Don't Try this Kiddies. Not nice Border Guards.

[Mariner Fan]

Back then, the only folks that got hassled were the hippies in their Volkswagon Vans! That was an automatic search!

[dunvilsteev]

Call me suspicious .....

 

It's a freakin' you tube sound track! Dont think they are exactly considered truthful!

 

Seems a little funny he would "just happen" to have a mini personal recorder capturing all this??? And nobody noticed it? Dude probably had on a Bob Marley tshirt , NORML bumperstickers, and exhaling a bongful as he pressed "record" in the border line!

 

Probably the Scorpio in me, but I think it's a pile a ship put out to stir up more ship.

 

 

Back to the original thread ..... 2 grand just to get things sorted out! I feel for you man, just to clear up some BS paperwork. Hope things come out for you, I actually hope they are proven SO wrong that you have legal recourse to go after the 2 grand! Fingers crossed!! Again best of luck!!

[Zane]

Has anyone been hassled or excessively scrutinized by a customs/homeland agent when attempting to cross into Canada while wearing a vest with a VenturRiders logo/patch on the back of your jacket or vest? I used to be a patch holder (non 1%'er type) and I have been refused entry, period! No way are you going in today Yank! It's best to pack the vest away and be cool with those guys cause they don't like patch holders of any kind up there. That has been my experience in the past! What do you think?

[SilvrT]

In 1975, when I got married to my now ex, we travelled from the Okanagan in BC to Spokane WA. We bought a lot of stuff while down there, I had some custom products installed on my car, etc etc. One of the things I bought was a pair of cowboy boots.

 

Coming back thru the border, they grilled us on what we bought, asked to see the receipts (which we had - but I didn't declare the stuff for the car). They then asked where I got the boots (I didn't declare those either) so I said "Penticton ... where we live" . They, for some reason, didn't believe me (inside the boots it was stamped "made in USA") so they made me take them off and leave them there until I could come back with a receipt. ... fine! ... like nothing in Canada is made in the USA???

 

So I get home, go to the office supplies store and buy a blank receipt pad and one of those kits to make up an ink stamp. Fashioned a false store name and stamped a receipt, put a phoney sales info onto it and drove back to the border, gave them the receipt and got my boots back.

 

The irony of the whole thing was ... the stamp kit ... "made in USA" !!

[SilvrT]

No offence to Canadians here but I don't want to go there badly enough to go through this much hassle and expense.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/faq-inadmissibility.asp

 

 

This one seems a bit odd to me....

____________________________________________________

8. When am I eligible to apply for rehabilitation?

You are eligible to apply for rehabilitation if:

• you have committed a criminal act outside of Canada (for which you were not charged) and five years have passed since the act; or
  
• you have been convicted outside of Canada and five years have passed since the end of the sentence imposed.
  

____________________________________________________

 

The first item ... seems to me if a person was never charged, then they've not been convicted either ... and unlikely that they'd be going around broadcasting that they committed the crime....

 

:think:

 

like... "yeah, I shot a guy 5.5 years ago for lookin at me funny but the law never figgured out who did it... guess I'm clear to go now eh?"

[Bigfoot]

Has anyone been hassled or excessively scrutinized by a customs/homeland agent when attempting to cross into Canada while wearing a vest with a VenturRiders logo/patch on the back of your jacket or vest? I used to be a patch holder (non 1%'er type) and I have been refused entry, period! No way are you going in today Yank! It's best to pack the vest away and be cool with those guys cause they don't like patch holders of any kind up there. That has been my experience in the past! What do you think?

 

Probably good advice regardless of what the patches say. If the officer is not a rider he/she may have no understanding of patches and riding groups. The biker gangs such as The Pagans and others have it to where even innocent groups can be scrutinized only because the officers can't be expected to know all the groups and their intent. I was at Hooters (for the food) the other day and there was a group of riders there wearing leather galore, bandanas and all the typical gear that some believe means hard core. On the back of all their jackets was a patch "Leathernecks" I believe. It was obvious to me these were all Marines or maybe former Marines but to the untrained eye they likely saw trouble when they saw them.

[dynodon]

Wow, had no idea it was that bad at the border crossings. I would still be in jail based on what we did in 1996! I was participating in the One Lap of America and had to get from New York to N. Illinois. We (three of us in my car) decided to go through Canada.

