Brits visiting Canada detained after accidentally driving into USA

[scrappinginontario]

I have questions from the moment they said they 'swerved to avoid an animal' and drove into the US. I've lived in Canada my entire life and trust me, I've never 'swerved' into the US.

 

[bcla]

Interesting. My trip was in 94 or 95, and they accepted, "going to a bar in Toronto".

I've never gotten the third degree before. Of course it was limited to just one airport arrival, and at land/sea crossings they generally don't want to back up the line. I wonder how they physically handle it if they want to bring someone in for questioning with a long line of cars.

 

[ronandannette]

OK. I remember a time Canadian customs was somewhat less than friendly.

Ottawa airport, October 1995. They seemed skeptical of my stated reason for visiting and pulled me aside for a second interview. Someone would actually want to visit Ottawa as a tourist?????

This was about a week before Quebec separation referendum and maybe they thought I was an imported trouble maker. The second interviewer asked questions about my job, how long I had worked there, my previous addresses, etc. They finally seemed satisfied that I was just an eccentric, not a rabble rouser.

On the way back home I was surprised that the Ottawa airport did NOT have US pre-clearance. Maybe they do now.

Interesting. We're on the eve of a national election right now and there's an international activist in town that I wish somebody would have screened. As for your comment about the Ottawa airport, yeah, that seems odd, doesn't it? One would imagine there would be a fair amount of US traffic in-and-out of the Capital. Calgary has had US Customs for at least 20 years, which is kind of a drag because it can add up to an hour to the security process. We've taken morning flights where there's only 1 agent on duty to clear hundreds of passengers. We've often thought about applying for Nexus but with only taking one one or two leisure flights per year, we just suck up the inconvenience.

 

[bcla]

Interesting. We're on the eve of a national election right now and there's an international activist in town that I wish somebody would have screened. As for your comment about the Ottawa airport, yeah, that seems odd, doesn't it? One would imagine there would be a fair amount of US traffic in-and-out of the Capital. Calgary has had US Customs for at least 20 years, which is kind of a drag because it can add up to an hour to the security process. We've taken morning flights where there's only 1 agent on duty to clear hundreds of passengers. We've often thought about applying for Nexus but with only taking one one or two leisure flights per year, we just suck up the inconvenience.

I don't believe that Ottawa Airport is particularly busy, and obviously Ottawa itself isn't a prime tourist destination. The international destinations seem to be a few primary locations, but a lot of heavy tourist areas such as Orlando or Mexico.

As for the use of preclearance for entire flights - I guess it could mean they wouldn't need to have CBP officers on staff at the US destination along with more flexibility in flight time. CBP generally has officers on call just in case there's a flight delays, but passenger service hours are never a scheduled 24 hours at any US airport. Some airports only have an 8-12 hours schedule per day.

 

[ronandannette]

I don't believe that Ottawa Airport is particularly busy, and obviously Ottawa itself isn't a prime tourist destination. The international destinations seem to be a few primary locations, but a lot of heavy tourist areas such as Orlando or Mexico.

As for the use of preclearance for entire flights - I guess it could mean they wouldn't need to have CBP officers on staff at the US destination along with more flexibility in flight time. CBP generally has officers on call just in case there's a flight delays, but passenger service hours are never a scheduled 24 hours at any US airport. Some airports only have an 8-12 hours schedule per day.

According to Google, Ottawa does have it now, as well as Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say in the last paragraph. When boarding an outbound flight to the US, everybody on the flight has to go through the customs screening. Everybody. There is a separate line for Nexus holders. As for the hours of Customs in US airports, I hope they are scheduled based on international arrival times. Are there airports where arriving passengers have to wait for hours for the next shift to arrive? I can't swear to it at every international port of entry in Canada, but we've arrived back in Calgary often in the middle of the night and Canada Customs was on duty.

 

[Kaleidodad]

You have to be kidding me. The Washington post is absolutely a reliable source.

Yes, it absolutely is. I mean, one can take issue with its direction under Bezos ownership, as it does lean slightly left (that's what the opinion pages are for), but its general standing as a reliable news source is not really debatable. Maybe the previous poster was thinking of the Washington Times?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yes, it absolutely is. I mean, one can take issue with its direction under Bezos ownership, as it does lean slightly left (that's what the opinion pages are for), but its general standing as a reliable news source is not really debatable. Maybe the previous poster was thinking of the Washington Times?

