I agree with the general tenor of the thread that the individual risk for the Canadian traveler to be persecuted by abusive American border control authorities is low. It is not zero, and it’s much higher than it was ninety days ago, especially for anyone who isn’t a lily-white Christian, when it was effectively zero. But, objectively speaking, low risk is low risk.
However, I would add that the traveler shouldn’t go to the US simply on principle, because nobody should be giving money to the US right now unless they are absolutely required to do so. Personally, I look askance at anyone who prioritizes their own enjoyment and convenience over the larger context.
Here in the UK, we see several instances of harsh treatment of apparently innocent individuals bu the US authorities. This from the BBC:
A Turkish student attending Tufts University was arrested by US immigration officials in Massachusetts and is being held in detention in Louisiana.
Rumeysa Ozturk was detained on Tuesday outside Boston, as she was walking to an Iftar meal to celebrate Ramadan. Video shows masked, plain-clothes officers handcuffing and leading her to an unmarked car.
Tufts said in a statement that it had been told by officials that the student visa held by Ms Otzurk, who is a doctoral student, had been revoked.
Ms Otzurk participated in pro-Palestinian protests as a legal US resident. Her arrest follows the White House’s crackdown on what it has classified as antisemitism on US campuses.
Critics say the allegations are false. They allege that US officials are violating students’ right to free speech and are incorrectly accusing them of being anti-Jewish.
On Tuesday, a federal judge in Massachusetts ordered that Ms Ozturk, 30, be detained in Massachusetts, and that prosecutors provide at least 48 hours notice if they intend to move her out of the state.
But according to federal records, she is currently being kept in Louisiana - about 1,500 miles (2,400km) away.
Here’s an article about countries which have issued travel advisories about travelling to the US. I don’t think they’ve been doing that because of their foreign affairs ministries have been watching YouTube videos.
It’s on the mainstream news in the US, too. NPR, the New York Times, even the Wall Street Journal have run articles about it. That terrifying video of masked men kidnapping a Tufts student? It was linked in new stories by major news sources. The video of the Columbia student running to catch her flight as she “self deported” to Canada to avoid being kidnapped? That was released by the US government, who wanted to make her look bad.
This is real news about a real problem with the US.
Looking at my local newspaper, both articles above the fold are about ICE grabbing people. One shows a car with broken glass all over the seat where ICE smashed the car and forcibly dragged the occupants out while the occupants attempted to wait in the car for a lawyer to arrive. They appear to have kidnapped a legal asylum seeker, in a case of mistaken identity. The other is an article about the Turkish student kidnapped from Tufts University and then abducted to Louisiana. The headline says that a judge has ordered her moved back to VT, which is where she was first taken after her arrest. (Louisiana also claims jurisdiction.)
So am I. I’m a UK citizen but my wife is a US citizen, so I have a green card by marriage.
We voted with our feet and moved to the UK shortly after Trump got in the first time.
Our daughters still live in Florida, but I’m a bit wary of trying to visit them these days.
Not a concern I would have given a thought to until recently, but now…?
Yes. We have friends that are decidedly white. My husband is from the Middle East. I am the first generation that can pass as white (1/8 South East Asian, the rest is British with a smattering of European according to family history only.) I took his last name and that is always a problem for him along with his birthplace when he crosses the border alone. In 2016 my DH and I had planned a trip to Portland…we cancelled vacation plans when Trump got in the first time. Recently the decidedly white friends, my DH and myself had a vacation planned for Portland and we had a chat and cancelled when Trump got in again. We’re going to be travelling in B.C. Canada this summer.
And as for “due process” that the US has no right to detain and must hand her back to Canada…what happens when she gets to her destination…what “due process” then?
You are basically right, but let me tell a story that happened to a (late) friend around 1970. He was flying from Halifax to New Haven through Montreal. (There was a small regional airline, called, IIRC, Pilgrim that had flights to New England.) He had bought a small oriental rug. He cleared customs in Montreal and, to his surprise, when he got off in New Haven, a US customs agent asked to examine the rug. He examined it and seemed satisfied there were no drugs hidden in it. What makes the story surprising is that New Haven is not an airport with customs and immigration control. It seems that someone in Montreal was suspicious and ordered this search. Odd story.