 

The car was plastered with sponsor decals and the ONE LAP decal. We were loaded down with three big guys, extra spare tire/rim, luggage, and tools, car was obviously overloaded. Running a scanner, CB and radar detectors the entire way.

 

Going into Canada, I don't remember it much, might have been asleep. But going back into the US I remember. About 2 in the morning, Detroit area, and US guard looked in the car, saw all the stuff, us scruffy guys, all the electronics and the decals, and declared that we were obviously too STUPID to try to get away with anything and waved us through with a smile.

 

Since 9-11 I haven't considered going to Canada. Don't have a passport yet, and with these stories, I don't think I will get back in that country for the rest of my life. I like Canada, have several friends up that way, but just don't need the bother. Plenty to see and do right here in the USA

[dmoff1698]

Worked with a guy, long time Government employee (30+ yrs), who decided to give back to his community by being a part time Deputy for the County Sheriff's office. Passed his CLEET training and went to work as a dispatcher and transported prisoners to/from county jail, metro, court, etc.

 

Came time to renew his security clearance on his government job and was rejected for "associating with known criminal element":confused24::rotf:

He appealed the decision and it was reversed, but still...some people just need to show how powerful they are.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

In my job passing thru the many Border Patrol checkpoints it would never occur to me to reply "Does it matter?" to a Border Patrol officer asking me 'Where are you headed?" or " Do you have anyone in the sleeper?"

 

The guy in the audio clip seems to be ate up with 'STUPID'....but I doubt he posed any threat to national security.

 

It was entertaining to me...since I deal with these agents many times per month in my job. At the checkpoints, being polite, honest, respectful, and calm is the best way to get on with your activities.

 

 

[Guest PlaneCrazy]

No offence to Canadians here but I don't want to go there badly enough to go through this much hassle and expense.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/faq-inadmissibility.asp

 

 

No offense to Americans but it's just as much BS to get into the states if you have an old record up here.

 

Last year, I got yanked off a cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale as I was on my way through to come back to Canada after a cruise. I have an assault conviction from over 22 years ago that was a stupid drunken mistake during my Brother's stag party. Nobody got hurt and I only had to do some community work and had probation for 2 years. I have been travelling to the US for years and I work in the aviation industry so I have a pretty heavy security clearance as well.... yet I guess on these cruises, Homeland Security has lots of time to go over the manifests and dig deep into their files, so they flagged me and then "escorted" me out of the country. And because they finally "discovered" my old conviction, my passport is now flagged and there is no way I could ever cross a US border station again without a Waiver.

 

To get a waiver to the US is a 12-15 month process and costs about $5000 after all the legal fees and application fees. AND, it only lasts for 5 years, so you have to do it all over again.

 

So basically, the US may as well be on the moon. After the humiliation and embarrassment they put me through, I refuse to step foot in the country again. I used to go to trade shows almost yearly down in LA and I have spent thousands of dollars every year there, but no longer. Canada is plenty large enough for my motorcycle and we have some of the best country in the world up here. And I can fly to anywhere in the world for next to nothing with my job benefits, so I enjoy my vacations in Europe and South or Central America nowadays.

 

Oh, BTW... Getting a pardon will not help you at the border. The US does not recognize pardons from other countries and the information they have on you comes from Police Forces as well as the national database, so they most likely will have your record, even if it was pardoned. Our stupid bleeding heart Liberal government thought that if they shared all our information with the US, we would have a safer world... instead, the US takes that info and then refuses to reciprocate and then also fails to honor pardons and other Canadian policies, whenever it suits them. but, heh... the US has to be safer now... they have kept me out and i have to be more dangerous then all those refugees from every sandbox in the world that we have absolutely no background info to vet, right?

[Freebird]

I pretty much agree. I've been through customs in many places including England, Germany, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela...I know I'm forgetting some. It has usually been non-eventful. I have on a couple of occasions run across some of those guys who had obvious attitudes but by being polite and just answering their questions, I never gave them a reason to go off on me.

 

With ONE exception and that was entering Mexico late one night after a flight into Mexico City. On my previous visit to Mexico City, I was told that I should have have filled out a customs declaration form my my personal laptop computer. They were very nice and simply told me that it wasn't required unless I was bringing it in as a sample product or to sell. So this time, I didn't fill out the form. This time I got an agent that demanded to know why I had not declared my computer and he had a very bad attitude about it. I explained to him what I was told the last time and he started getting ugly about it. Maybe it was due to the long flight or the late arrival time but I lost my cool just a little bit and probably raised my voice a bit when I told him that if they couldn't agree among themselves whether or not I am supposed to fill out the form then HOW THE HELL was I supposed to figure it out. I was a bit angry by then.