According to media bias/fact check in terms of reliability it is given a "factually High due to the use of proper sources."

With respects to the Washington Times they are rated as "factually mixed due to poor sourcing, holding editorial positions that are contrary to scientific consensus, and failed fact checks."

If anyone is interested the source used in the OP, Toronto Sun, is listed as "Mixed for factual reporting due to a lack of sourcing and scientific positions that do not align with the consensus of science."

Of course that is using a source to check a source lol but still I often find the site helps me out when looking at articles I may have questions on.

**In order to avoid straying into the political realm I'm only discussing the rating of factual reporting not their media bias.**

 

[bcla]

According to Google, Ottawa does have it now, as well as Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say in the last paragraph. When boarding an outbound flight to the US, everybody on the flight has to go through the customs screening. Everybody. There is a separate line for Nexus holders. As for the hours of Customs in US airports, I hope they are scheduled based on international arrival times. Are there airports where arriving passengers have to wait for hours for the next shift to arrive? I can't swear to it at every international port of entry in Canada, but we've arrived back in Calgary often in the middle of the night and Canada Customs was on duty.

I was thinking of the way that they might be able to schedule flights with a full flight of prescreened passengers where the flight could arrive in the US after scheduled CPB hours. I found a good example. CPB only operates at MCO from 8 AM to 8 PM.

​

https://www.cbp.gov/contact/ports/orlando-international-airport

Orlando International Airport - Airside 4 (Passengers)
Phone Number:	(407) 825-4360
Hours of Operation:	8:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m. (EST), Seven Days A Week

​

There's one Air Canada Rouge flight from YYZ(Toronto)-MCO that's scheduled for an 11:44 PM landing. It's kind of hard to link it, but you can do a search for it on Google Flights or on the Air Canada website. I think it's a seasonal flight, and I found it was available for Sunday, Nov 3, 2019. It does seem a little bit weird though as it also says that Sunday CBP hours in Toronto are 9 AM to 4 PM.

 

[RedAngie]

I've never gotten the third degree before. Of course it was limited to just one airport arrival, and at land/sea crossings they generally don't want to back up the line. I wonder how they physically handle it if they want to bring someone in for questioning with a long line of cars.

They direct you to park your car in a specific area and then come inside for additional screening. Better not try to make a run for it.


The family illegally crossed about three miles east of the Lynden/Aldergrove crossing.

 

[bcla]

They direct you to park your car in a specific area and then come inside for additional screening. Better not try to make a run for it.


The family illegally crossed about three miles east of the Lynden/Aldergrove crossing.


View attachment 445361

I've been through the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway crossings a few times. The latter is a little bit odd. It's the designated commercial crossing, but we went there once because the estimated waits were a little bit shorter. But then it took a little bit of time to get back on the main highway.

I looked at Google Maps and their satellite image for the Peace Arch entrance shows a car waiting right there probably to chase down anyone who takes off.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/P...ddf3865d85bcfb!8m2!3d49.0020808!4d-122.756484

 

[ronandannette]

I was thinking of the way that they might be able to schedule flights with a full flight of prescreened passengers where the flight could arrive in the US after scheduled CPB hours. I found a good example. CPB only operates at MCO from 8 AM to 8 PM.

​

https://www.cbp.gov/contact/ports/orlando-international-airport

Orlando International Airport - Airside 4 (Passengers)
Phone Number:	(407) 825-4360
Hours of Operation:	8:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m. (EST), Seven Days A Week

​

There's one Air Canada Rouge flight from YYZ(Toronto)-MCO that's scheduled for an 11:44 PM landing. It's kind of hard to link it, but you can do a search for it on Google Flights or on the Air Canada website. I think it's a seasonal flight, and I found it was available for Sunday, Nov 3, 2019. It does seem a little bit weird though as it also says that Sunday CBP hours in Toronto are 9 AM to 4 PM.

Oh, OK - I understand. The flight you're talking about would be cleared in Toronto before take-off so the passengers would just deplane and go right to the luggage carousels - no further screening necessary. There was only one time I observed this but I have seen a passenger removed from the Customs area, presumably for further screening or whatever. I don't believe a passenger would be able to board a flight if they were deemed inadmissible to the US at that point.

 

[bcla]

Oh, OK - I understand. The flight you're talking about would be cleared in Toronto before take-off so the passengers would just deplane and go right to the luggage carousels - no further screening necessary. There was only one time I observed this but I have seen a passenger removed from the Customs area, presumably for further screening or whatever. I don't believe a passenger would be able to board a flight if they were deemed inadmissible to the US at that point.

