizenship, where you going, how long will you be in Canada?" followed by go ahead.   One evening some pre-border consumption followed by border congestion got a buddy a bit amped up and when the customs agent in Canada asked more than the cursory questions my buddy asked for a "new teller".   Off to secondary and full inspection.  We saw them again about 2 hours later.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

ddavidv said:

californiamilleghia said:

All I want from the USA Custom agent is "Welcome Home"

and I very seldom ever hear that simple greeting :(

I've been treated like a criminal every time I've crossed the border from Canada back to the US.  Sorry to say, I'm not a fan of the northern border agents, and I generally support all law enforcement.

Opposite for me.  US customs asks if I bought anything while in Canada or if I have any vegetables/fruits and they wave me on.  Crossing north to Canada for the last 8 years has always been an hour of scrutiny.  I have to go to immigration where they have to call my destination to "confirm my lodgings" (which is my buddy's house where I keep my camper) while customs searches my vehicle and my boat.  They have never found a single thing to complain about, but I'm on some "list."

A friend of mine has nothing but trouble from Canadian immigration. He isn't sure why. My guess is his kid had to have surgery and a long hospital stay while spending summer with the Grandparents in Ottawa so he of course had to cross back and forth multiple times. Since then they always ask him if he or anyone in his family is sick. Like lengthy questioning about each of their health statuses, "have you been diagnosed with a terminal disease?" As they think he is trying to take advantage of the Canadian Healthcare system. At least that is my guess. He almost never crosses the border into Canada without extra scrutiny.