 

Now, I was very stupid to take that attitude with him and am lucky that I didn't end up in some Mexican jail but for some reason, he backed down very quickly. The look on his face was total surprise and I could tell that he was suddenly very unsure and lost his confidence. I have always chalked it up to the fact that he was fairly young and probably not too long on the job. Whatever the reason, he got very friendly and passed me right on through. I sure scolded myself later though about my reaction and never let it happen again.

[SilvrT]

No offense to Americans but it's just as much BS to get into the states if you have an old record up here.

 

Last year, I got yanked off a cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale as I was on my way through to come back to Canada after a cruise. I have an assault conviction from over 22 years ago that was a stupid drunken mistake during my Brother's stag party. Nobody got hurt and I only had to do some community work and had probation for 2 years. I have been travelling to the US for years and I work in the aviation industry so I have a pretty heavy security clearance as well.... yet I guess on these cruises, Homeland Security has lots of time to go over the manifests and dig deep into their files, so they flagged me and then "escorted" me out of the country. And because they finally "discovered" my old conviction, my passport is now flagged and there is no way I could ever cross a US border station again without a Waiver.

 

To get a waiver to the US is a 12-15 month process and costs about $5000 after all the legal fees and application fees. AND, it only lasts for 5 years, so you have to do it all over again.

 

So basically, the US may as well be on the moon. After the humiliation and embarrassment they put me through, I refuse to step foot in the country again. I used to go to trade shows almost yearly down in LA and I have spent thousands of dollars every year there, but no longer. Canada is plenty large enough for my motorcycle and we have some of the best country in the world up here. And I can fly to anywhere in the world for next to nothing with my job benefits, so I enjoy my vacations in Europe and South or Central America nowadays.

 

Oh, BTW... Getting a pardon will not help you at the border. The US does not recognize pardons from other countries and the information they have on you comes from Police Forces as well as the national database, so they most likely will have your record, even if it was pardoned. Our stupid bleeding heart Liberal government thought that if they shared all our information with the US, we would have a safer world... instead, the US takes that info and then refuses to reciprocate and then also fails to honor pardons and other Canadian policies, whenever it suits them. but, heh... the US has to be safer now... they have kept me out and i have to be more dangerous then all those refugees from every sandbox in the world that we have absolutely no background info to vet, right?

 

yep... what's good for the goose is not necessarilly good for the gander..... (something like that)

 

danged good thing I did all my "bad stuff" before I turned 18 LOL

[Guest PlaneCrazy]

Read all this with interest Quickstep will be travelling with a large supply of his heart drugs!!

Now if we were thinking of crossing the Canadian border :confused24:brown stuff could hit the fan!!

 

Anywhere in the world I have traveled, the procedure for prescription meds is pretty much the same. If at all possible, it's good to have a copy of the doctor's prescription with you. And all meds should be in their original containers with the patient's name, drug name, DIN number etc.. on those bottles. The airlines might want to put the meds in a sealed bag at security check in, so make sure you tell them which drugs you may need access to during the flight.

[Aussie Annie]

Annie

 

Do your blister packs have his name, doctors name and the prescribed meds labelled? If so thats probably better than a bottle of pills with a label. Here at our jail we get offenders come in with meds. We dont trust the pill bottles as the meds contained may not be whats on the label. We do trust the blister packs though providing they are well marked as I described.

 

 

 

Yep, marked with all that. I like them too, and trust them more than what's in the bottle. Comes from when I was in charge of meds for interllectually challenged adults with lots of ? behaviors and making sure staff gave the right pills to right person. Hated being in charge of such heavy drugs...buck stopped with me !!

[Carbon_One]

We've been back and forth to Canada many a times and thus far all have gone smoothly. This past weekend the customs guy asks where we're going, we tell him, and off we go. Basicly the same question crossing back into the US the same day.

Only once as a teenager my brother and I was asked to go into the customs office on the Canadian side. That paticular time we were doing a mc trip loop around Lake Huron. Camping along the way and all. They got all the info asked to their satisfaction and off we went having a great ole time. Of course this happend back in the late 60's.

I'm very much aware that todays world is nothing like it was 40-50 years ago.