It does have its drawbacks. You noted that it requires arriving early and of course everyone has to do it to make any sense.

It certainly wouldn't have worked in the cases where my wife (who is notoriously late for everything) showed up. I've been at the checkin desk 30 minutes before an international flight and we got to the gate 20 minutes before departure, along with going to the head of the security line with a small child.

It probably does work to schedule to some lower-traffic airports with limited Customs hours, although they almost always get placed on call. I know over at Oakland International Airport, there are complaints about what happens when there's a delay. It's a smaller airport and they carefully schedule international arrivals to spread the load on Customs.

Some of these must be kind of an oddball assignment, such as a ferry terminal or train station. That's only two departures/arrivals per day.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Interesting. We're on the eve of a national election right now and there's an international activist in town that I wish somebody would have screened. As for your comment about the Ottawa airport, yeah, that seems odd, doesn't it? One would imagine there would be a fair amount of US traffic in-and-out of the Capital. Calgary has had US Customs for at least 20 years, which is kind of a drag because it can add up to an hour to the security process. We've taken morning flights where there's only 1 agent on duty to clear hundreds of passengers. We've often thought about applying for Nexus but with only taking one one or two leisure flights per year, we just suck up the inconvenience.

I saw an article about “somebody’s “ visit to Alberta.
What stood out for me was the hundreds of horrible redneck grown up morons who had to insult a young child.
What s total embarrassment to Canada!
Whether you agree with her message or not why do people have to act like inbred jerks?
Honestly I know very little about her but would not tolerate any friendship if someone acted like those commenters.

 

[DisLiss]

This is utterly shocking on absolutely every level. I really have no words.

I am, very unfortunately, not very shocked at all. Angered, absolutely. Saddened and ashamed, definitely. But not really shocked. There are far too many stories of people in power in these types of situations behaving in such ways for me to be shocked by it anymore.

 

[dish rag]

I saw an article about “somebody’s “ visit to Alberta.
What stood out for me was the hundreds of horrible redneck grown up morons who had to insult a young child.
What s total embarrassment to Canada!
Whether you agree with her message or not why do people have to act like inbred jerks?
Honestly I know very little about her but would not tolerate any friendship if someone acted like those commenters.

That “somebody” is trying to effect the lively hood of those people. She deserved what she got.

 

[Pink Partridge]

https://torontosun.com/news/nationa...-detained-after-accidentally-driving-into-u-s
Really? OMG where is common sense these days?

Really. Thank goodness for common sense. I am so happy these criminals were stopped.

I am very proud of our border patrol for doing their job. We have enough weirdos in this country. We don't need any more sneaking in illegally.

Cheers to common sense!

 

[ronandannette]

I saw an article about “somebody’s “ visit to Alberta.
What stood out for me was the hundreds of horrible redneck grown up morons who had to insult a young child.
What s total embarrassment to Canada!
Whether you agree with her message or not why do people have to act like inbred jerks?
Honestly I know very little about her but would not tolerate any friendship if someone acted like those commenters.

What are you talking about? Source please.

 

[ronandannette]

I saw an article about “somebody’s “ visit to Alberta.
What stood out for me was the hundreds of horrible redneck grown up morons who had to insult a young child.
What s total embarrassment to Canada!
Whether you agree with her message or not why do people have to act like inbred jerks?
Honestly I know very little about her but would not tolerate any friendship if someone acted like those commenters.

The "counter-protest" wasn't even on-site with the climate activists. It was a drive-by convoy. The event was peaceful on all sides. This is the account from CityTV in Toronto, not exactly a biased, conservative bastion:
https://toronto.citynews.ca/video/2019/10/17/convoy-heading-to-edmonton-for-climate-counter-protest/

 

[ronandannette]

I am, very unfortunately, not very shocked at all. Angered, absolutely. Saddened and ashamed, definitely. But not really shocked. There are far too many stories of people in power in these types of situations behaving in such ways for me to be shocked by it anymore.

As it turns out, it's more than likely the couples were attempting to enter illegally. A lot of further information has unfolded.

 

[ronandannette]

@CdnCarrie Here's the CBC's account and not one peep about the smack talk you mentioned.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/greta-thunberg-edmonton-climate-rally-1.5325030