Comments on: U.S. Border Policy Enforcement Needs Reform

By: Lana

Lana — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:40:31 +0000

GRRRR! You know my feelings on this.

I have been using my Nexus card lately and it has made the world of difference. I highly recommend getting one.

By: Gail

Gail — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:58:47 +0000

But even after we got married, I was never treated like a person, only like an illegal alien. I wasn’t allowed to touch our bank accounts ever, before OR after David died. David had to do all the banking, even when he was gravely ill and could barely sign his name on the cheque. I wasn’t allowed to execute his will. Then I got threatened with deportation if I didn’t leave immediately.

Would this happen in every country? What crime did I commit? At the U.S. border, I still get asked about 2004, 2005, and why the visa applications didn’t go through. When I explain, the border officers don’t believe me!

By: Melanie

Melanie — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:39:37 +0000

It’s not that much different getting into Canada. When I married and immigrated from the US to Canada, I waited 7 months after we were married before Canadian immigration would let me come live with my husband. I lived in Chicago and he lived in Vancouver from August to the following April before I was approved. We joked that I should get in a boat and float in rather than wait for endless amounts of required paperwork! Immigration to any country is never easy, that’s for sure.

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:21:51 +0000

I administer DHS-mandated procedures for our Canadian transport company. The regulations and rules (C-TPAT, ACE etc.) are the most cumbersome and ill-advised imaginable. As Krisanne said, most are simply an alphabet soup of window dressing to give the average citizen the feeling that there was a response to 9/11.

I have never dealt with a group that took their job as seriously as DHS’ Supply Chain Management Specialists at JFK. Picture Secret Service without the ear pieces….

By: Krisanne

Krisanne — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:53:37 +0000

As a U.S. Citizen, I’m just glad I don’t have to deal with the immigration headaches that you’ve had to deal with on a regular basis trying to get in and out of here. But, if it makes you feel any better, most Americans with half a brain recognize Homeland (In)Security for what it is - window dressing designed to make the masses feel like the government is “doing something.”

For those of us who travel frequently, we know just how ridiculous that statement is; the policies even within the country are applied inconsistently and haphazardly. The staff are underpaid and undertrained. I actually find myself relatively patient with the line staff themselves because I know that it is not they who make the policies, and it is often they who are sympathetic with the stupidity of the policies they are made to enforce (the whole “3 oz liquids and gels” farce that they continue to carry out is one of the worst, and I think most of the screeners hate it as much as travelers).

Traveling with my skydiving gear is another one where I’ve (re)learned the fine art of patience, and I keep my expectations quite low because as specialized equipment they don’t see very often I’m not surprised that I have to educate them on their own policies. So far, honey over vinegar has gotten me out of some jams and even made me some fans/friends.

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:54:59 +0000

It is crazy, whenever I travel to the States now I ensure I have email correspondence from whomever we’re visiting, just to minimize the hassles. Last time we were asked if we were doing industrial espionage, and we had been invited by GM.