I'll continue crossing back and forth as long as either goverment will allow me as I have too many friends over that northern border.

Larry

[friesman]

I think we are making way too big a deal over border crossings on this thread as its a non event 99.999 % of the time.

 

Brian

[Gary N.]

I'll continue crossing back and forth as long as either goverment will allow me as I have too many friends over that northern border.

Larry

 

Thanks Larry, We'll leave the light on for ya!

[Carbon_One]

Thanks Larry, We'll leave the light on for ya!

The same for all of you Canuk's too.

Larry

[saddlebum]

I have to chuckle at the posts where if you are a LEO you get free passes all the time. Is it helpful at times? Sure it is. But not always. I taught a K9 seminar in Hamilton Ontario two years ago and five of us went there in two cars. Going into Canada wasn't too bad and they knew we were cops. How did they know? They asked why we coming into Canada so obviously our jobs came out. They didn't just wave us in but did ask several questions and looked at ALL of our passports. Coming back into the US was a little harder. Customs officer asked a lot of questions and it took a little but eventually we were back home. We answered the questions without cutting them off. We didn't act like we were better then them.

Human nature being what it is I would not be surprised that there are those individuals that would give a leo extra respect and and be less hard on them. At the same time it would not surprise me that there would also be those individuals that would se the position of authority as a means to give a leo a hard time just because they can. As well even the best natured of border gaurds can have a bad day. the gaurd may have unwittingly asked a silly question, as we all sometimes do. and the pompus guy in the car ( because in my mind he was, we have all met guys like him, and you just feel like you want to clock them one) could have just simply answered with a reasnoble reply, instead of getting cocky.

 

But lets also be a little fair here, When you have a terrorist cross any border of any country that cause major damage such as 9/11 who is the first person a finger gets pointed at for letting him through. they can't possibly strip search every person who crosses nor can they let every individual pass 100% freely across, so in maney way's there job is a crap shoot becuase after all anybody can pretend to be someone else. And terrorists are not the only issue. Look at the illegal guns for street gangs and billions of dollars of drugs that slip through every day. or worse kidnapped children.

[hunter 1500]

In 2007 I went with 17 other bikers to Canada for a trip around Lake Huron and I was very easy crossing back and forth. We never got hasseled once and in most cases we just had the leader of our group tell them what we were doing and then we just showed them our papers and off we went. We crossed back and forth twice.

The guy in the first video brought it on himself by first saying "What difference does it make" He should have said I'm not sure of the exact store because we will probably vist more than one ore somethin along that line. Anytime I deal with LEO type people I find it is best to humor them and say yes sir and no sir or mam.

[Sailor]

Been flying to many countries most of my life. Never had any problems. Politeness counts big time. I worked at the airport in Vancouver for 11 years. Part of the job was dealing with customs. Most agents were ok but one had real attitude problems. When someone gave me a rough time I would always make sure he wound up with the agent with attitude, then make the remark that this guy thinks customs agents are all a------s. Out would come the rubber gloves.

The most I was ever questioned was not by customs but by security and that was connecting from a flight from Florida to Vancouver B.C. The connection was in Seattle and I got off the Florida flight and went to the next gate for the Vancouver flight and had to pass security again. He questioned me over over half an hour about whether or not I was leaving anything in Seattle or if I had any soil or grain etc. I was simply walking from one plane to the next and never had to go through customs. Bit of a power trip there.

[Guest PlaneCrazy]

It's been my experience that most border guards are very professional, in most of the countries I have entered. In fact, even when I was being "escorted" out the country, the immigration officers at Fort Lauderdale's airport were very apologetic and polite to me. I am extremely angry at the government of the US, not the people in it. Which sucks really. IMO, the US is becoming increasingly paranoid and isolationist and it's sad really, considering our two countries have been joined at the hip since the beginning. Of course, it doesn't help anything when time after time, some idiot politician in the states keeps repeating the false claims that some of the 9/11 terrorists came through Canada (Sharron Angle, a Nevada Republican is the latest moron to make this claim).

 

Airport security, on the other hand, are mostly underachieving and over reacting buffoons with no sense of humor whatsoever. I've dealt with them on an almost daily basis for much of my career and they are something else. Just be polite and do what they say and you will have the least amount of hassle. If one of them seriously gets out of hand, then politely ask to speak with their supervisor but be prepared to be delayed.