• 🇺🇸󠁿 🇧🇷 🇨🇦 🇦🇷 🇲🇽 🇹🇹 🇨🇺
    The Americas
    Drug Discussion

    Welcome Guest!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
  • NSADD Moderators: tryptakid

Border Crossing Into the US

Dave

Dave

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Dec 19, 1999
Messages
6,894
Location
Edmonton
Heya,

My apologies if this isn't the best place to put this, but I figured that perhaps I'd get the best replies here. Basically, I'm thinking of doing a trip to the US in the near future, but I have some misgivings about the whole border crossing/clearing customs rigmarole. I understand that most airports don't have the full-body scanners yet, and even if they did I would have every right to request a pat-down instead.

My bigger concern is that I've heard that I would need to be fingerprinted to enter the US, and this is something which I feel very strongly against. So, have any Canadians had any recent experience (preferably post-xmas) crossing into the US? Would it be better for me to try for a land crossing, or would it make any difference vs. an air crossing?

Oh, and I'm asking this not because I'm trying to evade the authorities or anything. Rather, I think that my biometric information is nobody's business, and I'd rather avoid being treated like a criminal simply because I want to visit the US after some bumbling fool managed to get past the TSA's hair brained protocols.

[/soapbox]

TIA and all that!
 
I'm not sure if this is helpful but I read an article that all the major Canadian airports will be getting full body scanners .
But the only Canadian airport I've been to after the ethiopian man thing was Ottawa international , and they have them :(

but I wasn't flying to the us . So I don't know what's going on across the border .


I do have a buddy who recently went to Cali and will be back in a few days . I'll make sure to ask him
 
Dave said:
Oh, and I'm asking this not because I'm trying to evade the authorities or anything. Rather, I think that my biometric information is nobody's business, and I'd rather avoid being treated like a criminal simply because I want to visit the US after some bumbling fool managed to get past the TSA's hair brained protocols.

[/soapbox]

TIA and all that!
Click to expand...

Hey man, I'm in the same boat with you regarding biometrics. Unfortunately, b-metrics is the future and there is no stopping this train. There are certainly ways to get whatever you want into the States and vice-versa relatively easy, including yourself, but I don't think anyone can just give you the answer on this web-site. Nevertheless, a quick google search should give you all the info you need. If you're in Vancouver, and have a kayak, you've got it made...hinthint...%)

Good luck, I hope you can avoid the coming bio-metric based society, but I wouldn't bank on it.
 
Thanks for the tips folks! I'm flying out of Deadmonton, so I'd doubt that I'll have to deal with the scanners (and either way I, and everyone else, have the right to refuse to go through them). I can deal with being in a Canadian biometric database, it's just that I trust the American Government about as far as I can throw it.

BB-- Heh, thanks. I'm actually just not keen on being fingerprinted. No smuggling, of my person or any other materials going on here. Besides, I suck at kayaking ;)
 
Fingerprints are required now at the border, or at least that's what I was told by one friend. I wouldn't worry about it so much. You will have to be fingerprinted if you ever want to immigrate, and that's been standard procedure for a long time.
 
I swim from Detroit to Victoria to avoid fingerprinting. No, but they don't like ppl with felonies I ride in the trunk before we cross over and go to fucking Victoria and hit up the boat and smoke purp.
 
a friend of mine lives and works here legally but is not from the usa. she just came back from a trip to norway last week and said that all non-citizens were pulled aside at customs for fingerprinting, etc.

if you come in via any traditional route you may very well be subjected to the whole biometrics circus. the uk has all of my data and i'm pretty uncomfortable with it too :\
 
Ugh. That's just what I didn't want to hear. Thanks though! I'm going to confirm with the TSA/border service, but if I need to get fingerprinted just to go visit the US then the US is not going to get visited by me. Sucks, because I've already pretty well committed to going, but c'est la vie.
 
Hokay, so apparently, according to DHS (I felt dirty just going to their site) Canadian citizens travelling under their Canadian passports should be exempt from US-VISIT (their biometrics program). Permanent residents (i.e. immigrants who don't have full citizenship), and non-Canadians travelling under the visa waiver program are not exempt. So I think that I'm okay on that front.
 
The Canadian border agents are much kinder than the ones in the States. I always catch hell coming back from Quebec, for no reason at all.
 
not relavent to this topic, but anyone know if mexican borders use fingerprinting or biometrics? i can only imagine that it would pose as a logisitical nightmare....although it's been several years since i've walked across.
 
^^ I dunno how things are up North, but at some of the major texas mexico crossing it just wouldnt be feasable to fingerprint everyone, so many people cross everysingle day, i just couldnt imagine how long it would take by pulling everyone aside for fingerprinting but i dunno for a fact
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top