That is what he said, IDK if it is true. I can only assume that an ICE agent can lie to you just like a police officer can but again IDK. I had assumed that it was not possible and if you had done something serious you would be arrested. I tour with bands and we tend to be scrutinized at Intl borders, so I have all my ducks in a row and a ton of paperwork, complete inventory of merchandise with value, performance contracts etc. I carry binders full of it. In this case the band was a LCC(band members) with two employees (me, merch guy) I had the incorporation papers. I had that paper work for Revenue Canada, but when I started to show him he kinda just ignored it. They did a search of both trailer and van, when I go to secondary I leave the doors open and unlock the trailer, we had nothing even close to contraband, I could account for every dime I was carrying. The agent was rude, condescending and proud of his power. I would have reported his behavior to his supervisor but I don’t want our vehicles and passports marked which I know for a fact is done, the guy scared the piss out of me. That said him and the guy who likes to scream in pre clear at Toronto Pearson are the only bad times I have had at US Customs, for the most part the agents have ranged from business like to downright kind and are usually polite. This particular experience is way out of the norm IME and must be way out for the casual traveler.
This probably should be another thread at this point
Some advice from my stint working immigration enforcement: If you’re trying to gain entry into a country, DO NOT - DO NOT - try to convince them how much you like their country. That’s not of interest to them. Instead, try to convince them that YOU WANT TO LEAVE THEIR COUNTRY. By and large, people get refused entry because the border guard thinks they’ll overstay their welcome by getting arrested, overstaying a visa, winding up in a hospital, or something like that. The guard wants to know that you’re here to do your thing and GTFO.
So when they ask you “How long are you here for?”, the wrong answer is “Oh, a couple days.” The right answer is “4 days.” When they ask what your purpose is, the wrong answer is “Oh, we thought we’d see some sights for a while.” The right answer is “We’re here for the Toronto music festival, playing Friday through Sunday and then heading back to New York.”
It’s just a matter of quotas. We have more than enough of our own homegrown mentally ill, we don’t need to import any.
What’s more, our crazies can outcrazy your crazies any day. You’re gonna have to step up your game, your crazies are pretty boring compared to ours.
Seriously, though, there is still a great stigma about mental illness, and whether or not a particular person with a particular illness is a danger to him/herself or others.
When I used to go to Duluth MN or Minneapolis, or even for a day of sight seeing and hiking around Grand Marais MN I would say "I am going for (specific time) long, to shop, eat in restaurants, and (other things that are money specific like enjoy movies and hotels) and then will be returing at (specific return date/time). Once when I was dating an American and said I was visiting a boyfriend I got held until they saw my return ticket. I never visited a “boyfriend” again, only “spend my my spring break with friends where it is warm and I can shop.”
My big question is, what if I am depressed and want to go to Florida for some sunshine? Are the border guards going to turn back all the pasty white sun deprived Canadians? Because there are quite a bunch of us…
Ill never forget the first time I visited Mazatlan. It was January and it was a warm and sunny 75. A group of pasty Canadians arrive at the hotel pool with a large bottle of Chivas. One pasty guy manages to get drunk and pass out,on the sun…lying on his stomach. 3 days later he was released from the hospital…
Interesting that you completely missed the point, Tollhouse makes no comparison between blackness and mental illness. Small words, just for you:
50 years ago and beyond, many people though Black = human subspecies, decadent, degenerate, unintelligent, immoral, dirty. While some Blacks certainly did and do fit that description, MLK and others worked to change that perception of Blacks in general and facilitate acceptance.
Today, many people think mental illness = want to shoot up the school or workplace. While some of us nutters do indeed do such things, we need an equivalent set of charismatic figures to change that perception of those of us crazies of more gentle spirit and facilitate acceptance.
I guess the point is that the border should more or less work the same both ways - do we have access to the database of US Americans like they have access to ours? If Canadians are being denied entrance on this basis, then are US Americans being denied access to Canada on the same grounds? Because if so, no problem.
Hey, we’ve been doing it right without even knowing it!
Emily, I’ve been following this story ever since it first came out in 2011, and I have never been able to find another case of this sort of discrimination by the U.S. In the article is this line: “Stanley Stylianos, program manager at the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office, says his organization has heard more than a dozen stories similar to Kamenitz’s.” But I am not so sure.
However, I have a huge beef with the CPIC system and the way the RCMP handle it; I think the whole system is as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. So I am a bit nervous anyway, because around 2002 I was arrested and taken to the mental hospital in handcuffs by the cops for suspicion of intent to commit suicide, sort of like the lady in the article. So I’m still extremely interested in the issue. I’d really love to hear of any true, concrete problems others have faced.
You’re gonna have to step up your game, your crazies are pretty boring compared to ours.