Comment by koverstreet
1 day ago
U.S. border agents really are just worse. Much worse. (I can't say what racial profiling adds to that, I can only speak to my own experiences).
I've been routinely grilled and extensively searched many times just crossing between the U.S. and Canada - the most hilarious instance being when I was crossing from Yukon Territory back to Alaska some 10 years ago.
In Latin America, things are considerably more professional, and the government officials don't act like they hate you and just want you to go away. Europe's fine too.
From what I've heard, Canada is actually a lot worse than the US.
I was traveling as part of a party of five (different travel dates, separate ETA filings, no apparent connection). One of us didn't get an ETA. Another got one just before the trip (and it was a 13-year-old child). The rest of us got ours immediately, but I was questioned at the border for 10+ minutes with no apparent reason, and then allowed in without a comment.
From what I heard anecdotally, Canadian officers are trained to “interrogate” everyone believing the added duress will cause people to slip up and reveal they are really a terrorist or some such.
I'm a US citizen, living in the EU and have global entry, etc... I've been to Canada once on business and they asked more questions than I've ever had asked on all my frequent travels back and forth EU-US.
> In Latin America, things are considerably more professional, and the government officials don't act like they hate you and just want you to go away.
Depends. Someone I know had a terrible experience crossing into Belize on a land border. Was held there for two hours while they "verified" something. Seemed like a power-tripping agent.
Maybe (hamfistedly) angling for a bribe to ‘expedite’?
I would characterize Belize as part of the Anglosphere instead of Latin America. Last colonized by Britain as their last European influence on governance and only English as the official language. The anglosphere has the nastiest border controls in my experience.